Onyx dilemma...

[AliKat]

I have an extra onyx, as the older ocellaris clownfish I had recently died. This onyx is still small, and I'm not really sure what to do with it. Should I put it in the tank with the other two onyx I have that I'm trying to get to pair? They are all three still very young. How would having all three in the same tank affect their pairing?

Decisions, decisions. I can always keep him in my big tank. Just thought it might be neat to have the three together if it won't affect two of them pairing off.

 

[young_Skywalker]

you can keep ocellaris and percula in small groups, they kind of function as a harem or pack where there are two breeding individuals and...well the rest. I've never seen just three though usually 5

 

[AliKat]

I just don't know. He's going to be by himself in the big tank or with the two others in the small one. Maybe three's a crowd?

 

[cartman5579]

Not to hijack his thread but if someone were to have a dedicated tank to just a large anemone, say ritteri, and clowns, how many clowns could you keep in the same tank if you put them all in as juvenilles to start?

 

[Bones18]

you could have a large family of them. To both of your questions. One will become the dom female, one the dom male.. and any other clown would become workers...

 

[InsaneClownFish]

As I understand it the more the better. 7 seems to be the magic number Also, if you add them all at the same time as juvis you have the best chance at a nice docile haram.

Also, it may be a good idea to pick a touch larger dom pair than the three, or more, smaller ones. I hope this helps.

Best in pairs or groups of 5, 7, etc...

I've talked with Rod Buehler about this recently and 3 can be done but there's more of a chance that two will pair up and shun the third.

 

[Aaarrrggg]

How big are the 2 tanks?

Personally I'd keep them where they are and get your lonely one a new pal. If you've got the tankage why not?

 

[cartman5579]

You definitely need an odd number for some reason....

I've tried 8 three times, and they don't like it.

 

[traveller7]

Near term anything is possible, long term the risks far out weigh the advantages.

 

[phender]

I am not sure how stable the large groups are that we see in the wild.

Based on aquarium behavior and videos of wild "family" groups interacting, I would be willing to bet that the spawning pair in the anemone is stable but the rest of the individuals, especially the smallest ones, have a pretty high turnover rate. That's just a hypothesis based on observations, not a researched fact.

 

[OrionN]

I keep three A. percula in my 20 g aquarium with my Haddoni carpet. They seem to do fine. The smallest one get put into his place once in a while but he still hanging around with the other two in the anemone (getting rather large for a 20 g tank. I have stop feeding the anemone other that whatever snails fallen on him and the fish food that he caught.
I have tried to keep more in a small tank (20g) before but not able to do it.