more clowns?

[Ichthy]

i'm tempted to join in the "multiple clown tank" in my 75gal.
Right now i have 2 "Nemo"s
My male is a little bit smaller than my female.

I know books say that if you have certain types you can mix them with others as well as the same kind.

Is it possible to have more of the same kind? Or risk them killing each other? cause i do want atleast 4 more pairs to maybe mate.

If they do have babies, should i leave them in the 75gal? or make a smaller tank the "fry" tank?
I'm sure it's different w/ saltwater than freshwater

[allan]

My understanding you must remove the eggs before they hatch else the fry becomes fish/coral food.

[Third Coast Tropical]

If you have more than 2 of the same species....the largest will be female, next largest male, and all the remaining will remain in a "juvenile" sexless state, but challenge the male usually to take over that spot.... This has been donewith many of the less aggressive species (ex. Occellaris). Some species it is just not possible to have more than 2 (ex. Maroons). I would not recommend different species of clowns in a tank the size...Your goal of 4 breeding pairs in the same tank is not going to happen, unless perhaps you had a 1000 gal tank or bigger...I believe there are some on here that have had 2 pairs of different species in a tank that was around 215-250 gal....

When you say "Nemo", what exactly do you mean? Orange and white clown? If so, that encompasses several different species of clowns. Best if you let us know exactly what kind of clown you are referring to.

[Ichthy]

Yes the orange & white clown.
So they wont fight if i put like 4 more pairs in there?
Cuase i do want more of the "Nemo" which i believe are the Occellaris, i want atleast 6.
I know this lady who had 4 breeding pairs in her 55gal.
I thought since her 4 breed in a 55gal, mine would in a 75gal.
She said it took them about 2 years before all 4 pairs had fry.

And a lady[210gal] on reefcentral has 27fry in her tank and i believe 30 anemones.
She said she used a coral board[i believe it's called that, i'll have to look again] and no sand.
She said the coral board prevents rocks from falling.

[tebstan]

4 more won't make 4 more 'pairs.' It would make one pair with four sexless juveniles, if they didn't kill each other. From what Third Coast said, and the Clownfish book by Joyce Wilkerson, it would be constant stress for the male and the juveniles because they'd always be vying for dominance.
You know someone who has 4 breeding in a 55... are they a family of 4 with a breeder pair and 2 juves, or two pairs? or 4 pairs? Seems unlikely, they're so mean. But I don't have ocellaris, so maybe its possible. My Clarkii pair dont even let me in the tank. :(

[Ichthy]

The Lady i know had 2 females and 2 males, and each pair had babies in her 55gal. She has about 6 anemones.
She doesn't have any other fish and only anemones and rocks.

[tebstan]

The anemones may help with aggression issues.. if they're hosting maybe they don't wander into each others territories. All those anemones most likely are split from one specimen?

Even if this is possible, its certainly not the norm. I get upset when stuff dies or doesn't do well because of my care (or lack of) so I wouldn't want to take the risk of mixing clowns. Once they're in the tank, they have no where to run if a dominant fish picks a fight. You would have to be vigilant in separating them when it gets rough, which means another tank, or be prepared to watch them suffer.
I anthropomorphize everything, and get a little sentimental with my fishes and corals. Might be easier for you.

[Ichthy]

I dont know if they're split.
I dont know the names but i know she has a blue-ish one, a pink-ish and a bubble-tip and some other colors.
Some are small and some are big.
I dont plan on adding more clowns till a little bit down the road when i possible get a 300gal tank.
I'm just asking for advice instead of at the last min like i normally do.

[kkiel02]

I would strongly recommend you dont add more than one pair as the newer clowns will likely die. Moberts tank(the 27 clown in 27 days thread you referred to) were all raised from a spawning pair. The pair was removed and the babies were added. She even had some losses.

[Ichthy]

My male is new, just a few days but my female is i believe a year old.
I dont plan on adding anymore clowns till i get a larger tank 150+
I didn't see/read her losses, there were too many pages-basically what i know from her thread was her pair had babies and when they were large enough, she put them w/ the parents and has alots of anemones.

Right now, i'm just asking for advice so i dont do it at the last min. like i normally do.

[Third Coast Tropical]

My best advice is to read on the subject. Start with Joyce Wilkersons "Clownfishes" as Teeb already suggested. Then move on to some of Frank Hoffs books. Then go back and actually read that thread you previously mentioned. After that, then make the decision how to proceed. IMO, (and not sure how much that is worth) no more than one pair in a system that small (55 gal), and even in the 150 gal, I personally would stick with one pair, but thats me so...like I mentioned....read, read, read....there is a plethora of great information out there. Best of luck

[kkiel02]

She actually removed the parents from the tank. I followed that thread for awhile as I wanted to try two types of ocellaris(regular and the black & white) in my 180g. After reading alot of posts though I ended up deciding against it even though I have alot of anemones and space; the problem is once they start spawning clownfish become very territorial. So you may be able to keep them successfully a year or two but when they reach spawning point odds are 2 pair will quickly become 1. My clowns(perculas) chase away tangs over 10x their size and they havent even started to spawn. I would suggest reading up a couple of the books previously mentioned I think "Clownfishes" by Joyce might even be in our library but dont hold me to that. lol

And asking advice now is a great idea! I usually will do the same especially if its a species I have not kept before. For example- my anthias post on here.