My New Snowflake Clowns

[CoralsAddiction]

I had been wanting to keep a pair of A. Ocellaris clowns for a couple weeks now in addition to my A. Percula pair. The goal was to find a nice established pair. An opportunity presented itself last Thursday when a LFS owner decided to part with his clownfish pair that had been living in his 120 gallon display tank for over 4 months together. The female was actually in his personal home tank but since her mate jumped out of the tank he decided to bring her to work and pair up with another clown.
The female is pretty orange color Premium Snowflake with golden spots (bullet holes?) on her body. The golden spots make her very unique. The male is a Premium Black Ice. I had observed them cleaning an area by a giant mushroom coral that was hosting the clowns. However, I never actually saw any eggs. Considering that they were in the tank with a pretty mean looking Poweder Blue Tang, the clowns might not have felt safe enough to lay eggs. But may be they were. I didn't ask. They are currently housed in a standard 10 gallon tank but will be moved to a custom cube 16x16x14 that should be ready on Friday.

 

[Cfabia1]

Wow she is pretty. Is the cube going to be for just breeding? Or a reef too?

 

[CoralsAddiction]

Wow she is pretty. Is the cube going to be for just breeding? Or a reef too?

Thanks. I am thinking about putting in a few zoas, finger leather and a mushroom from my 42 gallon tank. The tank will be just for the clowns and may be a tailspot blenny.

 

[oh207]

Nice pair of clowns.

 

[CoralsAddiction]

Nice pair of clowns.

Thank you.

 

[owen386]

Nice looking pair of fish. Never really seen the spots like that. Its cool and unique. I have a pair of mochas myself

 

[CoralsAddiction]

Nice looking pair of fish. Never really seen the spots like that. Its cool and unique. I have a pair of mochas myself

Thanks. Mochas are nice too.

 

[CoralsAddiction]

Here they are in their blue carpet potemone. Barring any last minute surprises from tank builder the cube should be ready tomorrow.

 

[Jrsdaddy]

Wow, very nice pair! Snowflakes are one of my favorite types of clowns.

 

[CoralsAddiction]

Wow, very nice pair! Snowflakes are one of my favorite types of clowns.

Thanks. I had the same Snowflake/Black Ice pair a while ago and was happy to get this established pair.

 

[CoralsAddiction]

Tank transfer is complete. Got to love small, sumpless and bare bottom tank upgrades. They take no time at all. I might add a nano skimmer to this setup. The tank definitely needs 5-10 lbs of live rocks.
The builder of course has to surprise me. He made the tank an inch taller than I asked. So it's 16x16x15.

 

[fearyaks]

Awesome!! were these from the Aquarium? I love the golden bullet holes.

 

[CoralsAddiction]

Awesome!! were these from the Aquarium? I love the golden bullet holes.

Thank you. They came from Nautilus tropical fish. Small but clean store in Lakewood.

 

[fearyaks]

Oh cool, never heard of it. Good luck with raising little ones!

 

[ErosJN]

Those golden spots are niiiice.. I wonder how rare it is to come across

 

[oh207]

Did you have to pre-treat the ceramic pot prior to placing it into the tank? Like cycle it or wash it before?

 

[CoralsAddiction]

Big update: I paired up the female with an Onyx clownfish. The onyx is still a juvenile and hasn't colored up all the way. The previous male will be picked up by a RC member this weekend where he will enjoy his new forever home.

 

[CoralsAddiction]

Those golden spots are niiiice.. I wonder how rare it is to come across

I have seen many designer clowns and most have either darker brown, black or orange spots. This is the only one I have seen that actually has golden dots on its body.

 

[CoralsAddiction]

Did you have to pre-treat the ceramic pot prior to placing it into the tank? Like cycle it or wash it before?

I did not. With a flat and glossy surface it has I don't really know how much bacteria it can hold. I have had this pot for a long time now and just gave it a good rinse before placing in this fish only tank. I also have a clay pot in my mixed reef and have not seen any negative effects after placing it in there.

 

[oh207]

I did not. With a flat and glossy surface it has I don't really know how much bacteria it can hold. I have had this pot for a long time now and just gave it a good rinse before placing in this fish only tank. I also have a clay pot in my mixed reef and have not seen any negative effects after placing it in there.

Thanks for the info. I want to try adding a pot like this for a pair of clowns I have in 20g QT. They will be there for some time. From your experience, which pot do you think would be ideal, ceramic or clay?