territoriality with clownfish

heyy, so heres my situation, i have a 29 gal. tank at school with one damsel fish. im going to the fish store today to get a tomato clown fish and add it to the tank. i plan to add another percula clown later (maybe a week). im doing this because we are studying territoriality with clown fish and i need to observe their behaviors. if things get rough, i have an alternate tank in order to separate the fish. i need some suggestions as to whether this is a good idea or not (in the sense that i need to be able to observe territorial behaviors).

 

Well, if you're looking to witness a fishy slug fest, go for it. I wouldn't leave them in the tank together while you're not observing them though because they will kill each other eventually. What type of damsel is in the tank?

 

hmm thats good to know lol. i have a three stripe damsel.

 

A.K.A. Beelzebub They are one of the most aggressive damsels you can buy.

And tomato clowns are just as nasty.

 

+2 tomato clowns don't like to be messed with!
Can't you study two of the same type rather than mixing clownfish?
edit - go with perculas in that size tank - my 2 cents.

 

Fiji (devil) Damsel is the most aggressive. I would watch out for that Tomato clown. One of my buddies has one that bites hard enough it brings blood. Needless to say, when that tank gets brokedown its going bye bye. I had a Cinnamon clown beat up on my percula pair, so it went in with the toadfish I had years ago.

ALL of the rounder body damselfish (clowns and damsels) are very aggressive.

 

update

hey everyone, i went to the fish store yesterday and they dont have tomato clowns :-[. so im takin matts advice and doin 2 perculas instead. do u think i should add them at the same time or at diifferent times?

 

If you add 2 perculas, you could end up with a mated pair. Is that something that you're interested in having?

 

You cant take just any 2 clowns. ALL Clowns are born male and morph into a female as needed, but not the other way. If you can find 2 around 1inch in size, you have a good chance of getting a pair of them or if you can find a bunch of small ones in the same tank, you can take 2, but there will be inbreeding going. 2 females will fight, 2 males will buddy up and the dominate male will morph into the female.

 

well i want to study territoriality but if they end up pairing off and one morphs into the female then thats alright because it would be the result of what im trying to observe. im trying to observe what happens when i put 2 of the same clown fish in at different times and then when something happens with that (they either pair off or fight) then ill add another type of clown fish and see what happens.