Saddleback clown

mkprice

New member
Picked this one up at the LFS this afternoon...so far so good!

I'm waiting for them to get a juvenile in...hopefully soon...

Question: will she host in a red bubbletip anemone? She hasn't seemed interested yet but it has just been a few hours.
 

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She answered my question...came down this morning and found her all snuggled up in the anemone! Here's a mediocre pic taken with my iphone...

Funny thing, I got a Potter's angel at the same time I got the clown and she appears to be trying to pair up with it. I was told at the LFS that she came with a mate but turned on it and she had been aggressive with other fish they put in with her. She came home on a 'trial' basis...if she picked on any of my fish, she was going back. But she has been following the angel all around the tank - not chasing, just hanging out with...go figure :).

BTW...does this look like a RBTA to you all? It never does get the bubble tips. Happy anemone though, it's going on 3 years in my tank.
 

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A lot of BTAs don't have bubbles. So far I've not seen anyone who knows why.

Nice looking fish.
 
Is she black or just really dark brown? The reason I ask is because I've never seen a black one with the actual "saddle", usually it's just the brown ones.

Beautiful fish! I've been looking to get another pair myself.
 
Here is mine.
mkprice, the marking of your's looks like a brown saddle back except that it is black. The saddle marking is very high like the brown variety of these fish. Mine, as you can see, the saddle marking is much deeper. How big is your clown? I think they get darker as they get older.
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Is she black or just really dark brown? The reason I ask is because I've never seen a black one with the actual "saddle", usually it's just the brown ones.

Beautiful fish! I've been looking to get another pair myself.

This is my black pair that I picked up a week and a half ago.

saddlebackpair3.jpg
 
Todd, thats what I mean, the black ones you see usually have the more solid stipe rather than the saddle. Mkprice, If that is a black one with a saddle like that you are pretty lucky, I've always wanted a black pair with the distinct saddles, they look better than the brown ones Imo.

Very good find!!
 
She is a pretty decent size fish - pushing 2" I would say. She is pretty dark now, in some lights she has a brownish tint to her, other light she looks pretty black. My guess is she was probably brown when she was younger and then darkened up. I picked her up because I liked her marking so much. My LFS guys is trying to pick me up a juvie for her with similar markings, I'll let you know how that goes! So far, she is doing great in the tank. I'll get some better pictures with the good camera and post them.

Michele
 
True black saddlebacks do not have what looks like a saddle. It almost looks like a complete bar, similar to pictures already posted here by Todd and Orion. The brown saddles, can take on very dark coloration (basically black) but are not true black saddlebacks. I had a pair of brown saddlebacks that did just this. At times, especially the female (who was over 5 in) would look very black, but the coloration would then change to a noticable brown colr at times. I think it may have to do with age and size. Unfortunately, I no longer have these fish, as they decided to jump out of their holding tank whilst I was moving. That still puzzles me to this day as before I moved them they were in a 55 gal long with no lid and never once jumped. Moved them to a temporary home (175 gal round fiberglass tank) at UTMSI where I formerly was employed, and the female jumped after 3 days. That convinced me to cover the tank with plastic netting, as I didnt want to lose the male (he was 3 in) in hopes to create a new pair. Well, he met his demise about a week later after jumping and pushing his way under the netting. It was very sad as this pair was beautiful.

If yours have a true saddle, then they are browns. Mine hosted in LTA's.

TCT
Third Coast Tropical
 
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Minh,

Thats a nice tile ya got there in your tank....looks familiar!...Hope they use it.
 
:rollface:
I am sure you seen that particular tile before. My Saddleback pair is too young, but I got a Snowflake pair with a Picasso that is about to lay eggs. That is an interesting pair. I seen similar result from another pair before. I got one hybrid from that pair and love it. I am trying to raise this particular hybrid and see how they turn out.

Minh,

Thats a nice tile ya got there in your tank....looks familiar!...Hope they use it.
 
one aspect which hasn't been mentioned yet, saddlebacks can be very hard on their host anemone. mine would pound the oral disc of the S. haddoni carpet from above and below. every so often they'll disappear into the oral cavity. i'm not sure how a bta will handle their behavior.

btw, i like the body shape and striping, they're one of my favorite clownfish.
 
one aspect which hasn't been mentioned yet, saddlebacks can be very hard on their host anemone. mine would pound the oral disc of the S. haddoni carpet from above and below. every so often they'll disappear into the oral cavity. i'm not sure how a bta will handle their behavior.

btw, i like the body shape and striping, they're one of my favorite clownfish.

Yea, I forgot to mention that in this thread. My pair (( but mainly the female )) will dive into the mouth when frightened, makes it a bit difficult to feed my Haddoni. Though she is getting slightly better about it, I can now do a water change without her diving in.
 
My pair dive inside the S. haddoni sometime but never into the S. malu that I now keep with them. I am not sure why. Maybe the long tentacles have something to do with that. It would be interesting to observe if they do this to H. crispa, their other natural host.
 
Minh, don't tempt me to find out.

my local petco has a beautiful tank raised polymnus who's eyes are saying get me outta here, take me home!

i don't know how the ora nigripes will react with a saddleback in it's 6' 100gal. hate to lose bragging rights of it's years with me by swapping one for the other.
 
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