Talk to me about Maroon clowns please

MJAnderson

Premium Member
I'm looking to stock my 72g bowfront. Tank has been up and running for just over 2 months and as of right now has just a cleaning crew --- no fish.

My clown pair of choice is the maroon with the yellow stripe. I'm a little nervous after reading that they are the largest and most territorial of the clowns. I'm thinking of adding these as well, mostly very tame fish:

1 Bangaii cardinal
1 sailfin blennie
3 Vanderbilt Chromies
1 Purple Tang

Maybe 1 other smaller fish (wrasse most likely).

Should I stay away from the maroons? Should they go in last if I do go with them?

Thanks in advance!
 
I LOVE my maroons!! Beautiful fish :)
I started with one, and was really worried about adding a juvi.
It went VERY smoothly.

They do have th habit of being territorial. But its kinda funny. Her home is her bta. and ANYTHING that comes close feels her wrath. A hermit, a frag, a snail.. whatever it is (even large rocks) she'll pick em up and spit them across the tank.

I get rushed and bit when my hands are to close to the nem...

And an occasional dust storm... she likes to move the sand.

I would def never tell you NOT to get one or a pair. I was really put off by joyces book and a few stickes thinking they were devil fish or somthing.
They have a great personality and are really beautiful.

They do have a tendency to turn almost a black/brown in maturity.. male stays nice and bright.
I donno. ask questions and Ill answer them :)

oh.. white striped ones are considered the meanest ;)

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get the maroons and skip the tang.
get the female first and allow her to get acclimated. a few weeks later get a juvie that is about 3/4" and you should have a pretty good chance of them pairing up.
 
Thanks for the info. Should they go in my tank last and is it better to add them at the same times as the BTA? My tank has been up 2 months and I was told to wait until 6 for the BTA. 4 months to add the other fish seems about right.
 
LOL, well I would probably never get another one. I love her to death and would never trade her in, but she has killed my corals, and has now taken to aquascaping my tank. She is knocking over rocks twice her size, she even made a path down the middle of my tank where there used to be rock. Now she wasn't like this the first 4 1/2 years I had her. As long as she lives, nothing else can go in my tank.
 
I have a pair of GSM clowns & absolutely love them! I currently have them in a 90g with a mysteri wrasse & 2 scooter blennies. Everyone is getting along just fine.

FWIW, I purchased them from my LFS as a 'mated pair'. They were both together in a very small specimen cube (about 6x6x6), which gave me a pretty good idea the 2 would get along. From what I've read, you want to be careful putting more than 1 together, as they may fight with each other. I believe you're usually best to get no more than 2, and one should be considerably larger than the other (female). My female is approx 3 times bigger than the male.

hth,
Rob
 
Wasn't really what I wanted to see either. :lol: They are known for being one of the most aggressive of clowns, so it's always a risk.
 
I added a tang to my tank about 6 hours ago.. (6 week qt)

My maroons havent even flintched. I expected at LEAST a chase, but got nothing.

Ive read as long as the fish looks different than the clown there should be no problems.

Sure. Mine dug into a DSB until she hit glass, and likewise, moves rocks until shes happy with the arrangement. But I dont see why you would have ANY trouble with other fish (cept maybe a flame hawk or somthing with similar body and color)

Yep. wait on the BTA. till your tank is super stable. Your maroons will host somthing else. But you wont even get the BTA out of the acc. bag before they start going at it once you do get it!!

Mine never damaged any coral. If its in her 'spot' she'll move it. but never bites them or anything
 
My GSM maroon pair never bothers anything, fish, invert or whatever. The female used to dig huge pits in the sand until her anemone did me a favor and climbed up a bit higher on the rock wall. She also used to spit sand at a Lunare Wrasse that would get a bit too close for her comfort, but that's it. Personally, I think they get a bad rap.

jds
 
Tourkid, I'm guessing things will change as the fish get older. Personally, I think a tang with 2 maroons in your size of tank, will eventually lead to disaster.
 
Dc.. It WOULD lead to disaster. Not because my maroon will hate the tang.. but because the tang will get to big. Its a juvi right now, about 1 1/2 inches. Im getting a 90 gallon and it'll be cycled by xmas. surely enough time. But still not big enough forever. (its a sailfin)


bureau.. mine too! as soon as the nem moved away from the sand the sand sifting AND spitting stopped. :)

I think they get a bad rap too.
I introduced my juvi and it was aloud in the nem within 48 hours. theyre a happy lil couple. no spawning yet, but the juvi hasent even gotton all its yellow stripes yet
 
My year old maroon clown is doing great health wise, and actually hangs out with my yellow tang.. neither take concern to bumping into eachother, and generally are within a foot of eachother in my 55g tank.. usually closer.

The clown however has a bad habit, it lost its bta quite a while ago but it sticks in the same area of tank.. and constantly (5+ times a minute) will fan the sand.. all day. This is causing enormous issues in my aquascaping and has caused large ~5+ lb rocks to fall into the sides of my tank, even if they're stabalized with 3" of sand.

Pretty depressing, my sand bed is always looking rough, the everpresent threat of rocks banging into my glass (if it ever cracked... o noes!) and it bothers the 3 blue damsels I have (which is to be expected, and they bother one another too - gotta trap em soon).

I think my solution will be a bta to localize my clown and give him/her a purpose greater than destroying my sand bed. If I can't seem to justify the $35 drop on a bta when I actually have $35 to spend, I may have to trade it in at the lfs.

Bk
 
Do they fan the sand in the same spot? I did some research and someone said they clear out the spot in front of their BTA and the solution is to just bury a rock there so that she can "sweep" it clean...
 
Mine did it in mostly the same spot. till she reached the glass. then she moved behind the bta and started all over agian.

It really had to do with the fact that the btas bottom tenicles were reaching the sand.
It eventually split and they moved up the rocks. NOw the only time she ever does it is if theres hermits to close to her. she'll fan them. and if that doesent work she'll pick em up with her muth and spit them across the tank
 
I have a very large maroon and white striped and I love him. He has been in my reef tank for two years. Never bothers anyone. I have a nasotang,yellow tang,alge blenny,bicolor blennd, manderine goby, chromis, two other gobies. Always front and center in my tank/never goes after anyone
 
Same as Tourkid, she fans in one spot then moves when the sand is gone. I have anywhere from a 0" to 8" sandbed.

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I spoke too soon, after being together for a month, today I woke up and found a small nip on my clowns tail. Had no clue what caused it, figured maybe a hermit was messing with him when he was asleep..

then a few minutes ago I came downstairs and saw more nips, and actually watched my yellow tang nipping at him. Strange, because the clown didnt run away, infact still stuck side by side with the tang.. and continues to.

Just fed the tang some seaweed to keep his mind off nipping my clown... i think clowny's gonna be moved to a nano tomorrow :p
 
lol Deb 0-8inch sandbed! Sounds like my tank (bare spots with 8-9inch mountains full with valleys and canyons!
 
Just wanted to update on the tang. The fiesat few days it stayed by itself on the left side of the tank. clowns took NO notice. eventually it started geting really close to the nem.
I thoght the maroon would nip at it. but at first she hid from it.
Now a few days more, the marrons are more active than Ive ever seen them. They swim across the tank and swim next to the tang, and swim together. nudge eachother sorta. Its very nice seeing the clowns swimming.

No aggression at ALL from either party.

BUT... My maroon has starting moving sand agian. She completely stopped after the nem split and they were all away from the sand... but now...
I found a kenya tree across the tank.
she is taking bites out of the GSP's
and moving sand and spitting rocks

Not sure what to think yet. She doesent seem to dislike the tang at all, but shes being very agressive with the things near her nem.
(doesent mind when the tangs in her space tho )



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