Would like a pair of clowns, need help in choosing.

[WienerDog]

I would like a pair of Ocellaris.
1. Should I buy a pair?
2. Sex them before purchase?
My LFS has quite a few. Can I just purchase any two or what do I look for?
Thanks for your help. These will be my only inhabitants, other than my linear blenny. I prefer them to be my pets and not a pair of clowns. So, I want to choose properly and be well versed. I have read the sticky thread about clowns & aemones. Eventually, I will add an anemone. But, my tank is not near it's maturity level for an anemone. Only 7 weeks. After the Christmas season passes and the first of the year comes and goes. I will find myself in the market. Thanks guys for all your help.

 

[Top Water]

If you buy them real small and keep them a long time you will end up w/ a pair. You will notice one will end up much much larger than the other. Black one are mean and will nip at you when they get bigger.

 

[velvetelvis]

I would buy two, but they don't have to be a mated pair. As Top Water pointed out, if you get them young enough, they'll form a pair on their own. Getting two that are different in size will help, since the larger fish will typically become dominant and then become the female of the pair--this makes the process of forming a pair a little quicker and more straightforward. You can also buy two who have already been paired up, but they tend to be more expensive that way. I have a mated pair of CB ocellaris (I bought this particular pair because they're so perfectly marked), and they're adorable. They haven't turned mean on me yet, but they haven't started breeding yet, so maybe that is yet to come.

It's a good idea to wait a while before getting an anemone. I would give your tank about 6 months--frustrating to wait, but tanks go through a maturing process even after the cycle is complete. After several months, a healthy tank will become "alive" with lots of biological diversity--pods, spaghetti worms, baby brittle stars, tiny featherdusters, etc. These are good conditions for more delicate invertebrates like SPS and anemones.

When you're in the market for an anemone, a cloned bubble tip is a good choice (it's also the only clownfish-hosting anemone that will really do well long-term in a 20G tank). They're beautiful, and pretty hardy if you get a healthy one. Many ocellaris will go into BTAs (it may take them a while to take to any host, so be forewarned), even though they aren't their natural hosts in the wild. My pair love theirs and compete over who gets to sleep in it every night (it isn't quite big enough to fit both of them simultaneously yet). They usually end up with the male lying in the anemone and the female lying on top of him.

 

[WaffleWalffle22]

If you buy them real small and keep them a long time you will end up w/ a pair. You will notice one will end up much much larger than the other. Black one are mean and will nip at you when they get bigger.

If you buy any tank and put two young clownfish in, you'll end up with a pair almost every time. Pairs bond within a few days to a few months, and they'll spawn in a year or two if you provide them with good conditions. Black Ocellaris clownfish, along with every other clownfish in the world, will eventually nip at you if you put your hand in the tank. All clownfish will bite eventually, and Black Ocellaris aren't very bad at all. My spawning pair is very well behaved and, like all other clownfish, they will nip at me.

 

[Toddrtrex]

If you buy any tank and put two young clownfish in, you'll end up with a pair almost every time. Pairs bond within a few days to a few months, and they'll spawn in a year or two if you provide them with good conditions. Black Ocellaris clownfish, along with every other clownfish in the world, will eventually nip at you if you put your hand in the tank. All clownfish will bite eventually, and Black Ocellaris aren't very bad at all. My spawning pair is very well behaved and, like all other clownfish, they will nip at me.

Way too many absolutes in this post.

 

[WaffleWalffle22]

Way too many absolutes in this post.

I counted 6. :lolspin:

 

[jeff@zina.com]

I would like a pair of Ocellaris.

Everyone does.

1. Should I buy a pair?

Sure. Proven pair is a better guarantee than anything else, but it will also cost you more.

2. Sex them before purchase?

All Occelaris are male until they pair up, then the larger turns female.

My LFS has quite a few. Can I just purchase any two or what do I look for?

Pick two, one bigger than the other. The larger one will become the female.

If you're serious about this, Wilkerson's Clownfish book is great Christmas present.

Jeff

 

[WaffleWalffle22]

Everyone does.
Pick two, one bigger than the other. The larger one will become the female.

If you're serious about this, Wilkerson's Clownfish book is great Christmas present.

Jeff

The method that worked for me the best was buying the two smallest. I bought the two smallest ocellaris I could find and they were bonded in a matter of days.