Question about clownfish population in my 60G.

AJF

New member
Hello,
I need your help, i am starting a 60Gal. reef tank.
I love clownfishes, and i would like to know if it is possible to mantain more than 2 of the same specie in my new tank.

thanks
cya
 
You can start w/ three if you want but you will eventually end up w/ only two. The two that pair up will end up killing the one left out.
 
so it's almost impossible to have like 4 our 5 ocelaris / percs / skunks? isn't there one specie that permit to have like 4 ou 5 together?
 
thanks for the answers..
i am portuguese, so i didn't understand the '' unless u get a WC family'' :p
 
I think it's "wild caught family", which means all previously living together in the wild. Highly highly unlikely to find that unless you catch them yourself ;)
 
hhumm. ok!
thanks for the help, i was just wondering if it was possible to have more than 2 of a specie like '' a group'' .
One more question, do u think it is possible in 60Gal. to have 2 couples of diferent species? which species?
thanks a lot!
 
i do not think it is possible to have 2 different species in a 60G.. its just not a good idea..i have seen WC families FS but they are extremely expensive, and like you said rare at that..just stick to a pair or get 2 tanks..
 
It is possible to have two different pairs of clowns in a 60 gal tank. If they are species that like to stay close to their anemone and the anemones are at opposite sides of the tank, it is possible.
However, just because it is possible doesn't mean it is a good idea. Over a period of time one pair may attack the other and try to drive them away. Since they have no place to go, the less dominant pair may be killed.

Clowns that tend to stay close to their anemones would be: ocellaris, percula and the three species of skunk clowns.
 
Yeah don't do it. I have 4 clowns in my tank. 2 skunks and 2 ocell. It worked for two years but the skunks are starting to dominate my 180g.
 
i agree with Phender but IMO i wouldnt, just because in the long run it probably may not work out and will just stress the fish, or death..
 
yes i am not going to do it! U guys are so lucky you can get all the species u want, in portugal a lot of species that u talk about here i ve never heard/seen about them anywhere.
 
Gonna have 2X150w hqi more the actinics, which anemone it's easier? in portugal we are afraid of anemones, and a lot of persons don't have them in tanks.
 
It is possible to keep family groups of some species. I have only tried it with Ocellaris once and was lucky enough to end up with a single spawning pair and some little juvies hanging out in the tank. I think the thing that allowed this to happen is a combination of individual personalities and order of introduction or sizes of fish anyway. For example I intoduced a 2" WC Ocellaris into the tank at the same time as 1.5" CB black Ocellaris, a 1.25ish"CB Ocellaris and a 1" WC Ocellaris. They all fell into the heirarchy in order of their sizes. I am not sure this would have worked had all the fish been the same size. Finally it is essentil tha the fish are constantly well fed. Good luck.

Colby
 
Hello colby thanks for your answer sharing your experience!
How many time u managed to have all those 5 ocelaris at your tank? whats the size of the tank?
thanks
 
in theory you could divide your tank with straregically placed live rock etc into two halves sharing water but not territories and keep pairs on either side... If you were so inclined... probably need more equipment for good flow on both sides tho...
 
Well, like the rest of us I had always heard "don't put more than one clownfish in your tank." I am only 18 and started keeping and breeding marines when I was 11 so keep in mind my experience with salt is limited to about 7 years. Anywho, I got to know some directors of public aquariums and was priveleged enough to have several behind the scenes tours my eyes were opened to some interesting realtities of the reef world. Clownfish in fact do live in large social groups in the wild and public aquariums simply follow the example. I think one of the most impressive clownfish displayys I
 
oops...hit post to early....

.....most impressive clownfish displays I have seen was at the aquarium in Coney Island New York. I was recently there and they had a tank filled with many species of clowns and they were all HUGE!!! Of course many of them had some torn fins and what not, but you know what they were all breeding..right down to the loan pair of black saddlebacks. I have found this tank to be a common theme in every public aquarium I have visited. So all I did was do what they did and put my own sort of spin on it to try and replicate nature and you know what? It worked. I would imagine it would work with every Amphiprion species, the important thing being the order of introduction. I imagine that in nature that groups of adolesenct clowns do not simaltaneoulsly show up at a given unoccupied anemone, so don't do it that way in your tank. Put several in of staggering sizes, and no previously established pair bonds. Finally I do think that in this instance an anemone is instumental in the success of a clown family. The tank should be structured in such a manner that allows the female to have the prime lookout posiion, the male his little egg patch and the juvies their section of anemone. Just look at all the pics you can find of wild clowns. Also as I mentioned before keep them well fed best of luck to you. In the future I would like to do this again but eventually remove for example the female so that I can watch the entire group transgress the gender ladder. I didnt do this before as I became attached to the female and didn't have the heart to disrupt the happy family Anyway best of luvk to you.

Colby
 
Hello again Colby..
So what u sugest me to do, is to put like 5 ocelaris of diferent sizes, 2 Large , 1 medium , and 2 small? and then one week later or so put an anemone? which anemone u sugest? I would prefer a easy one!
thanks
 
Well I am cautious to say the least to "recommend" an anemone as I am not aware of your eperience level. However I would say get several Bubble Tip Anemones. And I would recommend putting one large, one medium and two small Ocellaris in all at the same time. I think if you are careful and use common sense you should end up with a happy family. I have one going right now that my little brother has named Marlin, Coral, Nemo and runt. Again best of luck.

Colby
 
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