Clown Pair

[fish_keeper2]

my clown bogy died the other day (still in the quarantine tank) and i was thinkin about getting just another clownfish. i plan adding my clownfish back to the main tank tomorrow and if all goes well then in a week or so ill get another clown. mine is a true perc and im gonna try to get another true perc but it could easily be mistaked for a ocellaris. ive been told that true percs and ocellaris may still form a pair. is this true? also i dont really care if they breed if they do ill just sell the fry once they have gotten to a big enough size(assuming the live). anyway i plan to get one smaller than my clown and i was wondering what i should expect. i know the largest and most dominant one will become female while the othe male but i want to know what to expect as far as how aggressive they may be to each other in the process(yes i know it takes a lot of time not just over night or whatever).

 

[RoyalGrammaPrincessHannah]

First of all, you should take your best guess at the age and sex of the clown you already have. And don't ever try to make a pair out of only two clowns. You need 3 at least to get a pair with the least amount of risk of one dying. If you already think you have a female, try to get two males, or if you have one male, try to get one female and one male. I don't think you want more than one female when you're trying to do this, but I may be mistaken. And I also don't think true and false perculas will pair up. Someone correct me if I am wrong.

 

[Aquascaper]

The chances are that you have a male as Clowns are male until they pair (the dominant fish becomes larger and develops into a female). If you get another Clown make sure its smaller than your existing one otherwise you'll have a catfight on your hands

I'm not sure on the true/false pairing situation either but I personally only got two Clowns and they have paired fine. I would be inclined to just get one, smaller Clown but that's JMO.

 

[fish_keeper2]

i was at a lfs today and picked up a true perc. he is a bit bigger than mine(all the true percs they had were the same size). i have put my first clown back into the main tank and put the new guy in the quarantine tank just to be on the safe side. in a week or so if the new guy is lookin good ill put him in the main tank. btw all the true percs at this lfs were "miss bared" true percs. they had incomplete stripes and even one missing entirely. i was told the stripes will stay like the this and wont ever be complete. is this correct? is this also normal? the one i got has the stripe by the head complete, the one in the middle is only about half there and the one at the tail is non existant. my other clown(the first one i ever got) has complete stripes. im just a little confused about this.

 

[Aquascaper]

The discolourations could be due to interbreeding, i've seen quite a few clownfish with some weird markings and all of them have suposedly been true percs. As for the markings staying as they are forever, clownfishes black bands get more distinct with age, whether this means that they will merge/grow I don't know.

 

[veen]

ora has been developing & selling misbarred clowns. actually, not selling, as i believe they're wholesalers/researchers or something like that.

here's a link to their site:

http/www.orafarm.com/clownfish_species.html

 

[fish_keeper2]

thanks..............i just hope that both are true perc.....they were both sold to me as true percs but im not to sure. if they arent i hope both are atleast ocellaris. well asumming all goes well and these 2 form a pair what are some corals clowns have been known to host in.

 

[veen]

thanks..............i just hope that both are true perc.....they were both sold to me as true percs but im not to sure. if they arent i hope both are atleast ocellaris. well asumming all goes well and these 2 form a pair what are some corals clowns have been known to host in.

my perc has hosted frogspawn, small brain, goniopora and right now some hairy mushrooms. she pretty much hosts anything

 

[crazyelece]

mis bared clowns stay that way for life. Perc and false percs can pair and be intermixed. The only difference is the number of dorsel spines. You may however have issues by adding a larger clown than the original. That is a big no no. In nature the most dominant clown will be the female, the next will be her paired male mate. All the others are either male or unsexed (it depends who you ask) but as they aren't sexualy active with the female it isn't really important. If the female dies than her mate turns female and the next dominant pairs up and becomes the paired male. If the paired male dies the next dominant male becomes the paired male. You typically only want to add a smaller clown than the original and one in a tank with a bunch in it. Also when you bring one home to get them to pair up you should introduce them immediately, even if it means leaving the original in quarantine with the new one.

 

[fish_keeper2]

oh.......thanks for the info.........i hope i didnt mess up with this

 

[Aquascaper]

My clowns absolutely love their Long Tentacled Sacrophyton, they even follow it across the tank if I have to move it for cleaning reasons

 

[fish_keeper2]

thats a cool lookin coral. looks almost like an anemone(SP). does it go by any othre names. they might help when i look that coral.

 

[Aquascaper]

Sacrophyton sp. (Mushroom Leather)

There so many different types of Sacros that its a case of just looking around usually till you find a nice one. If you specify a long tentacled one at the LFS they should be able to get something.