Clownfish Circus (harem) Club!

[don_chuwish]

I'll jump in here!

The Background
First pair of True Percula bought via local LFS was kept in a 36G (my first tank)
Eventually I set up a 25G cube and put in a pair of Black and White Ocellaris.
When I set up my 120G, both pairs went in.
They haggled but the older, larger True Perc matron dominated.
One day I found the smaller Black & White had jumped to its death.
The larger Black & White just kinda became a loner for a while.
We got another, small Black & White and they seemed to pair off nicely.
Eventually, the male True Percula developed bug-eye and I wasn't able to save him.
The matron True Perc female then STOLE the larger Black & White away, which begs some questions:

• Can they return to male after being female?
• Or maybe the larger Black & White had never actually transitioned to female?
• Had they always been a harem instead of two pairs?

At any rate, the two have been spawning regularly for a few months now.
The little Black & White was just left out as a loner and stays away when there is a clutch on the rocks.

So now I'm trying to add another small True Perc. It's in a social acclimation box at the moment, but briefly escaped last night. The attacks from the other three were immediate and intense, but worth noting that the smaller Black & White was much gentler about it. The matron True Perc was grabbing the tail and pulling the little guy around. No damage was done but I was glad to get him back in the box.

So another question - can they complete the 'domination dance' and establish the pecking order while the new little guy is in the box? Will it help reduce the danger of injury or death to leave him in there longer? Am I likely to end up with a harem instead of two pairs?

 

[zagviper71]

That better?

 

[zagviper71]

closing in on 10" dia.... clown hotel!

 

[LeonThePeon]

Getting a little tired of ich in my DT - probably caused by aggression from a few that have moved on since treatment.

I’m thinking of changing my home DT from FOWLR (and a couple of BTAs) - to something more LPS/SPS dominated but have my breeding pair of Ocellarises - and maybe their offsprings.

Would that be a problem? Would the older breeding pair know not to attack it’s own young? I’d like to have some of the offspring in the home DT. I’m working on a 400G+ at work that I’m sure the harem would work in.

Thought it would be fun to raise the entire clutch together full of their brothers.

 

[Injoynit]

I got myself 6 Amphiprion ocellaris SA Orange nano clowns from the same clutch from "The Coral Reef" ( https://www.coralreeftn.com/shop.php ). Great place to get them.
They are gong on 4 months with no problems. They all seem to get along and none are hosting a coral as I have no anemone's. Just a hammer and torch coral.
I have them in a 750XXL red sea, so even if there was to be a problem should be plenty of room for them to pair up, but they mostly stay together. Picture was 4 months ago.

 

[kinetic]

I got a bunch of different ones in the "small" size from SA. They ended up not working out too well, but my tank may be too small. I'll upgrade soon and get a clutch of nano sized from SA!

 

[NemNation]

Here we go....30 in a 300 Gallon System appropriately named NemNation.

 

[kinetic]

Sad to report that all my clowns have gone to new homes to avoid any getting killed. I'm now down to 1 clown, and will try to pair him with another.

My setup had worked with a dominant pair in the magnifica, and a loner that stayed as far away from the magnifica as possible. They never tried to kill each other, but the small loner was never allowed into the anemone.

I ended up just rehoming the big pair, and keeping the loner. The loner is a beautiful premium grade davinci, and has stayed small due to being kept from eating a lot. Through all the trials, he has been extremely timid and non-aggressive to any other clowns I had (small and big). Also he submits to anything with eyes, such as hermits, my blenny, and more.

I'm getting another clown tomorrow from Vossen, another beautiful premium davinci. It's much smaller than my loaner, so hopefully they get along!

I'll probably setup a ~200g tank next year, populate with a ton of anemones (magnifica, BTA mostly), and then introduce at least 30 - 35 from the same clutch.

 

[Alexx17]

My goal is to have 4 in a 32 Biocube. I have 3 rn. Started with 4 and the smallest died I assume fighting but I was at school when this happen. Will be add a larger clownfish to be the female in the next few weeks.

 

[kinetic]

My goal is to have 4 in a 32 Biocube. I have 3 rn. Started with 4 and the smallest died I assume fighting but I was at school when this happen. Will be add a larger clownfish to be the female in the next few weeks.

A fighting death is easily noticeable. There will be aggression for at least a day, and then the dead clown will have fins and body damage.

 

[Alexx17]

He was in the tank for 4-5 months, before he died. They all chased every now and again but no contact. I went to school got a speeding ticket and then ranning out of gas and then got home to a dead clownfish. Half the body was stuck to my mp10. No color, just white(was. Gladiator ) the other half I never found.

 

[CCK_8814]

I had successfully kept a clown harem tank in the past. It was a 50gal tall and had 14 clowns (mix of frostbites, black phantoms, Wyoming whites, onyx, mocha, BlackHawk X & pair of golden nugget maroons) and ~30 BTAs (mix of rose, rainbow, orange, etc). They were kept without issue for around 8 months. The golden nuggets would do what I referred to as “regulate” everyone and although they were by far the most aggressive they also for whatever reason did not tolerate when others would chase or bicker with each other. The male would intervene the most with the female doing it occasionally as well. Unfortunately a last minute 6 month trip to Germany came up from work and everyone had to be rehomed. When I got back I setup a JBJ 28gal and kept 4 clowns and 2 BTAs, 3 midnights and a regular occy. All was fine in that tank as well until I had some issues with my RODI filter which ultimately led to the loss of them. I tried keeping 4 clowns in my 40gal cube with no luck so now I have 1 flurry Frostbite and 1 BlackHawk X in the cube with 15 different BTAs. From my experience and everything I can tell it is complete hit and miss as to whether you can or can’t keep a harem tank. It truly depends on each and every individual clown in your tank. I do plan to setup another 10+ clown tank in the near future. Attached is a picture of the BlackHawk and frostbite in one of their BTAs.

 

[cwk84]

I’m not surprised. You need a huge tank for a harem so they can avoid each other if necessary.

 

[Injoynit]

I have had my Six in my 200 gallon for over a year now with no problems. There are no anemones in the tank and they do not host any coral as an FYI. I did have one, just a few weeks ago, jump through the 1/4" by 4" slot in my top at the back of the tank and found him on the net cooked under the lights. He was just lucky enough to fit through that opening. So, I'm now down to 5.

 

[kinetic]

I’m not surprised. You need a huge tank for a harem so they can avoid each other if necessary.

Very true. Ones that get beat up need to be able to get far enough away to recover.

 

[OrionN]

Here is a quick question for all of you with clown fish harem tanks:

I was thinking since I have no corals to add a few big angel fish.. think it will be a problem with all the bta's? Hate to spend the money on them and have them get zapped by the bta's! Or just leave it all clownfish only tank?

BTA do not kill fish unless the fish is dying already. Does not have strong enough sting.

 

[OrionN]

My goal is to have 4 in a 32 Biocube. I have 3 rn. Started with 4 and the smallest died I assume fighting but I was at school when this happen. Will be add a larger clownfish to be the female in the next few weeks.

In a 32 gal, you should not have more than a pair. You may be able to keep a third one but he will not be happy. abused and always have wound on body. Best just leave at 1 pair.

 

[Alexx17]

In a 32 gal, you should not have more than a pair. You may be able to keep a third one but he will not be happy. abused and always have wound on body. Best just leave at 1 pair.

I have had those 3 in the tank for 11 months now, no issues with those 3.

 

[kinetic]

I had three in my 34g display for almost a year. The pair seemed to accept the third but did not let him into the anemone. He didn't have any wounds and was not abused, but most likely a huge exception. I don't think I'd try it again.

 

[Alexx17]

I had three in my 34g display for almost a year. The pair seemed to accept the third but did not let him into the anemone. He didn't have any wounds and was not abused, but most likely a huge exception. I don't think I'd try it again.

I have 2 about the same size and one a little smaller. The forth one was the smallest my favorite. So I was told I could another small one in again or a bigger one. I decided to go bigger, with a frostbite clown.