Two pairs of clowns in my new tank??

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bct15

New member
I have a new tank that I will be setting up soon. The tank dimensions are 63x22x24. I currently have a black and white pair of clowns hosting in two RBTA (split and stayed together) and a pair of onyx clowns with currently no host anemone. The female black and white 2.5 inches and the female onyx is a little smaller. Both males are about a quarter inch smaller than their respective females. I've had the black and whites for about two years and the onyx since early November (I actually gave them to my brother inlaw for Xmas but he just bought a house and will not be setting up a tank for over a year and he returned them to me). Can these two pairs go in together? What sort of risks are involve with adding then and what is the likeliness of disaster? Any other pertinent information?

Thanks,
Brandon
 
I wouldn't put those 2 pairs of clowns in the same tank, things might be ok for some time and then disaster will probably strike. Clowns are territorial and while they might coexist with each pair on opposite ends of the tank there will come a time when nature takes over and a pair gets ready to spawn and sees the other pair as competition. The risks could be at the least some shredded fins up to death.

If I were you I would set up a small 12-30g all-in-one for one of the pairs that way you can enjoy them and not worry about aggression.
 
Why, why, why, why!


I'm really trying to figure out why there are so many people asking about this or trying this. You are going to lose. The fish are going to lose.

I just shake my head.....
 
I have a pair of ORA extreme misbars in with a pair of clarkiis...the clarkiis are larger, were added second. 3" and 2" respectively. ORA's are a little smaller.

There is some bullying...but so far no causalities...we will see if that lasts as the clarks grow up.

Its a 125g...the six foot variety.
 
Most likely those clarkis will become very aggressive to those misbars as they mature.
In normal size tanks more than a pair almost always ends bad.
 
it always seems peaceful in the beginning, but rarely ends well. You might get lucky by having one pair in an anemone on one side of the tank and one pair in an anemone on the other far side. Once they get into an anemone, most don't stray more than a couple feet, so you might get lucky. good luck
 
I think I am going to set up a 30 gallon breeder for the onyx clowns. I'll probably put it in my sons room for him to enjoy (terrorize), or in my DJ/music room.

I appreciate the advice, I figured it wasn't gonna be wise but thought I would ask since I have both pairs in separate tanks now as I remodel the house.

Thanks,
Brandon
 
I had two ocellaris and a tomato live together in a 75 for a while. the tomato hung out in the rose, the ocellaris in the mag.
 
multiple pairs of clowns in the same tank

multiple pairs of clowns in the same tank

I'm with Dalligriffith on this one,

I lose count of how many ask this, I guess hoping that they will be the exception, you wont be. :headwalls: :debi:

Not unless its a 300 gal tank full of rock , caves and plenty of out of sight hideyholes for the victims.

Live and let live is a survival tactic of all young/immature clowns, it is how they survive.

Territoriality is a survivor tactic for mature clowns. That IS the way that they are programmed. :wavehand:

It is far cheaper, and kinder to keep your pairs in single pair tanks. That meets their needs. :thumbsup:
 
My clarks are hosted to some rhodactis mushrooms in the far left corner. Getting a RBTA in the next couple weeks for the ORA misbars...the highest point on the rock is on the far right, so I am assuming that is where the nem will settle. Fingers crossed that this works out.
 
My exp is the addition of a nem makes many clowns become even more territorial.
I think there is a lot of confusion on this subject because so many newer people come on and say how it worked out for them, when it can easily take a year or two for a pair of clowns to mature/spawn, and so this is kind of an endless cycle of misinformation based on short term success.
 
They are both paired in my case. I have had the clarks for going on two years in the next couple months (did not buy as a pair, made my own from very small fish...let one grow then added the other)

The ORA's I got as a pair from fosters and smith...they are the smaller bullied ones, but its fairly minor - so far. I anticipate it to get worse, as the clarks will get larger.

The clarks are hosted now, and when I get the anemone (barring me learning something here that convinces me otherwise) I am going to float the ORA's in with the anemone on the side of the tank where I want the nem to settle... (I know this is a long shot.)

You think that adding them as a hosted pair after about a week or two will increase aggression against them from the clarks? Because in that case I will let it go.

The only thing is that the ORA's have hosted in the corner of the glass nearest to the mushrooms that the clarks are hosting.

Thought getting them to the other side of the tank in their own nem might get them out of sight, and offer some additional protection at that.
 
Hard to say for sure, but my experience has been that clarki's tend to become very aggressive when they start to spawn, and that change can be pretty dramatic like over night.
I had to remove my last pair of clarki's alltogether because they became so aggro w/ all my fish, and this was after they were model citizens for about 2 years.
I wouldn't talk you out of the nem, but just be aware of the multiple pairs issue.
 
dalilgriffith said:
Why, why, why, why!


I'm really trying to figure out why there are so many people asking about this or trying this. You are going to lose. The fish are going to lose.

I just shake my head.....
Click to expand...


I shake my head too, all of the $#% things that automatically get said whenever someone wants to have more than one pair of clowns --- sooo boring, cliche, dogmatic and most importantly dead wrong! :headwalls: Many people keep more than one pair of clowns in the same tank. Experienced knowledgeable people on this subject do it routinely with hardly ever a problem. If this is what you want to do find those that do it and ask them how and please ignore those that want to show everyone how much they know by telling you what you cannot do and by showing us all how little they know.

I am preparing a tank right now for a second pair of clowns and it is not even a large tank. And gasp... There are two types of anemones in there currently.

Sorry for throwing it all out here like this but this stuff really is annoying. Forums are at there best when they tell people how to suceed not when they shoot them down. Maybe i can post a pic of my reefs and you can all complain about how many tangs are in the tank. Oh and i intentional did not bother proofing or spell checking so if you have nothing on topic have it.

- mark
 
davocean said:
Hard to say for sure, but my experience has been that clarki's tend to become very aggressive when they start to spawn, and that change can be pretty dramatic like over night.
I had to remove my last pair of clarki's alltogether because they became so aggro w/ all my fish, and this was after they were model citizens for about 2 years.
I wouldn't talk you out of the nem, but just be aware of the multiple pairs issue.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info...being a 125g, with so much secured LR...it will really be a pain to rip out the clarks.

Guess I will go ahead with the hosts for the ORA then and let you know how it goes.

Thanks again.

MM WI said:
I shake my head too, all of the $#% things that automatically get said whenever someone wants to have more than one pair of clowns --- sooo boring, cliche, dogmatic and most importantly dead wrong! :headwalls: Many people keep more than one pair of clowns in the same tank. Experienced knowledgeable people on this subject do it routinely with hardly ever a problem. If this is what you want to do find those that do it and ask them how and please ignore those that want to show everyone how much they know by telling you what you cannot do and by showing us all how little they know.

I am preparing a tank right now for a second pair of clowns and it is not even a large tank. And gasp... There are two types of anemones in there currently.

Sorry for throwing it all out here like this but this stuff really is annoying. Forums are at there best when they tell people how to succeed not when they shoot them down. Maybe i can post a pic of my reefs and you can all complain about how many tangs are in the tank. Oh and i intentional did not bother proofing or spell checking so if you have nothing on topic have it.

- mark
Click to expand...

Well, this is somewhat encouraging, as I would consider myself an experienced aquarist.

Either way, at this point we just have to hope for the best, and I will keep you all posted.

Good to see another WI reefer. :thumbsup:
 
Yeah, I used to think more like MM WI, but time on the boards here as well as my own experience's has proven otherwise.
If you were to search this you will see way WAY more people not having success w/ multiple pairs in normal size tanks.
Pretty common to see people come on charging against the grain of what experienced people advise, and then just not hear from them after a while.
A lot of people don't own up to the fact it may have been a mistake, not many brag about that.
I have no problem sharing that I made this mistake years ago in similar thinking only to be proven wrong, and share that so others can enjoy success rather than this experimental "I know better than everyone else" way of thinking.
Do what you wish and post long term results so others can learn from your experience.
 
My response is based on multiple attempts at adding a second pair all of which were successful. I have had the pairing process end up in a dead clowns a few times but have had good luck adding a second pair of clowns. I have also added schools of small clowns to a tank with an established pair and multiple anemones. In some instances the anemones were very close to each other. It is important to add the smaller more aggressive pair first and the second less aggressive pair second. It is also important when adding a school of young clowns to have a free anemone. I have even had two pairs both laying.

I am not discounting your experiences and am sure they are true. I just believe that there are ways to do it that will be successful. Falure stories only have value when all of the details and maybe a theory or two are given so we know what to avoid.

Lastly in the occasional instance when I have a pairing end with a dead clown it is too bad but not some horrible sin. It is just the way it is.

- mark
 
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