YHSublime January 21, 2014 Share January 21, 2014 So I have a pair of ORA percs, but was wondering about adding additional clowns. My current clown resident are about 2" in size, and my fiance loves the black and white clowns. If I were to add 2, smaller ocellaris clownfish, that were significantly smaller in size, would they presumably stay male, and the dominant female of my current pair would lead the pack? Or is it an incredibly risky situation and I should stop thinking about it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
epleeds January 21, 2014 Share January 21, 2014 from what I have heard you should stop thinking about it. But if you look at Fazio's tank, he has like 20 clowns in it. But those were all babies when he put them in from the same family. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBVette January 21, 2014 Share January 21, 2014 I tried it in my old 220, and it didnt work out well. The female wound up killing one of the new clowns once they found each other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roni January 21, 2014 Share January 21, 2014 I tried it in the 270 with anemones on opposites ends of the tank. The pair I added immediately ignored the bubbletip I had for them and tried to force themselves into the ritteri that was already occupied. Had to resettle them. I think if you pick clowns that have different natural host anemones and put them on opposite ends of a 6 ft tank with blocked sightline, you may have better success. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camelcruiser January 21, 2014 Share January 21, 2014 I have 10 in my tank now and they all get along pretty well my large b&w is definitely king of the clowns but they all get along fairly well...I'm about to add 4 more. One thing I noticed I used to have a large b&w pair and I put two smaller ones in and they two larger ones took to them immediately...didn't let anything mess with them at all. I guess it's all luck of the draw but I haven't had a bad experience so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mling January 21, 2014 Share January 21, 2014 When I consolidated my 3 fish tanks into one new 156, I thought that since every one has a new much bigger home, they would get along. My Maroon clown disagreed. It was in a 50G and my black and white Ocellaris, of the similar size, was in a 40G. The Maroon did not give the Ocellaris any chance from day one, The Ocellaris ended up hiding at the top corner of the tank. The final straw was when the Ocellaris ended up in the overflow. We had to put him in another that where he now lives with another b/w. They lay eggs at least once a month but the babies never make it even though those 2 clowns are the only fishes in the tank. Oh, that consolidation idea.. I now have 4 tanks and am thinking of adding a frag tank. So if you are looking for an excuse to possible start another tank and your finance is not too keen on another tank ....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s2nhle January 21, 2014 Share January 21, 2014 I had a small ocellaris for a while and when I introduce the bigger ocellaris in they were getting along well for almost a year now they are separated and the female one keep harass the smaller one for the several months now. I guess they are two female then. I did recently add a much smaller one with the hope to get a pair out of them. However, the small one are now hiding in the rock. just out at the feeding time but now too far from its hiding place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime January 21, 2014 Author Share January 21, 2014 I'm going to say Nay. My first thought was Fazio as well, however, I think he's got an 8' tank, and breeds (bred.) I think that usually if the outcome is questionable, the answer is "no." Also based on the hit or miss experiences from other members, I have my answer. Thanks WAMAS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incredible Corals January 22, 2014 Share January 22, 2014 We have a pair of a Davincis and a pair of pink skunks in our 125 display. No issues at all so far. I would try to get clowns that look the furthest apart from each other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wildcrazyjoker81 January 22, 2014 Share January 22, 2014 I have 4 clowns in my 55...all my clowns get along fine (had 5 until my haddoni ate one). I added a the big 2.5-3inch female last though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjamaya January 22, 2014 Share January 22, 2014 I had 2 clowns and 1 pearl eye in my 150. The percs chased him around and eventually I had to take him out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime January 22, 2014 Author Share January 22, 2014 I had 13 How many fish do you have in that tank, Jan, I mean Isaac?[/quote 7 in a 150, but I don't get your "joke." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camelcruiser January 23, 2014 Share January 23, 2014 It's a crappy cell pic but just so you know it can work.....I have about 5 or 6 more not in the pic. Most were added at different times and 3 of them today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jefftse January 24, 2014 Share January 24, 2014 I have a pair black ice then I added a pair platinum. The black ice female beat the crap out of the platinum everyday and I have a 600g. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surf&turf January 24, 2014 Share January 24, 2014 If you can add them as small males, you shouldn't have a problem, when you try to add pairs, is when the fighting starts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mling January 24, 2014 Share January 24, 2014 All clowns are born male. When they pair up, one of them changes sex and become a female. I had one and then added a smaller one, they paired up nicely, I believe the bigger one is the female. It has been about 5 years and the male has stayed almost the same size, about half that of the female. Both are black Ocellaris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wade January 24, 2014 Share January 24, 2014 I've seen them leap out of the tank due to harassment, even when small. If you get lucky enough to get them small enough (say from a breeder) so that they haven't differentiated at all (juvenile, not male) you might have more luck, but it is still risky. Some will just decline and die due to the constant harassment. Mixing totally different species of clowns does seem to work ime. Especially if the first in the tank are not the most aggressive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davelin315 January 24, 2014 Share January 24, 2014 Actually, clowns are born as males and as they mature, the dominant clown changes to female and the next dominant becomes an adult male and then the rest remain adolescent males. When you see successful multiple clown tanks, this is usually because all but two are adolescents. Mixing clown species is also a crap shoot. If you add an aggressive species of clown that is very territorial (translated as pretty much all clowns) then you'll have turf wars. Case in point, I have a 7' 300 gallon tank and at one point had a pair of black and white ocellaris clowns (breeding pair). I then added two percula clowns that. I felt were juveniles but they were not accepted by the ocellaris pair. They eventually settled on the other side of the tank but this lead to the ocellaris female roaming further and taking the anemone away. They played keep away somewhat peacefully until I added a pair of pink skunk clowns. These ere not welcome additions and were driven to corner of the tank until they drove the perculas out of their home. When my female ocellaris died everything went crazy and the skunks took control of the entire tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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