possible trio of clowns?

Dooly

Active member
I've seen this in the wild many times (on film), but would it be possible to have 2 males to 1 female percula?

it may be tougher even if possible because I already have an established male, but I want a piscasso male and can't see myself getting rid of my other male :lol:
 
The most dominant clown will be female, the second a male, and the third will stay a juvenile, will be banished to the corner to the tank, or killed. I'm not saying it can't be done, but from my experiences this is what happens. There are a lot of variables to take into account as well. Fish species, tank size, rock work, territory, anemones...etc etc....

Your best bet to experiment would most likely be the percs or occel's. You can try and see what happens but be ready to seperate, and have an alternate location for it.

Hope this helps
 
thanks for your reply.. well I've got 2 true percs and want 1 more male (picasso).. I've got 2 large RBTA's and plenty of room in the tank for clowns..

DSC01237.jpg
 
It's a gamble in any case really. In order to help your odds you can get a clown thats about the size of the other male and see what happens. Do you have another location if things go wrong? Are you willing to get rid of one clown if you have too?
 
I have a trio of true perculas right now with 1 GBTA. The two little males are rod's onyx and I had them in a breeding net in the main display tank for quite some time before I decided to release them into the display tank where I had the female. The they all seem to have bonded right away and the bigger male is now the dominant male while the smaller one swims very close by. The dominant male doesn't let the smaller one go into the anemone and he guards it all the time, I've seen the little one go into it once and awhile though. The female has taken them both in she shows no aggression towards either of them. There is only little aggression between the two males. I've had them together a little over 3 months maybe more.
I might be breaking up the trio by taking the smaller male out to pair up with another onyx pattern female that I picked with a male that isn't onyx but we'll see how things go.

P.S. Nice wheels DOOLY
 
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didnt work for me...i had 4 black & whites...one died during a water change...
leaving me with 3 for a while...
then recently they turned on the weaker one i guess & killed 'em...
 
If the two regular Percs don't kill the Picasso, the Picasso will probably never develop the nice adult colors. I think to better your odds of no fighting it is better to get a really small Picasso so it will not be competition for your male Perc.
 
Trios of clowns generally only last as long as the male clown is able to fight off a juvenile that will eventually want his place in the hierarchy. This may potentially shorten the potential lifespan of your male longterm.
 
In an aquarium, it is quite common for the two alpha fish to kill the juveniles when they approach readiness to spawn. 120 gallons is not that big to diffuse the territoriality. In the wild, they forage 3-5 meters around their host.

You could be going along fine for some time, and then you will just lose a fish. It happens very quick. A pair of clowns is best unless you have a very large tank. And they should all be introduced at the same time.

It might work out for you, but it's a roll of the dice
 
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