Clownfish Question
- Thread starter K9coral
- Start date
How big is your tank?
I'm sure the clown police won't like it but I have 2 oscellaris and 2 pink skunks happily coexisting in a 75.
The Skunks host in a large carpet anemone,, the oscellaris live in a bunch of Rhodactis mushrooms less than 6 inches away. There's a bit of aggression now and again from the female Skunk (Queen of the tank) but nothing worse than a bit of chasing,, and not very often. Both Oscellaris adopt submissive shaking when confronted by the skunk and that seems to be enough for her.
The skunks are cleaning the backglass right now so I'm hoping for a spawn in the next week or so.
I know Percs aren't terribly aggressive,,, not sure about Clarkii's.
I'm sure the clown police won't like it but I have 2 oscellaris and 2 pink skunks happily coexisting in a 75.
The Skunks host in a large carpet anemone,, the oscellaris live in a bunch of Rhodactis mushrooms less than 6 inches away. There's a bit of aggression now and again from the female Skunk (Queen of the tank) but nothing worse than a bit of chasing,, and not very often. Both Oscellaris adopt submissive shaking when confronted by the skunk and that seems to be enough for her.
The skunks are cleaning the backglass right now so I'm hoping for a spawn in the next week or so.
I know Percs aren't terribly aggressive,,, not sure about Clarkii's.
Just FYI...
I have 3 separate pairs of clownfish in my 150g with no problems. Percs; Clarkiis and Maroons. Even the smallest perc (3/4") is not bothered by the more dominant clownfish. All fish were placed in as paired juveniles (not big mean ol fish that had a tank to call their own). Each pair has their own 'territory' defined by their anemone host and small zone in/around the anemone they host.
I don't reccommend this to anyone; just posting my experience. If -CAREFULLY- done you can establish a community of different species of clownfish.
-Russ
I have 3 separate pairs of clownfish in my 150g with no problems. Percs; Clarkiis and Maroons. Even the smallest perc (3/4") is not bothered by the more dominant clownfish. All fish were placed in as paired juveniles (not big mean ol fish that had a tank to call their own). Each pair has their own 'territory' defined by their anemone host and small zone in/around the anemone they host.
I don't reccommend this to anyone; just posting my experience. If -CAREFULLY- done you can establish a community of different species of clownfish.
-Russ
What are your thoughts on 2 clowns in a 10 gallon long term? Is it too much bioload?
I ask because I have a 10 gallon nano setup at work in a grade 6 classroom. Right now it has 1 blue devil damsel in there. She's interesting, but she has to stay alone, that's why she's in there, too aggresive for my tank at home. I'd like to put something more interesting to watch, like a shrimp/goby pair or a pair of "nemos" for the kids, they'd like that more. So what do you think?
I ask because I have a 10 gallon nano setup at work in a grade 6 classroom. Right now it has 1 blue devil damsel in there. She's interesting, but she has to stay alone, that's why she's in there, too aggresive for my tank at home. I'd like to put something more interesting to watch, like a shrimp/goby pair or a pair of "nemos" for the kids, they'd like that more. So what do you think?
I seriously doubt it would be too much bioload however the blue devil will probably chase any other fish you put in there. A shrimp or some other invertebrate may be interesting. In my 10 gallon, I have around 12#'s of LR and 20#'s of LS with a skimmer and hang on filter, a couple corals, polyps, and feather duster.
Oops, you misunderstood, the damsel would be gone, I'll trade her in. Right now it's a damsel, 3 crabs and 3 snails. I'm adding more snails (a couple each nassarius and cerith) and an emerald crab and a cleaner shrimp for sure. Eventually some corals like shrooms and zoos, nothing touchy around the kids. Two clowns swimming together would be a more interesting show then one damsel. I'll ask the kids, let them vote on what they want. Thanks.
I'm not sure how much more agressive the Blue Devil is compared to the BlueFin (Yellowback) Damsel. We've got a Yellowback in our 15gal and she gets along pretty well with our Cinnamon Clown.
We didn't have any LR in the system when we initially set it up, so we got one of those corner 'Reef Cave' decorations from Petsmart. She has claimed the innards as her home while our clown lives right above her...he's very happy back behind the fake siphon sponges.
The only time we see any kind of aggression is during feeding time...George (our Clown) will stay back a bit while Priscilla (Damsel) Swims out and eats...he'll follow her and get anything she doesn't get. No nipping or ramming, only thing she'll do is tail slap at him but he'll quickly get away from her.
So it can be done
We didn't have any LR in the system when we initially set it up, so we got one of those corner 'Reef Cave' decorations from Petsmart. She has claimed the innards as her home while our clown lives right above her...he's very happy back behind the fake siphon sponges.
The only time we see any kind of aggression is during feeding time...George (our Clown) will stay back a bit while Priscilla (Damsel) Swims out and eats...he'll follow her and get anything she doesn't get. No nipping or ramming, only thing she'll do is tail slap at him but he'll quickly get away from her.
So it can be done
Ive got a yellowback damsel with my 2 clarkii's, scooter blenny, watchman goby(?). The yellowback is usually put in his place by the dominant clarkii and I have seen the damsel act aggressive on very few occassions. This is in a 46 gallon so I dont know how they would behave in a smaller tank.
I had the damsel in a 29 with a firefish, not good. She didn't hassle him much but during feedings he barely ate because he was so scared of her darting all around. I'm sure a clown could stand up to it better then a firefish, though. But I wouldn't put 3 fish in a 10g, I was only planning 3 or 4 tops in my 29.
For rockwork I made some aragocrete and while still crumbly I hacked some caves into it with a screwdriver. Should be cool when it's ready. The tank only has about 5lbs of rock in it now, it was a 5 g untill Monday. The rest of the rock (10 - 12lbs) will be ready in about 3 weeks. Maybe then I'll switch to two clowns if the kids are game.
For rockwork I made some aragocrete and while still crumbly I hacked some caves into it with a screwdriver. Should be cool when it's ready. The tank only has about 5lbs of rock in it now, it was a 5 g untill Monday. The rest of the rock (10 - 12lbs) will be ready in about 3 weeks. Maybe then I'll switch to two clowns if the kids are game.
actually two clowns and a damsel in a ten IMO isnt too much bioload...Thats my thoughts on it...Percs dont get too large...if you have really good skimming, you can get away with a couple more fish in a tank than what is usually suggested...you might have to do more frequent water changes and/or siphoning the waste..but you have to decide the pros and cons... IMHumbleO of course..
No skimmer on the nano. None at home either, for that matter. I just ordered a Remora Wednasday night. I added a bunch of crap to the nano today, emerald crab, cleaner shrimp, nassarius and cerith snails and a small serpent star. The damsel right away started nagging the crab, shrimp and star. If they come near her she wags her tail in their face. She's given up trying to chase the star off the rocks but the crab and shrimp she still nags. That fish is such a jerk, lol.
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