thinking about trying a clownfish colony?

[Moonstream]

I have a 75g reef and would really like to try my hand at having a clownfish colony with a mature male, mature female and some juvis. the tank is a BB 75g, only fish are a yellow wrasse, LMB and a lamarcks angel.

I will have other fish eventually, but the clowns would be the main focus of the tank. corals are a mix of LPS, zoas, some softies and some LPS as well as two gorgs.

anemone will be a BTA. I am thinking about trying this with either skunk clowns or clarkii clowns (two of my favorite clowns). I would get 4-5 fish. one would be much larger, one medium sized, and the rest small.

could/would this work? *please no flaming*

 

[Ninong]

I wouldn't recommend trying that with Clark's clownfish. It won't work because they're too aggressive, especially in a 75-gal tank.

It has sometimes been tried with Ocellaris clowns but usually in a fairly large tank and with one of their large natural hosts: Heteractis magnifica; Stichodactyla gigantea; S. mertensii. Your tank is not large enough for any of those anemones.

It might work with Pink Skunks (Amphiprion perideraion), assuming a large enough tank and a large host anemone. Here are the natural hosts for Pink Skunks: Heteractis crispa; usually H. magnifica; Macrodactyla doreensis; Stichodactyla gigantea.

I don't think your tank is really large enough to attempt this with Pink Skunks because your tank is not large enough for one of the large hosts.

Again, I think trying this with Clark's clowns in your tank would be a really bad idea. You might be able to pull it off with Ocellaris clowns if your tank were a little larger, large enough for one of their natural hosts, all of which get quite large. Ocellaris clowns usually accept BTAs as a surrogate host in captivity but you would probably need two or three colonial BTAs all next to each other to have enough room for everybody.

As I'm sure you already know, only one of the fish would mature to become the female, one would mature to become the male and the rest would remain sexually immature. Even among the sexually immature fish (assuming there will be more than one), there will be a pecking order. This may not be something you will enjoy watching as much as you hope.

 

[Toddrtrex]

Pretty much have to agree with the above.

Many years ago (( before I knew better )) I tired 3 juvi Clarkiis in my 75, it worked for about 3 months, and they a pair started to form, long story short, 9 years later I still have that pair, and that pair only.

A couple of months ago I may have said there would be a chance with pink skunks, but ever since mine have started spawning, they have become more aggressive.

 

[Ninong]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13973652#post13973652 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Toddrtrex
A couple of months ago I may have said there would be a chance with pink skunks, but ever since mine have started spawning, they have become more aggressive.

I absolutely agree with that for your 75-gal tank or Moonstream's 75-gal tank but I think it might work in a 300-gal tank with a large Heteractis magnifica or Stichodactyla gigantea, both of which are natural hosts to Pink Skunks.

Here is a picture of a 350-gal tank at the Waikiki Aquarium in Honolulu. That's not a current picture of that tank. That photo was probably taken at least seven years ago. The Merten's carpent anemone was at least 30" across when I veiwed that tank six years ago and it was on a sloping rock structure at the right rear of the tank.

Anyway, according to the caption, there were 17 clownfish and 18 anemones in that tank at the time the picture was taken. Most of the clownfish were Ocellaris clowns when I viewed the tank in October 2002 but there were a few fish that were not.

 

[garygb]

I also agree that Clarkii wouldn't be a good choice. In the tank of the month, there is a large gigantea with skunks, all siblings, living in a group. I differ with Ninong regarding success keeping H. magnifica in a 75-gallon tank, as I've had success keeping this species in a 50 gallon species tank long-term. I suppose you could try to find tank-raised skunks and buy 5 or 6 and be prepared if the aggression becomes too intense to move the "victims" into other quarters, where a dominant female will develop from an intermediate male and a new pair will form. Another RC member, Mobert has a recent thread where she has a bunch of percula siblings living amongst her BTAs. Ocellaris, skunks and perculas are the least aggressive of the clownfish species, from my understanding, and probably the best candidates for this type of grouping.

 

[Ninong]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13974162#post13974162 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by garygb
In the tank of the month, there is a large gigantea with skunks, all siblings, living in a group.

Thanks for reminding me where I had seen that recently: here. You would think that I would remember that since I asked Paul how long he has had that Gigantea - 7 years.

I differ with Ninong regarding success keeping H. magnifica in a 75-gallon tank, as I've had success keeping this species in a 50 gallon species tank long-term.

I still wouldn't recommend a Magnifica for a 75-gal tank because of the dimensions front-to-back. It's certainly possible to keep one in a smaller tank but this is a species with a potential maximum size of 40" across, although they usually do not exceed 20" across in captivity, even after several years. I just think that there are other species more appropriate for 75-gallon tanks.

 

[garygb]

I agree, in general, I think there are other species more suitable than H. magnifica for aquariums. Shutiny says that S. mertensii is an excellent choice for captivity, although they too get very large. She also says that clowns seem to prefer them over even magnifica. So, maybe that species will someday be the anemone of choice for hosting percs and ocellaris in aquariums. Also, in one of her threads she says that Merten's tends to stay smaller in smaller tanks and larger in larger tanks. That would be another selling point for that species.

 

[Moonstream]

seems a bit too intesnse to try this, unfortionatly. I already have a fairly large population of corals, so I cant justify an enormous anemone, and the tank is BB, so no sand dwelling nems either.