Multiple clowns?

I am looking at a mated Clarkii pair for my 120g. I have contemplated several different ones and it seems to be narrowing to these guys.
Todd,
What anemone do you have them in?
 
I am looking at a mated Clarkii pair for my 120g. I have contemplated several different ones and it seems to be narrowing to these guys.
Todd,
What anemone do you have them in?
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9761494#post9761494 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jelwyoming
Thanks for all the comments!
Wetsleeves,
which clowns did you have in the sam system and were you able to keep them together when they matured? I can sure understand your current plan as well. How nany and which anemones do you have in the multiclown system? How large a system is it?

Woah... Where to begin....
I have a 210 that's been set up since 12/05. I mixed clowns before that in a 125, but in the current system I have had a pair of black polymnus, a pair of ocellaris, a pair of sandaracinos, a pair of clarkis and a pair of leucs. But not all at the same time. I've usually maintained 3-4 different types in this system. I removed the sandaracinos pair and the ocellaris pair in the last few weeks. I currently have a pair of chrysopterus and leucokranos. I will be relocating the chrysopterus in a week or so leaving just the leucokranos clowns.
Here's a few shots from different periods to show the mix.
Leucs003.jpg

Tankshots3-3-07006.jpg

6-14-06002.jpg

There was a point when the polymnus and leucokranos used to hang out and sleep together.

Oh yeah I forgot... I have three RBTA clones in the 210.
 
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our saddlebacks are so good! no one messes with big mama and she dose not mess with anyone!we have 2 RBTA and a a puprle h. magnifica. the maroons are in the RBTA and out saddlebacks host the big magnifica.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9761790#post9761790 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jelwyoming
I am looking at a mated Clarkii pair for my 120g. I have contemplated several different ones and it seems to be narrowing to these guys.
Todd,
What anemone do you have them in?

Right now they spend most of the time with my BTA, but they will also go into my Haddoni carpet. Heck years ago they were even hosted by a Condy.

Here is a picture. (and the BTA isn't that green, the flash brought it out -- but there is a sky light by this tank, and when the sunlight hits it, it looks that close to that color)

Clarkii.jpg
 
Wetsleeves,
What pairs (and if they were mature) did you have at any one time in your 125? I am still debating adding more than a pair to mine. All current opinion that I've heard says that it isn't wise. If you were to do it again, what species would you try it with...say two pair of the same or different, or young ones of all the same?
 
Polymnus (huge pair) clarki, and I think I had some ocellaris.
Just don't say "wetsleeves said it would be OK." I have had instances where they were all getting along, then you add one little skunk and it disrupts the entire hirarchy... and the peace. Removing the new fish doesn't even solve it. You have to pretty much start over removing them and re-adding them.
 
I am still weighing out the benefits and consequences. I had originally planned to do what J. Wilkerson talked about adding 5 young ocellaris and allowing them to establish a hierarchy. It sounds like the only species that it would be reasonably workable. My other thought are, a while before I lost my last pairs, I had added a flame angel. It has turned out to be fairly bold in character, but not really aggressive. It has taken over the cave area near the larger BTA. I am afraid if I add younger clowns, he will become trouble. I am thinking that if I add a mature pair of Clarkii, tomato or maroons, he won't be a problem.
What is the character of the polymnus like?
 
Wilkerson also said that waiting for something like that to happen takes a very long time because there is just too much competition. I would put two together and let them become established. Then add a group of sub-adults if you want to do a group.
 
Putting juvi's in with an established pair of clowns will likely be disastrous, IMO.

The established pair will have already established a territory in the tank, and will have already established themselves as a pair. They will have no reason at this point to allow more clowns to live within their territory, and could proceed to immediately start killing them off.

Just get two...it's a lot less violent :)
 
Well, I ended up just buying the ORA pair of Clarkii's that were on LA's Diver's Den. I hope that they ship well and last a long while.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9772338#post9772338 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Slakker
Putting juvi's in with an established pair of clowns will likely be disastrous, IMO.

The established pair will have already established a territory in the tank, and will have already established themselves as a pair. They will have no reason at this point to allow more clowns to live within their territory, and could proceed to immediately start killing them off.

Just get two...it's a lot less violent :)

What if you moved them into a new system with the juvies?
 
After reading the article by Morgan at Inland Aquatics on post shipping stress trauma to fish, the less stress possible, the better. It seems like nearly all fish illnesses start with some sort of stress that increases their exposure to diseases. Shipping and acclimating to a new tank, then adding competion for their anemone might be too much. I believe now that was why I lost my last ones. I added a couple of juvi's that stressed them out, the juvi's died within days, then the adults did due to what I thought was Brooklynella. It probably was, but their susceptibility increased greatly with the stress. I am afraid of repeating it, not necessarily with brook, but Ich or anything else that might be lurking in the water.
 
I am in total agreement. Despite other's success with QTs I have no such luck. I think that's because it's not an optimal environment for them to go into. I think this relates to tank size, aquascape and water quality. Some fish can handle the typical QT better than others. I think that's why a lot of certain species die after arriving in the LFS. As if shipping stress wasn't enough, they find themselves in an alien environment with minimal hiding places and too much competition from their new tankmates. Not to mention the 6' alien monsters that come in droves to stare at them and occasionally drop weird food in around them.
JMO.
 
For those of you that haven't read his article, he states that through studing the receiving, acclimating and tracking customer comments, he found that many fish, clowns and some wrasses in particular, seem to die near the 4-6 week mark once received by the final customer. He tried holding them for at least that period at their facility and found that the survival rate went way up.
He surmissed that the fish had some sort of permanant internal malfunction brought on by the stress. Even though they might eat on arrival, weeks later they just failed. His study was done on flame angels as a first group. I personnally have lost 3 of them just like this. I finally bought one from someone that had him locally for quite awhile. He is thriving.
 
Glad to hear you've made a decision, and even happier (as i'm sure your fish will be) that you decided to just have this pair.

They were beautiful fish...keep us updated on how they do!
 
Probably the deciding factor for me was seeing the effects of stress alone on a pair of my earlier clowns. It wasn't that they could not be kept together as WetSleeves has shown, but more that it will probably be healthier for all the inhabitants of the tank without the added stress of establishing a hiearchy within the clowns. Maybe some day in a bigger tank!!! Maybe that is why I need a bigger tank, hehehehe!
 
I have a group of 3 O. Clowns. They have been together for 17 months. The female was alone (her mate had an unfortunate pump accident) and I added two juveniles. They have formed a male/female/sub-adult group. The female is 3 and the 2 others are around 21 months old. Unfortunately, they wont host in anything live. They chose to host between the tank bulkheads. Also, they haven't bred yet although they have begun displaying some positive behavior. They recently conducted a big house-cleaning and the male and female have been doing a lot of love-twitching together in the evenings. I am hoping they will continue this behavior and eventually start laying some eggs.

829133_clowns.JPG
 
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