True percs harder to keep than Ocellaris?

[sir_dudeguy]

I've always had ocellaris clowns and have found them all very easy to care for and whatnot. On my next tank i would like to get 2 true ones though...i was just checkin out liveaquaria.com's page on them and they say that they are "not for beginners".... Not that i consider myself a beginner or anything, but it just didnt make much sense to me....whats so much harder about true percs than falses?

They are going to be for my aunts new tank, not mine. Otherwise i wouldnt even worry about it and i'd just get them lol, but since its for my aunts tank, it'd be nice to have something a little easier. She's had a yellow watchman goby for about 2-3 months now though, so i dont think there's any problem really...plus i'll be the one taking care of the tank for the most part anyways besides daily feeding and top-offs.

What say you? Harder to keep or just the same?

 

[illcssd]

Ime, perc's are a little less hardy then ocellaris. But not by much. Just make sure to quarintine and you will be fine.

 

[sir_dudeguy]

Ok thanks. By less hardy, i'm guessing you mean they just seem to die a little more often than an ocellaris would?

Any other opinions?

 

[colby]

If you get a healthy specimen....no different at all.

 

[GreenPuffers]

Im VERY VERY new to this hobby and I have a pair of true percs that are doing great.

 

[Slakker]

I just got a pair of juvi ocellaris that are having one hell of a time...apparent infestation of the gills, possible internal parasites. They appeared healthy at the store, swimming around great, were doing well for the first few days in my tank, then all of a sudden BOOM, some white spots, heavy breathing, and a loss of activity.

I'd say with either of these particular species you might end up with some specimens that are darn near bulletproof (my friends pair of percula survived a 3 hour trip from her home to school in which their water temp somehow dropped below 60 degrees.) or positively fragile, as mine are right now.

IMO, like so many other aspects of this hobby, the key is in getting them healthy to begin with. What I've learned from this (my first fish) is that you QT no matter what. QTing fish immediately will reduce stress for you and them in the long run, because let me tell you...even in a tank with less than 3" of water in the bottom and the rocks removed, catching clowns can be quite a task.

 

[colby]

Slakker...put em in a QT, dose with cooper crank up the temp to 81F ans you'll be golden.

 

[Slakker]

I've got them QTed, but hesitate to throw copper at them until I'm certain that Hyposalinity won't work. My on-going thread is here, as I don't want to hijack this one with further discussion of treatment options. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1093252&perpage=25&pagenumber=1


sir_dudeguy, have you decided on anything yet?

 

[sir_dudeguy]

Thanks everyone

I'm still thinkin i'll stick with the true percs. I've had 3 pairs of ocellaris (2 regular pairs and one black pair) and they're all easy enough so i figure i'll go w/the trues this time around.

 

[cschweitzer]

True percs at a younger age may be more suceptible to loss. it takes the lavae longer to go through MMP and it is a more sketchy process. If they are in good health when purchased and of decent age(mid-bar already formed), then you should have no more troubles with perc than you would with ocellaris. I think the expert part is true if it is sick, too young, or attempting to breed, as breeding takes a much more tedious process than oc. Personally, I like percs better and the breeding"challenge" makes it a little more fun for me. I can't wait until they are of age to breed...I'm gonna have a lot of fun with that.

 

[sir_dudeguy]

Cool, thanks I dont think that we'll even be trying to breed them (i havent with any of my other clown pairs before) so that shouldnt be a problem there.

The mid-bar....i take it thats the one in the middle? (like theres' 3 bars?)