Desert Lagoon
New member
Which species is the smallest as an adult? I'm hoping to get a pair.
Smallest Adult Clown Fish
- Thread starter Desert Lagoon
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ocellaris123
Active member
Amphiprion percula get the smallest as adults
Winwood
New member
Do they shrink to that size?
CoralsAddiction
Active member
Agree. I've seen tons of Jumbo size Ocellaris but not as many, if any at all, Perculas around the same size.
ocellaris123
Active member
Desert Lagoon
New member
Thanks. I will stick with the Percula.
addictedreefer
New member
Percs and occs are generally smaller, but FWIW, I have a monster 4 inch female perc in one of my systems. I think some of the skunk family remain smaller. Members of the clarki, tomoato and maroon complexes can get huge, so stay away if you are looking for smaller fish.
Winwood
New member
Idk. Get the smallest just sounds like they start out big and shrink to me instead of stay the smallest. I'm dumb
ocellaris123
Active member
No worries, I probably should have said they are the smallest species
addictedreefer
New member
Don't think there is any support for that proposition, unless there is someone out there specifically breeding for smaller adult size.
OrionN
Moved on
That is wishful thinking
Chief Reef
New member
Really? seem's to be plausible to me, Alot of species we keep are constant grazers, and almost always seem to be hungry, And as a rule we as reefer's tend to keep feeding to a minimum to maintain water quality, Coupled with the Fact we are shoving them into Small Box's for most of their lives compared to vast ocean and i could see where they wind up smaller after a few generations.
I've also read a few books referring to the fact that most species rarely reach their true size in captivity. I'm not saying its true but im genuinely curious if theres been a study done on that now.
addictedreefer
New member
You are confusing genetics with environmental factors. Although it is true that fish in captivity often do not attain their wild sizes in captivity for many of the reasons you point out, that does not alter their genes and will not be passed onto future generations. For example, a human may have 6ft tall parents and be genetically predisposed to attain a similar height, but if malnourished as a child, growth will be stunted and the child may only grow to 5.5 ft tall. However, if that individual procreates with a 6 ft tall mate, the offspring will be just as likely to be 6ft (assuming proper care and nutrition) tall as if the individual was not malnourished as a child and grew to 6ft.
Same is true for clowns. So if a juvenile wild caught clown is raised in captivity and stunted in size due to malnourishment, etc., that clown's offspring should attain normal size for the species if given proper care and nutrition.
OrionN
Moved on
C
Regarding how reefer feed their tank, I do not think what you wrote is true the majority of the time. I and most of the reefer I know have very fat and happy fish. My fish spawned all the time. I do refrain from having large fish and I have a 320 gal tank. Most reefer I know do not keep their emaciated so that they don't have to change water.have emaciated fish so that they don't have to change water.
While most of what you wrote may be true regarding larger fishes. This is not true regarding clown fish.
Regarding how reefer feed their tank, I do not think what you wrote is true the majority of the time. I and most of the reefer I know have very fat and happy fish. My fish spawned all the time. I do refrain from having large fish and I have a 320 gal tank. Most reefer I know do not keep their emaciated so that they don't have to change water.have emaciated fish so that they don't have to change water.
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