davelin315 July 27, 2009 Share July 27, 2009 I ventured out to BRK the other day and after years of debating whether I actually liked pink skunk clowns (started off on my never ever will I buy these gross looking things to I want a pair for my tank) I decided it was time to buy them. John had a pair of ORAs there so we talked a bit about whether they would get killed by my breeding pair of black ocellaris. The pair hang out in a small "copse" of GBTAs on the right side of the tank and rarely venture further than 1' from them. They do their best to keep everything about 6"-1' away from their home as well, although there are always fish swimming by. So, I decided to try it and introduced the clowns on the left side of the tank. I have been feeding exclusively on the right side so the left side is pretty barren as far as fish, although most of them will swing by that side of the tank when not eating. Anyway, I introduced them at night and hoped for the best. Next morning they were in there, although one was up in a corner behind a return on the right side and the other was nowhere to be seen until feeding time. They both eat well and the interesting thing was that the one that I couldn't find came out from behind the rocks, ate, and then proceeded to zip into the anemone with the black ocellaris. They are currently brooding and had a fresh clutch of eggs, and surprisingly, they did not attack the pink skunk, but kind of stared at it until it decided to leave. In an effort to coax them to the other side of the tank, I added a recent split from one of my GBTAs to the other side of the tank (didn't want to add any more anemones, but figured I had to give the skunks a home). Anyway, I'll see what I can do to get them over there if they don't discover it on their own, and will keep you posted on how this does. I was really thinking I would end up having to pull them immediately, but they seem to be doing just fine so far, no aggression from the ocellaris, perhaps because they are so different in appearance? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capsfan July 27, 2009 Share July 27, 2009 I have two pairs of clowns and no major problems. One pair is ocellaris and the other is black clowns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnybv July 27, 2009 Share July 27, 2009 Well, that is a heck of a good start! Hopefully they continue to get along and live happily ever after. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davelin315 July 27, 2009 Author Share July 27, 2009 Was just downstairs and the two skunks are swimming together back and forth but hovering over the newly introduced GBTA. They haven't gone in and are still taking peeks at the black ocellaris' home, but they are stayiing mainly to the left side of the tank and there's no damage to either one, so hopefully it works out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flowerseller July 27, 2009 Share July 27, 2009 I'm sure they'll do fine since they're not cats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traveller7 July 27, 2009 Share July 27, 2009 I was really thinking I would end up having to pull them immediately, but they seem to be doing just fine so far, no aggression from the ocellaris, perhaps because they are so different in appearance?Cosmetics is a small factor with clowns, the behavior will trigger a reaction: hosting, eating behavior, swim style, lack of proper submission moves, etc. That is why there are so many naturally occurring hybrids with species that look nothing alike, i.e. A. chrysopterus and A. sadaracinos. Skunks as a general rule tend to host quickly, almost any hosting anemone species. As they mature into breeding stages(1yr?), they will defend home anemones in prime breeding locations extremely aggressively for their size. In addition, they will push other similar sized species pairs off their anemones in take over attempts of better locations. Ocellaris tend to be fearless, but are not the best defenders vs aggressive clowns. Both pink and orange skunks even moved my giant B&W ocellaris pairs out of anemone colonies. Each time, the skunks anemone had moved, was injured, etc. The Ocellaris had no problem keeping morays, tusk fish, triggers, etc., away from their anemones, but were unable to fend off the skunks over time. Odds are, you will not have a murder on your hands but with species in question, keep healthy anemone colonies at opposite ends of the tank. Neither species will drift far from "home" if the anemones are healthy, provide enough cover, enough food comes by, and the space offers a breeding substrate. If skunk end of the tank has heavy traffic, add a flower pot to provide extra privacy during breeding. Because of the home body nature of both species, they are one of the few that can be "predictable" in mixed clown pair environments. Best of luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davelin315 July 28, 2009 Author Share July 28, 2009 Thanks for the expertise, Scott, always appreciated! Anyway, one of the skunks has hosted in the GBTA I placed on the left side of the tank and the other one is back up in the corner of the right side of the tank. I'm hoping it decides to move back to the left side where it was yesterday. I am now feeding across the tank, but concentrating larger food in the same place I always fed. Also, now that you mentioned cross breeding, wouldn't it be funny to see the cross of a pink skunk and a black ocellaris? Imagine what that hybrid would look like! May have to try that some day! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traveller7 July 28, 2009 Share July 28, 2009 Thanks for the expertise, Scott, always appreciated! Anyway, one of the skunks has hosted in the GBTA I placed on the left side of the tank and the other one is back up in the corner of the right side of the tank. I'm hoping it decides to move back to the left side where it was yesterday. I am now feeding across the tank, but concentrating larger food in the same place I always fed.Juvies are not real threatening to an established pair. Figure the ocellaris will ignore it until it becomes a meaningful pest. If the male ocellaris keeps the juvie skunk in check it will actually stay juvenile. All other things equal, I'd expect the one on the other side to put on a growth spurt toward female if it gets enough food. Also, now that you mentioned cross breeding, wouldn't it be funny to see the cross of a pink skunk and a black ocellaris? Imagine what that hybrid would look like! May have to try that some day!Skunks and Black&Whites are both quite finicky breeders even in natural pairs, "some day" might require quite a few years of patience I am quite confident you can pull it off Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davelin315 July 28, 2009 Author Share July 28, 2009 Juvies are not real threatening to an established pair. Figure the ocellaris will ignore it until it becomes a meaningful pest. If the male ocellaris keeps the juvie skunk in check it will actually stay juvenile. All other things equal, I'd expect the one on the other side to put on a growth spurt toward female if it gets enough food. Skunks and Black&Whites are both quite finicky breeders even in natural pairs, "some day" might require quite a few years of patience I am quite confident you can pull it off Cheers. Very interesting... Jodie has been bugging me about trying to raise the baby black and whites as she hates to know that they get eaten every few weeks so if I ever get around to culturing rotifers and then try to breed some of these out, then I'll move on to the next stage with the skunks... Who knows, maye one day you'll see Amphiprion skunkellaris clowns being marketed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now