Saddleback & Clarkii ?

dwaynenterprise

New member
Hi guys,

I Just came back from the LFS and I went to purchase a 2nd Clarkii to add with my original Clarkii. This would have been cool if I ended up getting a 2nd Clarkii, however I believe I got a Saddleback instead haha.. (Please correct me if I'm wrong)

They seem to be doing okay in the same QT tank: 10G being treated with ParaGuard... But my question is if I keep them in there for longer, will they develop a mutual bond or will they just merely tolerate each other and ultimately want to slice each other's throats?

It's been about an hour and they show no signs of any aggression, and seem to be tolerating one another. They do however swim on opposite sides of the tank, so should I thug it and let them try to bond or do I / will I have a serious problem? :fish1:

Edit: 1st picture is the clarkii (Slanted 1st stripe, yellow pelvic fins, 3rd tail stripe)
2nd picture is the saddleback. (Straight 1st stripe, slanted saddle stripe, black pelvic fins, no 3rd stripe)
 

Attachments

  • IMG_5027.jpg
    IMG_5027.jpg
    48.8 KB · Views: 10
  • IMG_5033.jpg
    IMG_5033.jpg
    42.9 KB · Views: 9
I believe the second clown may be a sebae. Their middle stripe is fairly similar to a saddleback. The tail marking though looks like a sebae to me. Although I have seen clowns mixed, but not often successfully. The larger the tank (like really big), the better of course. That said, I don't know if I have ever seen a clark's and sebae together. You don't see many sebaes typically, but I think there may be some coming in from Sri Lanka recently.

Good luck and just be ready to pull out one if needed.

PS - Both very nice clowns by the way. Excellent coloration.
 
Thanks for the Input. It's crazy though, i've never really seen sebae either, however out of the two LFS I visited today, I saw one tank of 4 sebaes and apparently this sebae at the 2nd LFS must have gotten mixed into the clarkii sale, because I picked a nice looking one and it turns out to not be a clarkii. Just my luck!

I got them both on sale from the LFS about a week apart after I moved to a larger QT.

My display is a very small nano 20 g reef long housing softies & some LPS and, right now with only one scooter blenny that survived my Ich outbreak and a skunk cleaner. I think these two would go great in it if they will ever get along.

I will monitor their progress throughout my 8 weeks and see how they act with eachother, since they are forced to either befriend each other.. hehe...

All in all, i'm happy with my purchase however I feel kind of gypt to have gotten a sebae in with the clarkiis since if I do want to exchange him, i'd take a fat exchange loss and if I want to get another sebae, it would be kind of a hassle to find one.

I'll try posting another picture of the sebae once he becomes familiar with the tank and not hiding behind all the PVC.

P.S. would it be more worthwhile for me to keep the sebae and find another sebae in the long run, as you guys mentioned it seems kind of rare and not often seen it may be nice to have a rare clown in my tank.. Just hope I can score the 2nd sebae for the price I did this one ;)
 
I found a link for a true sebae clownfish and clarkii mating.

http://reef builders.com/2012/03/22/true-sebae-clownfish/

It doesn't appear that the two always have problems with eachother, however in this video I'm not even sure which one is the sebae or which one is the clarkii haha, would anybody happen to know the "significant" difference between the two? My sebae has black pelvic fins unlike this one in the video.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_5038.jpg
    IMG_5038.jpg
    44.4 KB · Views: 7
The sebae clown has the more prominent broad yellow tail. In this video, the sebae does not have the saddleback type middle stripe like yours does, so you can see there are variants within each species. There are quite a number of variants of clarkii in particular.

Being in Southern California, I bet you run across some more sebaes. You have the benefit of many of the wholesalers being in your area. Both of your clowns are striking specimens so you can't go wrong.

Good luck!!
 
Update for today:

The Sebae seems to be swimming really weird, kind of at a 45 degree angle slowly falling kind of and bobs to keep himself back up, very lethargic and he always has his mouth open. I've never experienced this type of behavior before with any clownfish, is this normal?

The only time the Sebae seems to be swimming normal is when hes chasing the Clarkii, but it's only for short bursts, so I can't monitor his usual swimming because of how hes acting.

The two seem to co-exist okay, with the occasional sebae chasing the clarkii, but it does not look like it is in any harm or danger. I was at work all day, so I couldn't view them today but the past hour seems to be like your average clownfish harassment.

I'm hoping that they can get along, because I have no desire to return either of them since i'm growing fond of them both but on the other hand I have no room for them both if they do become more aggressive. If I were to have to pick though, I suppose the Clarkii does have a better personality, as it's the only one that actually swims around while the other one looks like hes in pain all the time. Also, the Clarkii has IMO better looking large pelvic fins and an overall better swimming pattern.

Do any of you guys have opinions as to which one is a better "overall" clownfish? Spill the dirt on your Sebae/Clarkiis :) I'm open to all opinions and will base my final decision upon results as I fear that I may have to ultimately get rid of one.
 
You are one lucky son of a gun. My Sebae killed my Clarkii I think... Somehow the clarkii dove over my acryllic divider dividing my 10 gallon and died on the wrong side while I was sleeping...

They were being treated with paraguard, no signs of ich or disease. He had tarnished fins when I found him in the morning, but not a major major injury like bleeding anywhere.
 
The first one is the Amphiprion clarkii (Bennett, 1830)

This species was described by Jonh Whitchurch Bennett...........in 1830........in Honor to the Engraver........Mr. Jonh Clark..........

In (Selection from the most remarkable and intresting fishes found on the Coast of Ceylon, pp. 28-29)

Fishes of Ceylon - Google Livros

http://books.google.com.br/books?id...&resnum=1&ved=0CBkQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false



The Geographic Distribution...........is West India..........(Kutchch Gulf..............Lackshadweep Islands............and Goa/Kerala Coast)...........

Sri Lanka (Ceylon).........where this Taxon was described................

Maldives..........

And Andaman Sea (Myanmar......Thailand......and Northwest Sumatra Island)..........


Actually exists at least 10 Geographic Variations.......under the same name........ Amphiprion clarkii (Bennett, 1830)...........


This one is the "Original"...........Amphiprion clarkii (Bennett, 1830)..........the Fish from Indian Ocean.........

The second fish is Amphiprion sebae..........that have similar Geographic Range.........
 
Thank you for a very detailed post.

Now, if it were that easy to find a 2nd true A. sebae, i'd be a happy camper. We'll see how well she fares alone in the tank.
 
Back
Top