Maroon Clowns vs. Ocellaris?

[FishWife]

We want a clown fish pair as our first priority in our reef tank (fish wise) and a host anemone. From what I'm reading, the easiest anemone to keep is the bubble tip, and will host both maroon and ocellaris. I like maroon yellow stripes so much better aesthetically. I know: more agressive. But, we're going to have two tanks eventually: reef and fish-only. So, I won't need to stock a lot of fish in my reef tank. I'm thinking of one tang to keep the algae down, maybe a coral beauty, and the clowns.

 

What do you all think? NO maroons whatsoever? Or, is it personal preference?

 

And, if I did the maroon clowns, etc. that I've said, what else could go with these? Banded shrimp? (I want tridaclea clams someday...)

Edited September 15, 2007 by FishWife

[Guest NSC]

I say go maroons they are gorgeous! I would buy the pair AFTER the anenome to give the anenome some time to first roam your tank and find its happy place(this can tank a few days) and go a while before you add the clown pair.

[akbuuur]

i personally would go with black osc. or even the skunk clowns too... the main thing is the size of the tank.. depending on the size of the tank (if its big) then the maroons shouldn't bother anyone. I had a mean maroon who was very aggressive and bit anything (including me) near her anenome but other than that she acted very relaxed.

[FishWife]

Just fyi: it's a bow 80 (4' long X 12"-18" deep X 23 tall) reef tank we're now mounting.... with dreams of someday upgrading to a 220 (like, in 3 years or so: we have the wall space, but not the budget. I'm sure no one can relate, right? ). These clowns/anemone would move as we grew (if we do) but need to be happy in the bow 80 forever, potentially.

[Guest NSC]

Maroons host naturally in the wild in BTAs' and not to mention even false percs aren't friendly to anyone in their anenome space.

[bprinehart]

We want a clown fish pair as our first priority in our reef tank (fish wise) and a host anemone. From what I'm reading, the easiest anemone to keep is the bubble tip, and will host both maroon and ocellaris. I like maroon yellow stripes so much better aesthetically. I know: more agressive. But, we're going to have two tanks eventually: reef and fish-only. So, I won't need to stock a lot of fish in my reef tank. I'm thinking of one tang to keep the algae down, maybe a coral beauty, and the clowns.

 

What do you all think? NO maroons whatsoever? Or, is it personal preference?

 

And, if I did the maroon clowns, etc. that I've said, what else could go with these? Banded shrimp? (I want tridaclea clams someday...)

 

IMHO, the Maroons and Tomatos are the most beautiful. I have a Maroon, and it took her awhile to pay the anemone some attention and decide to host it. But I can't begin to tell you the difference in her behavior since she did. She was constantly harrasing my YWG before she decided to host, literally following him around the tank and constantly tail beating him and just being dominant. Since she's hosted, she's never more than a few inches from the anemone, and hardly gives anyone a second thought, unless they get a little too close to her home (even me while cleaning the glass). It's quite interesting to watch her feed it and take care of it as well.

 

I agree on putting the anemone in first, and letting it aclimate to the tank. While I did the exact opposite, as I obtained my Maroon as a rescue. I would almost certainly do it the other way around if I had the choice, as they can lavish quite a bit of attention on them, even if the anemone is not receptive to it.

 

Just my .02

[melinda & adam]

I have to agree with the people who have posted here. The maroons are gorgeous but can be quite aggressive. Not sure if you have thought to the other fish you are looking to get as tankmates to the clowns that you pick, but that also may help you decide which type to go with. We currently have black ocellaris clowns and have had a pair of gold stripe maroons. If you are planning on having docile fish in the tank then I would go with the ocellaris.

 

My 2cents,

 

Melinda

[trble81]

I just have to say that yellow striped maroons are awesome. A good person to talk to is Raf. When we were at his house, we were talking reef and he told us his story about his maroon clowns. He had one in the tank prior to getting the second one. I'm sure you can imagine what happened next (but all worked out well in the end).

 

When we set up our 90, we want to get a pair of yellow striped maroons. The whole getting the bta prior to the clowns sounds like a good idea. I'm sure whatever way you go, you'll be happy. We got into the hobby because of clowns.

[treesprite]

Clowns are amazing fish no matter which they are. I would go with the more docile ocellaris rather than the maroons, because you never know what you might come across in the furture that you'll want to keep.

[txaggies07]

I have two maroons and they are absolutely awesome.