clownfish

[roundman]

I have a pair of Ocellaris clownfish, copperband, royal gramma, 6 line wrasse, 5 chromis in a 75 gal. I would like to add another pair of clowns, different type ie tomato. Is adding more clowns ok? This will be a reef tank in the future but can't afford the lights right now.
Thanks

 

[nano_reefer92]

it is posible but if the clowns are not agressive. i have a pair of clowns and as long as the new fish is not smaller they will leave it alone but there still agressive i just turn off the lights and then i float the bags and when the temp. is right i realease into tank. and about in a hour i turn on the lights again usualy that is enough time to find a spot to chill

 

[xyzpdq0121]

How big is the tank....


Rule of thumb is clowns are VERY aggressive towards other clowns (and damseld because they are the same family) and it is a BIG no no to put them together. The rule can be smudged by a larger tank but You would be talking about a tank in the 210 gallon + range before I would even attempt it. Also False clowns are pretty timid compared to most types, the same does not apply for GSM clowns and tomato clowns. Add to this the fact that if the is an anemone involved you can forget it, clowns will fight to the death for thier host. I think you are setting yourself up for a BIG fight on your hands and a dead pair of clowns one way or anther.

 

[wbholwell]

Well, I have a tomato clown in the same tank (a 72 gallon) as an ocellaris, but mine aren't paired. They get along great, but of course the tomato was added after the ocellaris.

My personal opinion is that there is a greater chance that they won't get along than the chance that they will. I also feel that adding two tomatoes will make your bioload pretty high, so you may need a large sump and/or large skimmer if you don't already.

Regardless of what you decide, good luck with your tank, and keep us posted!

 

[dakota9]

My personal opinion is that there is a greater chance that they won't get along than the chance that they will. I also feel that adding two tomatoes will make your bioload pretty high, so you may need a large sump and/or large skimmer if you don't already.

I agree with this statement,

Something that you could try though is an intensive tank cleaning and rearranging the rock in your tank and then adding additional clown fish ALONG WITH their own host anemone AT THE SAME TIME. That would give the new clowns an instant territory in an unfamiliar tank. By the time the old clowns acclimated to the new anemone enough to get to the new clowns, they might have lost interest in doing much damage. I'd stay away from tomatoe clowns as the new aquisition, maybe Clarkii Clowns as they seem less agressive overall. What ever you do, make sure you purchase the new clowns at a LFS that will allow you to return them if they dont get along.

 

[cameron]

I am not advocating you do this, but after seeing a big cube with lots of clowns together I will attest it can be done and is very pretty. Clowns are aggressive fish and you will probably have some issues, but if you can get them to work it out it can be a very interesting display. As for mixed species, I think this could either simplify the getting along part or amplify it. You probably won't know for sure until you try it.

 

[george]

If I recall, the tomato clowns will eventually be much larger than the ocellaris. I'm not sure if size matters much on damsel aggression, though. I've seen tiny damsels bully much larger tank mates.

 

[dakota9]

Tomato Clowns can become very aggressive as they get bigger, I had one 20 years ago in a 55 gallon tank. A Tomato Clown, Dwarf Lion and trigger was all I could put in that take, as it would kill anything else, even inverts. Even turned on the trigger and lion every once in a while, I'd REALLY reconsider adding Tomato clowns, I personally would try to procure a set of Black Perculas, thats the route I'll go soon.

 

[cameron]

One of my clowns bites the crap out of my hand any time I put it in the tank. Doesn't matter where I put it either. Sucker is just plain mean.

This makes me want an anemone tank with a half dozen clowns:

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[tanner86]

I had a saddleback clown and a true percula clown in the same tank as babies. When they hit the juvenille stage they began to bicker. Two weeks ago my saddleback almost killed the percula and the saddleback got banished to the big tank.
I wouldn't recommend two different clowns. I had to take apart my entire reef and rock out of the aquarium to even catch one. What a disaster!