Saddleback Clownfish Photos/Experiences?

[TonysReef]

Curious to see and hear about people's polymnus (saddleback) clowns. I experimented with a designer clownfish tank and it didn't go well, so my next plan is to just get a pair or a handful of saddlebacks as the primary focus of the tank is haddoni anemones.

So I'm interested to see who keeps them and what they look like, especially as they mature. I see mostly ORA babies in stores, but I have no idea what they look like as they mature. Some varieties seem to be black or orange from internet pics, but I'm assuming those are wild caught.

So, let's see what you all have. Also how many do you keep together? I would imagine a pair is safest, but I've seen them in the wild in small groups, so what have been your experiences?

Appreciate any contributions.

 

[JumboShrimp]

I had one (1), so I can’t answer all of your questions, but I can say I absolutely loved that fish; mostly it’s swim pattern, which I found to be less herky-jerky than your typical clown fish. They get a nice size too, if that appeals to you. Bigger than you full thumb, for sure. They can be aggressive/territorial, however. Tank size there would be key. I hope this helps.

 

[chizerbunoi]

My pair are in a partition of about 17 gallons so I don’t get to see their true behaviour (compared to open water dives where they swim everywhere. But they take to anemones pretty much the same. They are currently with lots of RBTA, cribrinopsis crassa, a LTA and some Haddoni. They are very aggressive with their hosting of anemones. Even to the point of diving into the mouths of carpets which could end up killing the carpets, so watch that.

I don’t notice any difference in their behaviour compared to the other clown complexes. They always attack and abuse me when my hand is in the tank. Little vampires! They keep their anemones clean and like to rearrange the tank around them, especially the sand. And the female always dominates the male.

If I had a dedicated tank to them where they could rear their young that would be cool. but they are sharing a tank with two others pairs.
In the image, the female is a little over 5” and the larger green carpet is about 13”.

I keep my tanks like a refugium. The macro/nuisance algae is what keeps my parameters in order.

 

[fcmatt]

Would more then 2 a. Nigripes make a better choice then saddlebacks? As long as you have several anemones in the tank you may go years before you see possible issues?

 

[TonysReef]

My pair are in a partition of about 17 gallons so I don’t get to see their true behaviour (compared to open water dives where they swim everywhere. But they take to anemones pretty much the same. They are currently with lots of RBTA, cribrinopsis crassa, a LTA and some Haddoni. They are very aggressive with their hosting of anemones. Even to the point of diving into the mouths of carpets which could end up killing the carpets, so watch that.

I don’t notice any difference in their behaviour compared to the other clown complexes. They always attack and abuse me when my hand is in the tank. Little vampires! They keep their anemones clean and like to rearrange the tank around them, especially the sand. And the female always dominates the male.

If I had a dedicated tank to them where they could rear their young that would be cool. but they are sharing a tank with two others pairs.
In the image, the female is a little over 5” and the larger green carpet is about 13”.

I keep my tanks like a refugium. The macro/nuisance algae is what keeps my parameters in order.

That green haddoni is a beautiful specimen.

The fear of them being aggressive and opening the mouths of the carpets is what gives me pause about saddlebacks, I've seen it before as well.

Very cool tank concept though. Have you considered using black egg crate to divide? Seems like it would hide the algae growth much better and keep focus on the clowns/anemones.

Would more then 2 a. Nigripes make a better choice then saddlebacks? As long as you have several anemones in the tank you may go years before you see possible issues?

Not a big fan of them. That's my real issue, I don't love any of the natural clowns that are hosted by haddonis. My fallback is to go with Bicinctus clowns. I feel like they're probably more closely related to clowns that live in the carpets naturally, so likely won't have an issue. I used to have one that happily lived in my haddoni, but it was a long time ago and I'm sure these things are hit or miss. Also it seems most stores only carry spotcinctus designer clowns these days, which I don't love.

 

[chizerbunoi]

I have a lot of tanks and am constantly moving anemones back and forth all the time. My goal someday is to collect pairs of all 28 species within the 6 different complexes. I’m not much into designer captive clowns. The eggcrate though looks ugly allows me to adjust the wall size frequently depending on what is going in and out. The algae is my only form of nutrient control. I have a very dirty tank which the anemones love and a high bioload. I feed very heavy to encourage breeding and growth. I also don’t dose so my rocks and walls don’t have much coralline.

I wouldn’t dismiss it for the head diving. If you had lots of carpets for them to move between it might be doable. But if there is just one specimen, I have read from others experiences that the mated pair will start killing everyone else off.

Have you seen videos of saddlebacks in the wild? These are from Bubble Vision. The family community is aggressive but still very cool.

 

[JumboShrimp]

Wow, I had absolutely no idea they grew to be that large!

 

[TonysReef]

I have a lot of tanks and am constantly moving anemones back and forth all the time. My goal someday is to collect pairs of all 28 species within the 6 different complexes. I’m not much into designer captive clowns. The eggcrate though looks ugly allows me to adjust the wall size frequently depending on what is going in and out. The algae is my only form of nutrient control. I have a very dirty tank which the anemones love and a high bioload. I feed very heavy to encourage breeding and growth. I also don’t dose so my rocks and walls don’t have much coralline.

I wouldn’t dismiss it for the head diving. If you had lots of carpets for them to move between it might be doable. But if there is just one specimen, I have read from others experiences that the mated pair will start killing everyone else off.

Have you seen videos of saddlebacks in the wild? These are from Bubble Vision. The family community is aggressive but still very cool.

Very cool videos. I get the utility of the egg crate, I just think it would look much better if you replaced the white egg crate with black egg crate next time you move stuff around.

And I do have lots of carpets, 10 at the moment...

I'm still reluctant to get more than a pair as the designer aggression I had sort of soured me to a repeat performance. I also would love to find some that are more orange than black:

But I'm assuming they're a rarity as I've never seen them before.

Are yours ORA? I like darker black ones, but all the ones in the store seem to be a beige from ORA and I have no idea if they darken up as they mature. I only ever see juveniles.

 

[chizerbunoi]

That is a very awesome setup you have. Can you share more about your setup?

Those orange clowns are beautiful. if you can get them they would definitely be a rarity.

There is a member named Deepsea ?? (Bendalat on YouTube who has a large Mertensii and tried the harem with skunk clownfish but didn’t have much luck. And his Mertensii is over 40”. You can ask him how his experience went. He also did the harem of designer clowns too.

I don’t know where to source the black eggcrate but it’s a good idea. Sorry I misread your post. The clowns I have are wild caught or so the fish store told me.

 

[TonysReef]

That is a very awesome setup you have. Can you share more about your setup?

Those orange clowns are beautiful. if you can get them they would definitely be a rarity.

There is a member named Deepsea ?? (Bendalat on YouTube who has a large Mertensii and tried the harem with skunk clownfish but didn’t have much luck. And his Mertensii is over 40”. You can ask him how his experience went. He also did the harem of designer clowns too.

I don’t know where to source the black eggcrate but it’s a good idea. Sorry I misread your post. The clowns I have are wild caught or so the fish store told me.

Build thread below, tons of pics.

Black Egg Crate at BRS.

Yeah, this weekend I'm going to talk to a few of the stores I go to and see what they say about sourcing clowns. If anything I'll order a bunch of black ORA saddlebacks from liveaquaria to an lfs and cherrypick the two I want.

Also think i'll try for a pair of banggai cardinals. They should be safe to keep clear of the carpets. Not sure what else I can safely have now that I'm foregoing the harem.