Pairs of clowns?

[Deep End]

I have a 265g display mixed reef tank with two pair of clowns (black & orange) that I bought all together as juveniles (~6 months ago). They have not yet matured, but when they do, I'm concerned they will get aggressive. Any thoughts about housing 2 pair in a tank my size?

My rose bubble tip anemone just split - assuming they'll all get along, how far apart would it be wise to have the anemones?

 

[CoralsAddiction]

It should be alright. It would be best to give them anemones and put them as far away as possible.

 

[FDdragon]

yeah, try putting them in opposite sides of the tanks. I know a guy who has 5 clowns in his 200+ tank and they all get along great (pretty big in size as well).

I currently have 4 in my 125g and they are all getting along for now. I have three ocellaris, one about 3.5", two at 2" and one maroon (I know, people say don't mix the maroons because they are aggressive but he is doing just fine and doesn't pick on anyone) maroon is about 2" as well. the maroon and black ocellaris stay on the left size of the tank for the most part, and the two orange stay on right. They all swim around and hang out together a lot and there aren't any issues.

Mine have been together for about 10 months now.

 

[TangingOut]

I have a pair of ocellaris, but a lfs has a pair of mochas that really caught my eye. The ocellaris are about 1 1/4" while the mochas would be 1 3/4". I currently don't have any anemones. Would I be ok to add the mochas?

 

[FDdragon]

How big is your tank? is it the 5' FOWLR you currently have? Mochas are just a color variation of ocellaris clowns. I have anemones but, sadly, they haven't hosted yet.

If your tank is big enough then I don't see why there would be any issues. I can only speak from my experiences though as I have read (and seen at LFS) where clowns are territorial and will pick on the outsiders.

What some people have questioned is "I see lots of clowns together in one small tank at the LFS and they all get along fine. why doesn't this work when I take the fish home?" well at the LFS they don't have territory to defend, tanks are usually empty...with maybe one or two LR. So there is no "hey, this is my home...back off" going on in the tank. Once you buy them and they claim their new home is when they can start defending it. Once a spot (anemone or area) is established, the clowns wont venture off to far away....so if two pairs claim opposite ends of the tank then everything should be fine.

that's my two cents. If I have said something incorrect please feel free to comment as I don't want to mislead anyone.

 

[TangingOut]

Yes it's the 5' FOWLR. I'll give it a try. The ocellaris were what my kids wanted so can't really turn them in. If anything, I'll just get a 14gal Biocube for their room and put the ocellaris pair in there.

Thanks.

 

[FDdragon]

You might want to add them in a small quarantine inside the tank first and see what the other clowns do. ive seen this done and the other clowns quickly noticed...then they kept hanging around and showing signs of aggression....some were showing signs of submission but some didn't look happy with the newcomers. This is just a precaution and we still don't know what will happen once they are free to roam around the tank.

Im throwing this out there so in the case that they don't get along....you wont be tearing your tank apart to catch them before they hurt each other.

 

[TangingOut]

You might want to add them in a small quarantine inside the tank first and see what the other clowns do. ive seen this done and the other clowns quickly noticed...then they kept hanging around and showing signs of aggression....some were showing signs of submission but some didn't look happy with the newcomers. This is just a precaution and we still don't know what will happen once they are free to roam around the tank.

Im throwing this out there so in the case that they don't get along....you wont be tearing your tank apart to catch them before they hurt each other.

Funny you suggested this as I'm in the middle of making a homemade fish trap/isolation box. Couldn't believe all the ones on the market were $50 or more and those weren't even the ones big enough that I could use as an isolation box. Mine is going to cost ~$10 total which will be used to reintroduce an aggressive yellow tang.