mixing clown breeds

jweed9379 · Aug 7, 2014

I have heard before that you can only put different breeds in a tank if they are introduced at the same time...is this true? I am getting a male ocellaris so hopefully he will pair with my female but i would also like to get a pair of black and whites or picasso, would it be possible to introduce them to my tank with the ocellaris or will they be harassed?

cmac330 · Aug 7, 2014

I have an onyx female (percula) paired with a snowflake male (ocellaris) and introduced him 3 months after. This means if you introduce 3 clowns (2 percs -picassos- and 1 ocellaris) it would be difficult to control who pairs with who unless it is a substantially large tank which would allow you to control proximity. However, if your tank is shorter than 8 feet and less than 200 gallons I would say there is a 90+ percent chance that in 6 months you will only have 2 clowns.

vic67 · Aug 7, 2014

I've had luck with different clowns in the same tank but you have to keep even numbers. What I thought helped was that I rearranged the rockscape to separate the two pairs into their own zones. One pair were Mocha clowns and the others were a snowflake and an ocellaris.

Trex · Aug 7, 2014

A full black and white is most likely an ocellaris anyways. (( small chance of being a black and white A. polymnus, but hard to confuse the two )).

IME, mixing Percs and ocellaris won't be an issue (( assuming you don't have 2 females. ))

jweed9379 · Aug 7, 2014

So what would be the odds of getting two pairs if i add in 1 ocellaris and two black and white ocellaris at the same time as long as two are females and two are males...and would a 65 gallon tank be sufficient for them and my damsels?

fishroomlady · Aug 7, 2014

I wouldn't try and keep 4 clowns in a 65 gallon. Clowns can actually grow pretty large and they can become extremely territorial and aggressive. I think a 65 would be too small. It would be perfect for one pair.