What's the best numbers for Clowns?

[hihikeke]

I already have 2 pairs in my 65g, my friend is breaking down his tank, so I might to pick up his, they are about 2 years old, mine are only 6 months old. DO you think they will not gonna be ok?

Another another question, is that ok I keep 12 pieces in my tank? Can I mix with different breeds?

Thx!

 

[brich1027]

you're asking for death, you should only have 1 pair per tank.

 

[hihikeke]

Really, if not go by pairs. What about 5 ?

 

[dalston]

5 will become 2 once 2 pair up and mature. IMO, the only way to have any chance of a group of clowns long term is to get them as juveniles and from the same clutch, but even then, results may vary

 

[hihikeke]

we are interested in a group of clown that's why

 

[Patrick12]

Clown police on patrol......

The real answer is that it really depends on the clown species and the clowns themselves. I have 3 percula clowns and a pair of clarkiis in a 20 gallon. They each have their own anemone....a haddoni and a small gigantea. They get along just fine and have now for the last year and a half. They were all introduced together and while there is the occasional posturing, they never bite each other and all feed together fine. I plan to take them all home in 8 months to my 155.

Now Tomato and Maroon clowns would likely never get along like that with other clowns or others of their own kind. But I have always had good luck with percs and ocellaris. Saddlebacks and pink skunk clowns tend to be pretty peaceful too. Clarkiis can get bad sometimes, but I figure that most of their life, they have been with the percs and while now bigger, they get along fine.

So, all in all, it really depends on what kind of clowns you are dealing with. The only reason I even tried to put them all together was because if it did not work out, I only have to walk 100 yards to release whichever clowns I no longer can keep. Without that luxury, I would make sure you have a backup plan if things so not go smoothly. You could have the problems cited above by the others, but it is not a concrete or definite rule......more of a principle to be aware of.

 

[dc]

Let's dispense with the clown police comments ok? And I'm not sure releasing a fish back into the ocean after it's been in your tank is a good idea either.

My clownfish didn't get mean until she hit 5 years old. After that nothing went into my tank. Of course she's a maroon, but I've seen the same thing in this forum from many people. They are just aggressive as they get older.

 

[OrionN]

One should not release any animal in our care back to the wild. It can be very bad for the environment.
I you have a large enough tank, keeping multiple of some species is OK, other species not so OK. 65 g is what I consider single pair tank. Certain species like pink skunk, Ocellaris or Percula it is OK sometime to keep more than one pair, but the third or fourth ones always get abuse pretty badly. I had three Ocellaris in my 450 g tank with a large H. magnifica. The third clown never get to stay in the anemone except at night and when I put my hand in the tank. It often got torn fins 75% of the time, and of course stay much smaller than the other two.

 

[gpsmart]

Even in a growout tank full of 200 Ocellaris where the aggression can be shared around I get occasional aggression issues. I occasionally have a tank where I will lose a fish or two per day for a couple of days. If I move the larger ones the problem stops. The most aggressive clown I have had was a clarkii yet I have 3 mature clarkii's living and growing well together (largest one is about 100mm long).

In short, it depends on the actual fish not just the species. Personally, I do not mix pairs of clowns. If you choose to do it, have a backup plan and remember that problems may not arise until one pair reaches full maturity. Also, do your homework and try to get species that are more likely to mix peacefully.

Good luck,

Graham

 

[amore169]

I would only try one pair per tank, once they form a pair they will attack the other clowns.

 

[velvetelvis]

+1 dc

 

[NyReefNoob]

ive got 6 in my 80g 2 occ blacks and 4 true's, all were added as juvi's . the one black occ is the largest and the dictator of the tank, ive not had any aggression yet 2+ months later, but i also have 7 bta's they bounce around it

 

[hihikeke]

so, here is the update. I did give it a try, added another older pair to my 65G now. It has been there for about 1 week, the 1st 2 days was chasing each other but now they are swimming as a group.

 

[Beaun]

Its not that they wont be able to make it for a while, but there will be issues later down the road. Once they pair up, and especially once they start to breed, the dominate female will harass any other pair/individual. I would not be surprised if you ended up with dead clowns down the road.

 

[ClownNut]

i got 5 b/w ocellaris in my 60 cube 1 pair & 3 juvens, but it take 4 years to make this happen. i have the pair togather 4 years before i added the 3 juvens to the pair. they been togather over 6 months+ now, no fighting. (5+ months in my 90 display hosting green leather corals togather, 1 month in the cube with no host yet, but looking for a red or blue or purple carpet for them)
i have tried this couple time before, the male of the pair always ended up beat up other juvens. maybe lucky, maybe the stronger bond between this pair, the male didnt beat up any juvens. all 3 juvens were the same size when i added them, now i can clearly see all 5 clowns are different size. they always hang out togather.