Adding A Second Clown Fish

[xxBarneyxx]

I currently have 1 clown (cant remeber if it is a perc or oco, will double check before I get the second) in my nano and will be moving the whole contents of the nano to a bigger tank this weekend. I would like to get another clown but not sure about the best way to do this.

I'm thinking the best thing to do would be to buy the other clown and put them both in the new tank at the same time. However I'm going to have a LOT of stuff to move on that day and no time to go to the LFS (45 minute drive each way) to get a second one. So do you think that getting a smaller one and introducing him the next day would be ok? Or should I just leave it with one?

 

[Lynden]

It should be fine to introduce the smaller one on the second day. Perculas and ocellarises are some of the least aggressive and easiest to pair clowns.

 

[Colin_T]

you could set up the new tank one day but not move the clownfish into it. Then go and get the second fish on the following day, bring it home and put them in the new tank together.

 

[ostrow]

It should be fine to introduce the smaller one on the second day. Perculas and ocellarises are some of the least aggressive and easiest to pair clowns.

If the single one you have is a female, and it is most likely the case, then they can be extremely difficult to pair. I had zero luck pairing mine -- started as 2, it killed off the other, then proceeded to kill off every single clown I added.

Your plan to add both to a new tank will have much greater chance for success. Buy the other one a week before, add it to a small QT (even set up a 5gal bucket with a small power head, and change the water every few days keeping a close eye on salinity) setup. Then when the new tank is up and running, add both clowns together. And hope.

 

[Colin_T]

Any clownfish that has been kept on its own for a few weeks will be female. If you buy a small one from a group of clowns it will be a juvenile that is neither male nor female. Then it should be safe to put in with the female. If you leave the juvenile on its own for a couple of weeks it will change sex and become a female and fight with the other one. Don't buy an adult clown or a big clown because it will probably be a female. You want it as small as possible.

 

[andywg]

If you buy a small one from a group of clowns it will be a juvenile that is neither male nor female.

Actually, they are all born male (being as they are protandrous hermaphrodites) and once a female dies the dominant male becomes female.

 

[Colin_T]

Clownfish are unsexed juveniles until they find somewhere to settle, (an anemone). Then if there is no other clownfish in the anemone the new one will turn into a female. If there is another clownfish at the anemone the new one will become a male. If there is a pr of clownfish living in the anemone then any new clowns that turn up will stay as subordinate juveniles. They will not develop a sex until one of the dominant fish is removed and every other clownfish moves up the pecking order one notch. The juvenile clowns will stay small and not develop a sex until there are no other fish to bully them. Then they change sex within a couple of weeks. The bullying from the bigger fish prevents them from developing and they remain as unsexed juveniles.

 

[SkiFletch]

It was my understanding that Juvenile clownfish were immature males, not full-blown males, but not completely unsexed. Regardless, I think we're mincing hairs here as dominance concept is clearly illustrated. Whether they start as unsexed, immature, or just non-dominant really means little to the discussion of pairing.