Tomato + Maroon + Ocellaris?

[beatle]

In a recent 75g tank purchase, I received two old (9 years) clowns. They're both about 3 inches or so. One is a maroon, one is a tomato. I didn't know much about clowns other than the fact that it's not advised to keep different species of clowns in the same tank. I was even more shocked when I read that maroons and tomatoes are the more aggressive species of clownfish. They do a little dance now and then, but overall they seem to tolerate each others presence. Here's the tricky part:

My current tank is a 37 with a single Ocellaris a bit over an inch long. As I'm changing the 75 out for a 90, I've had to do some shuffling. My Ocellaris is in a 5g now and the two large clowns are in the 37. My girlfriend begs for me to keep the small clown and keep him with the other two, but I'm telling her he'd be killed in no time. We do have a breeder box that I use for my cichlids that I could use to introduce the small clown to the other two, but I'm unsure how this would work long term. Any advice?

 

[stykthyn]

if the maroon and tomato by some act of god are getting along together I wouldnt risk things by putting another clown in the tank with them

 

[RokleM]

Your small one would likely be dead in a day at max. If you do indeed have those two larger ones together, as mentioned, I wouldn't do anything at all to disturb them. That includes tank changes, moving rock work, introducing any other fish, anything that would make them want to "reestablish" their territory, etc. Those two fish, especially at that size getting along is rarer than rarer than rare.

 

[dc]

I can't even add a coral to my tank now with my maroon.

 

[acook]

I have 2 species in the same tank. The dominate clowns will keep the others in CHECK. If you have an anemone that will be specific to one or the other it will help identify territories. Both are teritorial species. My advice is to give something that helps one or the other help establish this. Once it is established you will see very little interaction between the two species. ( For instance I have a sebae and 2 percs the sebea host my anemone and the perc's stay away. keep in mind I have a 120 gallon. Tank size can play a big part in seperation. )

Thanks Dale