Question concerning a rather old clownfish...

[ReefNutPA]

Hi all!

I've had a clownfish in my care since 1990 (pic is below). She's been alone her entire life. I began thinking the other day what would happen if I added another clown to the tank after all these years.

I am NOT going to do this as she is my pride and joy and I would do NOTHING to cause her stress at this point. But I began wondering if anyone else had a clown alone for an extended period of time and then added another clown.... and what transpired. Again, this is for curiosity sake only. Promise!

Tom

 

[traveller7]

Should not be any problem introducing a juvenile of the same or similar species. They may scrap a bit, but at the end of the day, clowns will pair fairly easily.

That said, in this terrible picture, top tank, you can see a pair of B&W ocellaris and (1) orange ocellaris. The orange ocellaris has been with my since the 90's and has not paired up or bothered anyone. A group of B&W ocellaris were added in 2002, but they matured past the old timer orange.

Odds are, you'll get a pair in your circumstance. I am not aware of other examples like I gave above.

 

[elegance coral]

She's probably only middle aged. She could still have many years ahead of her. These are very social fish that create very strong and long lasting pair bonds. I think you should get the old girl a little boyfriend. The companionship would probably do her a world of good.

 

[Phyxius]

Son has had a sole clown in one of his tanks for about 3 yrs so its no where close to the sole life of yours but....

Any fish we put in there got beat up by her pretty quick and after 2 or 3 we gave up. It didn't matter if it was another clown or another kind of fish as they all got terrorized.Luckily the ones getting beat up we removed and put in his larger tank where they happily reside now.
Our local store said to get her a buddy clown but get the smallest one we could find. Said to get one of those small breeding/baby hanging boxes and place the new one in there so they could see each other for a few days and then release it in to tank. Well the new small one jumped out overnight into the tank and when my son woke up they were swimming around the tank together and all was fine. This worked for us so maybe a small one would work for you too....

 

[ReefNutPA]

I changed the pic to show her a bit better. While I considered adding another to the tank over the years, I only tried it once quite a few years ago. She chased the 'lil one all over the entire tank for hours grabbing/biting it's tail and going beserk chasing it down. I figured that was a bad thing. To try it again at this point in her life...well, I'd hate to have something bad happen and know it was my fault.

As foolish as it sounds, this fish has survived many, many disasters and learning experiences on my part over the years and is really special to me. Heck, she's outlived my dog I had for 16 years! I know, I know....it's just a fish! LOL

Tom

 

[ReefNutPA]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13291623#post13291623 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Phyxius
Our local store said to get her a buddy clown but get the smallest one we could find. Said to get one of those small breeding/baby hanging boxes and place the new one in there so they could see each other for a few days and then release it in to tank.

I had considered doing that in the past.... just REALLY nervous about trying I suppose.

Would 4-6 week QT of a small clown be enough to ensure it doesn't have brook or anything else that may spread to my old gal? Like I said... I'm nervous :lol: :lol:

Tom

 

[traveller7]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13308633#post13308633 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ReefNutPA
I had considered doing that in the past.... just REALLY nervous about trying I suppose.

Would 4-6 week QT of a small clown be enough to ensure it doesn't have brook or anything else that may spread to my old gal? Like I said... I'm nervous :lol: :lol:

Tom

Should be, hit it with prazipro to eliminate the chances of internal parasites and you should be golden.

Good luck

 

[Zaita]

If you QT the clown for 6 weeks and treat it with medication assuming it has brook then you should be fine.

As mentioned above, put the new clown into a breeder box for a week or so until she becomes used to his presence. This should help alleviate some of the aggression.

HTH