Clownfish Compatibility

[NemoNano]

Hi Guys,

I really like my clownfish and I was thinking of getting another one for my FOWLR tank. I have a Maroon Clownfish and my LFS has a Tomato Clownfish I want to get. (He is a bit smaller then my Maroon). Has anyone mixed Clownfish in a tank before? Would these two clownfish kill each other?

Thanks,

Eric

 

[sadielynn]

I would skip it
Maroons and tomatos are some of the most agressive clowns out there . Chances are that the maroon would kill the other because he is invading his "space" . Mike G had some clowns in his 72 and put his brothers black percs in the tank and his 2 that were in it started picking on them . Not worth it in my opinion .
Hope this helps :mrgreen:

 

[mikeguerrero]

Sadie is right,

Don't do it, both those clowns are super aggressive, I've owned both before at different times.

The maroon clown got so aggressive when I added a bubble anenome, he took it on his own to rearrange my tank; where ever the anenome went, the clown would follow and it there were frags in the way, the would tip them over.

I had a cinnamon tomatoe clown that would aggresively charge the front of my tank when ever I would lower my head to look at the tank.

Now mind that I owned medium sized ones, the little ones don't look mean, but they will get there.

Don't mix them.

I thought at 72 gallons each pair would be okay on opposite sides, wrong. My male percula wanted to steal my brothers large female occelleris. The two males started fighting pretty aggresively, I had to remove my set of percs to keep my brothers rare black ocelleris.

Mike

 

[NemoNano]

RE:

Thanks for the information.

Is there any other type of Clownfish that might get along with my Maroon Clown?

Thanks,

Eric

 

[sadielynn]

Maybe a smaller maroon(of the same species) but that would be risking it . Once established they don't share well. Unless you buy them as a pair . We bought 2 perc clowns both came from the same tank at the same time and there are still some squabbles , So you would really be risking a catastrophe by adding another clown at this point . You did not mention the size tank or how long the maroon has been in it . Just short of taking him out and rearranging everything acclimating a new maroon and putting it in for a while to get use to the tank and acclimating the 1st one back to the tank turning the lights off for the night and holding your breath , and that is even an iffy to its success .Hope this helps

 

[NemoNano]

RE:

Hi sadielynn,

We have had the Clownfish for over 3 months now and he was the first fish in the tank. We have a 30G FOWLR tank there is only one over fish in the tank a six line wrasse. We also have a few inverts.

The Maroon Clown is real peacefull he does not fight with the wrasse or bug any of the inverts. he does not have an Anemone.

Thanks for all the information,

Eric

 

[sadielynn]

Hi Eric
with that size tank and the size potential of the maroon clown species I would not put any more than 1 in the tank (1 clown) due to territories ect . Having had him for 3 months now I would just say skip on it I know how hard it is to do but not worth wreaking havoc. I have one of the more docile clowns a pair of percs and had a maroon gold and the maroon seemed docile but I never tried to put in a mate and with the 2 that I have now I still see some squabbles I am not sure if others will have any input for you but my opinion is pass

 

[NemoNano]

RE:

Hi sadielynn,

What size of tank would be good for a pair of Maroon clowns? My clown is less then 2" right now I know he is going to get a lot bigger could I get him a mate and transfer to a bigger tank in 6 months or is the tank to small right now? If I wanted to pair them up would it be possible to wait till the summer and then find my Maroon a mate or would that be too late?

Thanks,

Eric

 

[sadielynn]

If I were to try to "mate" a pair I would want at least a 46 gallon or larger , ideally Iwould want a 50 gallon tank for them. If you set up a larger tank for them then let it cycle. If you place them in at the same time you might be ok . For one maroon fish a 30 would be ok but pushing the limits imho.
You have a juvi clown now and they are less agressive the younger they are , so I would think that in my opinion you could do some rearrangeing of the rock work to confuse the current fish . When I add a fish to an already inhabited tank I do so at night , I will rearrange some rock work to confuse the territories up a bit , then drip acclimate the fish in a dark container ,to allow them not to be to stressed by shadows, after acclimation I place the fish in and the lights are out so the new fish is in the dark and allows them to find a place to go I have had very good luck adding fish this way , with minimal quarrals , I also try to get a smaller fish. Then I top off the lost water as it would be for an h20 change . Keep a container near buy and observe them to make sure they are playing nice and the 1st one doesnt get to agressive against the other one , some agression is normal if you see that there is a huge (frayed fins)problem take one out . One of the things that we also do is to remove the first one (about 2 hours will work for confusion that coupled with the moving rock work around will work well) rearrange rock work and place the new one in then place the 1st one back it will confuse them to bits .. place another slightly smaller maroon in that tank while the first one is out so he will be in the tank for a couple of hours before the first one is added back . For long term sucess (over a year) your tank is definatly too small for a pair of maroon clowns , the clown that we had (gold stripe) was a fast grower and they will grow noticeably in the first year with steady growth through out thier life, maroons potentially can grow up to 6.5 inches long , you could wait till summer and still place the new one in successfully , but it is easier when young . Oh and dont forget to qt your new fishies :mrgreen: Hope this helps

 

[NemoNano]

Well I had to try it I added a real small False Percula Clownfish to my tank and my Maroon clown tried to kill him in less then 10 seconds. It was kind of crazy because he seems like such an easygoing fish. I had to put the small clown in my Nano tank. Good thing I did not get that tomato.

Thanks,

Eric