Saddleback vs. Blackfoot: What would you choose?

[MikeInToronto]

Right now I have a pair of brown saddlebacks in my display tank (75g). In my sump I have a single blackfooted clown taking a long-term time-out. This fish is super aggressive. Obviously, they can't be combined.

In the very near future I am going to "downgrade" to a 60g cube since the sole purpose of the tank is to house my LTA and a clown/pair.

So, if you had to pick, which of these would you keep and which would you sell?

Brown saddlebacks aren't super hard to find but not really as common as black saddlebacks. However, blackfooted clowns seem impossible to find in any healthy state. I've lost about 5-8 trying to get this good one, both CB and WC. However, the saddlebacks are much more tolerant of other animals living in the anemone (currently an anemone crab). The blackfoot kicks them out.

In summary:
Blackfoot
Single
Aggressive
Pretty
Rare (in the living state )
Hates anemone crab

Saddleback
Pair
Tolerant of other fishes
Cute but not overly attractive
Uncommon
Doesn't even know the crab exists

Any opinions welcome.

 

[vaporize]

black foot, I mean sell the blackfoot to me LOL

So you know my answer Mike

 

[ezhoops]

I personally like the nigripes (black foot) but just give your saddles time and they themselves will become little ***stards. I had a pair that killed everything. So in short keep whichever pair you enjoy more cause either way they will become a breeding pair and become very territorial.

 

[jt_milstead]

I would say blackfoots myself. We have a pair that came from Sustainable Aquatics, tank raised, very healthy. They were hosted by Sabae within two days.

 

[MikeInToronto]

Thanks. I think I'm leaning towards the nigripes but adding it involves losing the crab as well as the saddles; I like the crab. I'm sure I'll figure out where to stash him.

 

[lazytaper]

Nigripes. :spin2:

 

[vaporize]

Thanks. I think I'm leaning towards the nigripes but adding it involves losing the crab as well as the saddles; I like the crab. I'm sure I'll figure out where to stash him.

Easy decision, setup a tank side by side Then you have two types of brown clownfish side by side

Like you have experienced, black foot does not take shipping stress well so naturally it is very tough to get them in healthy state unless they have been 'around'; so it might take another 7 or 8 before you get another healthy one (knock on wood).

 

[MikeInToronto]

Two tanks = too much. Right now the anemone is doing so well I'm afraid to move it to a new tank and the lighting I'm using (250W MH) is really strong. I want to "downgrade" to T5's but I'm not sure how the anemone will react - it sure is a beaut - but I think T5's would give me so many better lighting options. Some of the corals I got from SUM over the past year were beautiful in his tanks but in mine, they were blah under the 20K 250's (formerly Radiums, now XM's); they washed away the colour.

 

[vaporize]

Hey Mike, is it the red carpet on your avatar you talking about?

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

Saddleback vs. Blackfoot: What would you choose?

the decision would depend on the species of anemone they're kept with

 

[MikeInToronto]

Hey Mike, is it the red carpet on your avatar you talking about?

No, it's a nicer purple LTA.

 

[MikeInToronto]

the decision would depend on the species of anemone they're kept with

It an LTA (obviously, from the previous post). I don't think it is the natural host to either species of clown, though. It's hard to find a nicely coloured Ritteri (let alone keeping it alive) for the nigripes and carpet anemones are a little too dangerous around other fishes to make the saddlebacks happy. Originally the anemone was for pink skunks and I believe they use LTAs naturally.
FYI, the nigripes loves this anemone while the saddlebacks will use it at night but during the day they don't bother much.

 

[the_real_brian]

It an LTA (obviously, from the previous post). I don't think it is the natural host to either species of clown, though. It's hard to find a nicely coloured Ritteri (let alone keeping it alive) for the nigripes and carpet anemones are a little too dangerous around other fishes to make the saddlebacks happy. Originally the anemone was for pink skunks and I believe they use LTAs naturally.
FYI, the nigripes loves this anemone while the saddlebacks will use it at night but during the day they don't bother much.

A LTA is a natural host for Saddlebacks. I had a pair who lived in one for years and attacked my hand/arm every time I put it in their tank.

 

[MelloW33]

Mike...I'm going to doing the same as you, going from MH to T5. I'm going with the ATI fixtures since they have no issue with PAR and I'll be able to keep anything in it.

Just waiting on that tax refund!

 

[MikeInToronto]

I've always used MH so when I returned to the hobby last year, I was told not to bother with MH but to use T5's, even though I wanted just an anemone tank. There are good upgrade options with MH; you can move them from one tank to another (e.g. 4' tank to 6', etc) while T5's are limited to the fixture size. This turned me off. I also read how great Radiums were. It didn't take long to realise I made a mistake. The Radiums turned the tank a horrible blue and not only that, but the MH took all the sparkle out of the polyps I added to the tank. It also uses a lot of energy.
At the time I was considering my choices, someone told me MH is dead. I didn't really believe it and although I don't believe it now either, it seems my MH will have much less value in the near future with all the other options. This isn't to say MH isn't better (or worse) than other lighting options but it seems fewer and fewer people are interested in MH. It's like beta vs. VHS.

I just have to figure out if I want to spend on a 4' fixture for my current tank or downgrade to a 2' tank (which is what I originally wanted in the first place).

 

[MikeInToronto]

A LTA is a natural host for Saddlebacks. I had a pair who lived in one for years and attacked my hand/arm every time I put it in their tank.

I read this too which was another reason I chose the LTA, but lately I've been reading that the LTA isn't natural. LTA is definitely not natural for nigripes which is too bad (for me). The tank was "designed" for a Ritteri (high flow, high light) but I never found a Ritteri I liked.

This is all just part of the decision process I guess.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

LTA isn't a species of anemone

Several different anemone species are commonly called "LTA"

 

[MikeInToronto]

LTA isn't a species of anemone

Several different anemone species are commonly called "LTA"

I've only known LTA to be Macrodactyla doreensis. In fact, I don't think I've ever heard of another species called LTA. But I guess different places have different names.