Multiple mature ocellaris clown pairs, one tank. Ideas?

[jbrinker]

I have not posted in quite a while. Several years ago (3?) I undertook quite a project, as my single pair of ~5 year old ocellaris began breeding. I read, planned, and $pent, and had quite the science experiment going with Nano, rotifers, brine, and baby clowns. I bread several thousand all together, raising a few hundred to 1/2" size.

A heater malfunction killed all but 6 of the original (first ever hatch) brood. The experiment thus ended sadly. I still have 5 of these original 6 (one was killed by the others - he was a "shortie" and I believe the others sensed it and killed him). They are currently separated into two 10 gallon tanks (one pair each) and one 5 gallon (the lone "runt" who has now thrived and is bigger than some of the others).

I hate having this "aqua ghetto" in my basement former breeding room. They seem happy, but it just seems so ... lame. Id love to get them up where we can see them and interact, but I am quite unsure about moving more than one pair into anything but a HUGE tank.

The original (F0) pair is in a 55 FOLR in our livingroom. They still breed, like clockwork, every month. I thought about re-aquascaping when I swap this tank to a 75gallon and trying to set it up so I can put one more pair in there. The original pair sticks to a very small area at one end, never ever moving more than 10" from "home base". What to do with the other pair and single...

I thought about getting a 44gal pentagon tank for our other livingroom corner, and again trying to aquascape it with a definite set of areas. But I think that would be even less likely to work with 3 clowns.

I'm looking for opinions and ideas. The "baby" clowns are now about 2.5y old, one set is defnitely paired, one is probably paired, and one is single.

Thanks for ideas and a great forum.

 

[WDLV]

Sell the pair you like least and buy something else.

 

[jbrinker]

Oy... Thats what I feared everyone would say. I think I might be able to get two pairs in the 75, just by virtue of the length of the tank, and the fact that the original pair really likes JUST the one corner of the tank, never moving from it. If I can make the opposite corner really attractive to another pair.

I hate how they become so dang mean to each other once they get about a year old.

 

[WDLV]

I'd rather see you put one pair in a 14 gallon than two pairs in a 75.

 

[WDLV]

When I was trying to keep multiple pairs I decided that the best size would be a 24" cube. The 24x24x19 that Marineland sells are an excellent choice. I had four of them. They're as small as I would want to see for a pair and an anemone.

 

[cet98]

I'd rather see you put one pair in a 14 gallon than two pairs in a 75.

When I was trying to keep multiple pairs I decided that the best size would be a 24" cube. The 24x24x19 that Marineland sells are an excellent choice. I had four of them. They're as small as I would want to see for a pair and an anemone.

confused, sorry...
are you saying a 24" cube for multiple pairs OR a 24" cube for each pair???

 

[WDLV]

One pair in a 45 cube (24x24x19.) I decided on these dimentions after observing several species in 100 gallon Rubbermaid troughs. I never saw them in more than one half of a trough at any given time. In nature they seldom venture more than a couple feet from their anemone. So, I figured that would be a good size.

 

[SNAKEMANVET]

I tried to put 2 breeding pair in a 240, a 8ft tank.Needless to say it lasted about an hour.I have rbtas at both ends of the tank and they would meet in the middle and fight.So one pair got moved to a 28 gallon nano.

 

[WDLV]

I have kept multiple individuals in a 6' tank and never seemed to have any issues until there was more than one pair. My current plan is to do another 180-210 BTA biotope with three thiellei clowns and 50-100 ocellaris babies. I always tell people not to try to keep multiple pairs in a display but that's because it's easier than adding "unless this... and unless that...." There are exceptions but they include factors like display size, maturity, dominance, number of anemones and the order in which the clowns are added.

 

[SNAKEMANVET]

I tried adding 20 babies at one time in a 135,it didn't end well.Two of them paired up and started killing the others,I had to get rid of the rest.I was told if they grow up together it would ok.They were only 4 months old when I bought them ,the first 6 months I had them they got along fine

 

[WDLV]

I hear ya, but I've gotta try it for myself... in my own way. I've kept numbers of ocellaris and percula and had far less aggression with the ocellaris than the perculas. The percs became aggressive over time. The ocellaris just schooled around.... never fighting.

 

[wheelspin]

Needless to say it lasted about an hour.I have rbtas at both ends of the tank and they would meet in the middle and fight.

West Side Story, clownfish style

 

[Winwood]

I hear ya, but I've gotta try it for myself... in my own way. I've kept numbers of ocellaris and percula and had far less aggression with the ocellaris than the perculas. The percs became aggressive over time. The ocellaris just schooled around.... never fighting.

I agree with this. Perculas are far more agressive toward subordinant individuals IME.

 

[blusafe]

Incest?

Incest?

I believe clowns can tell the difference between individuals. Living in a small glass box and seeing the same ones every time, the "in-group" chases away unwanted male juveniles, in this case the same brood. This is a natural behavior that encourages gene spread. If juveniles did not migrate to fresh waters...you'd have lots of incest and a stagnant gene pool.

 

[sassyfrassy]

Spawning pair ocellaris clowns

Spawning pair ocellaris clowns

I have a mated pair of ocellaris - female about 2 1/4-2 1/2, and the male slightly smaller. If I were to sell them, what would be a reasonable asking price?