Clowns

[Shu]

Ok, so I decided to be brave and get my 4 week damsels out of my tank and add some clowns. Well this is my experience.

Man those buggers are hard to catch. I ended up having to take all my live rock out. Well I got them out to exchange them for my clowns. I ended up leaving in one of my first fish my yellow tell damsel. We here is the issue I bought 2 clowns 1 inch and one about 1.5 inch. The 1.5 inch did well for about 2 days and died. The 1 inch is going sttong. My params are correct so I think i just got a bad fish. What was weird though is in the morning it looked like the big one had a some slite ich and the afternoon it was gone. My freind put and a six line at the time we got the other fish out. He is doing great also.

My question is can I add another clown and they pair. Do i have to get a biger one then one I have or the same size.

[ballardjr2000]

I have heard you can get them seprately and they should pair up fine. I have ended up replaceing one at one time with no problems might take some time but shouldn't have problems.

[Shu]

Cool thanks for the info does it matter on the size

[ballardjr2000]

close to the size of the one you got. The "female" will grow to be the bigger one, once they pair up and sex chances.

[Crazyeyes]

The size doesn't matter since they switch sex, unless you see a bigger one that you like the coloration better and the bigger one will be a female.

[snfkotara]

What type clowns did u get?

[snfkotara]

I really like clown fish I have 4 different types and they pretty cool except that the black and white female will bite the fool out of u to the extent of drawing blood. She is a witch.

[Third Coast Tropical]

Actually...size does matter.....They can only become females one time....Most all clowns are sexually dimorphic, meaning that the sexes are 2 different sizes (Tomatoes can be pretty close in size, among a couple of others..in those cases, coloration is generally used to indicate sexes)...the largest fish becomes the female and the next largest generally becomes the male...if any other clowns present they remain in a "juvenile" state until the male or females passes.....

Your fish were rather small it sounds like, which means sexes may not have been determined yet, but if you bought them as a "pair", then I would assume that sexes were determined,....in which case you want to buy one smaller than the one that is left in your tank.....It is a possibility that the remaining clown you have could have began trasitioning towards a female state....buying a larger fish would yield 2 females....and that won't work...so to insure that you dont get 2 females, i would buy a fish smaller, but definitley not bigger.

Also, pairing doesn't always work. Many species behave differently, can be more aggressive and difficult to pair. I suggest reading Joyce Wilkerson's "Clownfishes" if you want to learn more


Also,...IMO...get that damsel out...you'll find a new love soon enough...trust me, they are nothing but trouble or food for anglers...;)

[vman181]

Definitely watch which clown you buy to pair up with the one you already have. I thought I had made a good choice one time and the original one harassed the new guy til it killed it.

[dmweise]

Ok, so I decided to be brave and get my 4 week damsels out of my tank and add some clowns. Well this is my experience.

Man those buggers are hard to catch. I ended up having to take all my live rock out. Well I got them out to exchange them for my clowns. I ended up leaving in one of my first fish my yellow tell damsel. We here is the issue I bought 2 clowns 1 inch and one about 1.5 inch. The 1.5 inch did well for about 2 days and died. The 1 inch is going sttong. My params are correct so I think i just got a bad fish. What was weird though is in the morning it looked like the big one had a some slite ich and the afternoon it was gone. My freind put and a six line at the time we got the other fish out. He is doing great also.

My question is can I add another clown and they pair. Do i have to get a biger one then one I have or the same size.

The size that you would get depends on the species. For example, if you have maroon clowns, if you get one that is smaller it is the more likely it is to get killed.

You could keep them separated by plastic light grating. That would allow them to get to know each other without resorting to violence.

[Third Coast Tropical]

The size that you would get depends on the species. For example, if you have maroon clowns, if you get one that is smaller it is the more likely it is to get killed.


IMO...I do not agree with this......Read my earlier post.....I would not buy a fish larger than the one you already have!!!

[Shu]

They are ocellaris clowns

[Still Learning]

Ocellaris are rather easy to pair, but I would go with TCT suggestion. It seems to work out best when you put a smaller clown in the tank. The trick is to make sure that it was also the smallest in the tank that it is coming from. Just because it is smaller than your fish if it is the bigger one in the LFS tank you might still have a problem.

Good luck finding your clown a boyfriend. Hopefully it will work out great.

[Shu]

Yeah this really confusing because you can just look under the skirt to check. I bought a small one and its been in there about 5 days. The fish store does not have many that are much bigger then mine so i have no clue what to do.

[Third Coast Tropical]

You did the right thing buying the smaller one
....are they getting along ok?

[Shu]

I only have one clown the bigger one died within 1 day. so I was wandering what size to get have no clue.

[Shu]

Oh by the way clown fish sleep in funny positions. I.E sidways on my magfloat

[Third Coast Tropical]

I only have one clown the bigger one died within 1 day. so I was wandering what size to get have no clue.

I was under the impression you already had one, and were looking to pair it up...you bought a new one (that was smaller) and put it in with your other fish from your previous pair, correct????...and now the one you bought 5 days ago has been killed, or the original fish died???....I am not sure I understand your story anymore....lol....But if you already have one clown in your tank....buy one that is smaller than that one (do not buy a larger one!!!), then once placed into the tank, if you notice any aggression you can partition off your tank (MacGuyver skills) to allow the fish to get better acquainted...After a couple pf days of this and under supervision, remove the partition and watch how they act together, if their is still strong aggression, then simply partition them again, repeat this daily until the aggression subsides....Occellaris are generally not that difficult to pair


Did you get that damsel out?

[Third Coast Tropical]

If you have no success with this and still want a pair of occellaris, I have a bonded pair that I would be willing to sale.....however, if you are still losing fish....I would suggest you figure what the issue is before putting more livestock in the tank....

[Shu]

My water is fine and my other fish are fine. I bought 2 clowns to begin with and the biger one died within the first day. It was not acting right the min I put him in and I believe at the LFS also(my fault). I was interested in adding another one but all they have is the same size or smaller. But the current clown is happy and eating like a champ.

[4fun]

I'm not sure how this is suppost to work let me tell you i have (had) a GSM (3" or so)by its self for about 3 months it was doing real good. now i bought another (1" or so) and he is noticably smaller well the big one beats on the little one only when he gets near either one of the 2 sea anemones. Other than that the little one dances and shakes for the bigger one. but no real bond yet only been 3 days now

[Shu]

yeah i will have see

[Third Coast Tropical]

Shu...if you want to pair the one you have....dont buy a larger fish...not sure how many times I can type that!!! If the LFS has ones smaller than your current one, then that is what you want to purchase....NOT A BIGGER ONE!!!

[Still Learning]

Glad to hear the one is eating like a champ! Let us know what you end up doing.

[snfkotara]

yes they do sleep funny I always thought something was wrong when we first got ours because they slept on their side like they were dying