clownfish

hey all, can you house 2 clown fish in a reef tank if they are purchased at the same time? i am not interested in the maroon or clarki's, i love the percula's. any suggestions?

 

Sure!

They don't have to be purchased at the same time, but it helps if you want them to spawn eggs. If my mind serves me correctly, a solo percula will turn into a female rather quickly if it is the only one in the tank. By putting two in there you have a much better chance of successful sexing of the fish. If that is no concern to you, well .... set it and forget it .... as they say

 

You can put 2, 3, 4, or even 5 clowns in there if you want, which could be really cool. I am thinking of setting that up in a show tank actually. I know this sounds wierd at first, but hear me out if you would. When you get the clowns (all of the same variety of course) make sure you get a large one, a smaller one, and then however many you want that are smaller than that one. What will happen is, the largest clown will most likely be the most dominant and will become the female. The second largest will be the second most dominant and will become the sexually active male. The rest will remain non-sexual males and will be the least dominant. They will form a little community and if the large female were to die, the sexually active male would become the female and one of the juvinile males would become the sexually active male and so on. The key is the selection at the beginning and make sure you get small enough clowns that aren't already sexually mature, because once they turn female they cannot return to male.

Hope this helps.... Thanks and good luck.

 

I bought one at a time, but I have seen that they will become friends and not enemies. Although you will ocassionally see one lunge at one, but then swim again together later.

 

I would get 2 clownfishes, so they will become a pair.

 

thanks guys. i think clownfish are amazing, especially how there gender changes. i will be picking up 2 of them as all my pereameters are good and then monday i'm gonna do my first water change....a little nervous. any other details of clownfish u know that i should be aware of?

 

You're going to quarentine the clowns right?

 

I would have to disagree with this. It has always been my experience that if you add more than 2 clown fish to a fish tank, you will get a male/female pairing then that pair will systematically kill off the other clowns. Mixing clowns of different species in a tank is not a good idea either unless you have a very large tank.

 

I Got 2 Clowns And They Are Doing Great And So Cute How They Stay Together All The Time. I Don't Have A Quarentine Tank Right Now, My Hubby Refuses To Spend Anymore Money, So Far So Good. I Know Alot Of People Who Disagree On Quarentine And Then Alot Who Agree. I Don't Even Know Where I Would House The Quarentine Tank As I Live In An Apartment And It Is Full To The Brim. How Small Can The Quarentine Be? Does It Need To Run 24/7 And How Long Do U Quarentine?