mixing species

[jon1985]

I want to start by saying I do not plan to mix different clown species, this is simply an observation.

It seems like lately I have seen alot of tanks with mixed species of clowns. For example last week I was at a fellow reefers house picking up some coral and he had a pair of clarkiis and a single maroon in a 6' 125. This weekend I am going to pick up a few peices and the tank has a single maroon, a single ocelaris, and a single pink skunk.

Does the aggression get spread out better if the 3rd clown is a different species? are the tanks just waiting for disaster with these clowns?

If you have mixed clowns or more then 2 please explain how long you have had them and any issues that may have come up.

Please keep this civil so it stays open.

 

[zeeter]

If you have mixed clowns or more then 2 please explain how long you have had them and any issues that may have come up.

Please keep this civil so it stays open.

If the tank is big enough then they can get along peacefully. A 6' tank is pretty good as long as there's enough live rock. If the fish are roughly the same size then it is often just easier for them to avoid confrontation. While they're aggressive fish they're not foolish. That said, I don't recommend that people house different clown species in the same tank even at 6'. You never know when that maroon is going to get antsy. And if two of the clowns pair up there is a chance that they'll gang up on the other one.

With around four or more clowns it is often more peaceful than three. With three the two will shun the 3rd, but with four the bullying is spread around more so unless one of them is really a runt they'll usually be ok - assuming they're the same species.

I had a tank with one percula, then I added four more. One of the percs was killed within a few days, but the rest lived ok.

 

[steelhead77]

Maroons, Tomatoes and Clarkii's are some of the most agressive Clowns. It is not recommended to mix any other clowns with those species.

That being said....I have a pair of Pinks and a pair of Percs in my 180. Both pairs actually started out in a 72 Bowfront almost 3 years ago, then moved to a 125 and finally to the 180. The Pinks reside on one end of the tank in my RBTA's and the Percs reside on the other end in a large mushroom rock. Both pair spawn regularly. They also NEVER cross an imaginary line about midpoint of the tank. In fact, neither pair rarely swim more than 6 inches or so from their hosts.

 

[davocean]

Most of the time mixing species or having more than one pair in a normal size tank does not end well.
There are rare exceptions of course, and often people do have them get along short term, but usually as they mature/spawn you'll have aggression that leads to just one surviving pair, if you're lucky.

 

[WDLV]

When I have mixed clowns it's always been in a 6' tank. When the clowns are dis-similar in appearance, not offered an anemone and not close to spawning they do best. Once you have an anemone or they start pre-spawning, all bets are off.

 

[WDLV]

wiskey tango foxtrot?