Safe to add more clowns?

SaltEverywhere · Jan 15, 2017

I have a 150 gallon reef tank with two tangs and a clown. My friend is leaving the hobby and would like to give me his clown pair. My clown has bonded to a bubble curtain that I have in front of the return overflow on the far left of the tank. It rarely strays far from its bubbles, and I have never seen it farther than the middle of the tank. My friend's clowns are living in a large leather coral in a 50 gal tank. They do not seem to go more than a few inches from their home. If I put them on the far right side of the tank is that enough territory for everyone to be happy, or am I asking for an epic battle to the death?

Diesel · Jan 15, 2017

What kind of clowns we talking here?

SaltEverywhere · Jan 16, 2017

I believe mine is a good sized ocellaris, and the new pair are a small ocellaris and a large true percula, but I am not clear on telling those two types of clowns apart with certainty

Christopher Davis · Jan 16, 2017

They will most likely compete to establish a new hierarchy, clowns in nature do this... but watch out percula and ocellaris do not get along from my experience. Should be plenty of space to work out with the ocellaris clowns.

eatbreakfast · Jan 16, 2017

I've had multiple prs of this complex of clowns in tanks that size or smaller. There may be some fighting in the beginning and the male may switch partners, but it should be fine in this tank.

Chanjad385 · Jan 16, 2017

Yep expect some fighting to establish dominance

Should be ok once this is established
Worst case you might lose 1 due to stress etc

Remember to quarantine though don't wanna introduce anything to your established tank [emoji106]

SaltEverywhere · Jan 19, 2017

Thanks for your insight and expertise. Sounds like I'll be setting up an aquatic season of "The Bachelor" in my tank. I'll quarantine, introduce at opposite ends of the tank with rock structures in between, and try to watch them carefully so no one gets hurt I guess. I'll report back in a few months.

SaltEverywhere · Apr 18, 2017

Well, the assembled clown-committee on this thread nailed it. After a quarantine, I put the new clown pair and the leather coral they were hosting on the far right extreme of the tank and everything you all said would happen did happen. The small male started hanging out with the other female, who nipped at him now and then until his original mate came and got him. The females spent time in the other one's corner of the tank and there was some minor fighting with no damage, and now a little over a week later and there is peace, everyone seems happy with half the tank as their territory, the original pair is still together, and no one is dead. I'm so happy that worked out. Thank you again for your wisdom and advice @Chanjad385, @eatbreakfast, and @Christopher Davis

The only unfortunate side effect is that now I have a new unwanted decoration in my display tank because it makes the clowns happy. In order to make sure there were no parasites or hitchhikers on the rock and leather coral, I separated it from the fish and had a coral Quarantine Tank and a fish QT. I put PVC pipe in with the fish for hiding places, but couldn't resist buying a Spongebob pineapple house I saw at PetSmart for the QT tank as a joke. The clowns started living in that. I figured they'd switch back to their leather coral in the display tank. Once in the DT, though, they really didn't go for the leather coral, so I thought maybe the added protection of their QT house might be a nice option, and maybe it would encourage them to accept that half of the tank as their territory. I put the spongebob house in the display tank and it worked. They are adjusting to the new tank and have accepted that corner of the tank as theirs. To my horror, they still have not gone back to hosting their leather coral, so now I have a stupid Spongebob house in my DT and don't know what to do about it. It's in the back behind a rockpile and partially hidden by corals, but still....

Christopher Davis · Apr 18, 2017

SaltEverywhere said:
Well, the assembled clown-committee on this thread nailed it. After a quarantine, I put the new clown pair and the leather coral they were hosting on the far right extreme of the tank and everything you all said would happen did happen. The small male started hanging out with the other female, who nipped at him now and then until his original mate came and got him. The females spent time in the other one's corner of the tank and there was some minor fighting with no damage, and now a little over a week later and there is peace, everyone seems happy with half the tank as their territory, the original pair is still together, and no one is dead. I'm so happy that worked out. Thank you again for your wisdom and advice @Chanjad385, @eatbreakfast, and @Christopher Davis

The only unfortunate side effect is that now I have a new unwanted decoration in my display tank because it makes the clowns happy. In order to make sure there were no parasites or hitchhikers on the rock and leather coral, I separated it from the fish and had a coral Quarantine Tank and a fish QT. I put PVC pipe in with the fish for hiding places, but couldn't resist buying a Spongebob pineapple house I saw at PetSmart for the QT tank as a joke. The clowns started living in that. I figured they'd switch back to their leather coral in the display tank. Once in the DT, though, they really didn't go for the leather coral, so I thought maybe the added protection of their QT house might be a nice option, and maybe it would encourage them to accept that half of the tank as their territory. I put the spongebob house in the display tank and it worked. They are adjusting to the new tank and have accepted that corner of the tank as theirs. To my horror, they still have not gone back to hosting their leather coral, so now I have a stupid Spongebob house in my DT and don't know what to do about it. It's in the back behind a rockpile and partially hidden by corals, but still....

I think it's safe to say you can go ahead and remove it now if all clowns are happy and adjusted to each other, they will eventually find something else to host them! Pictures.

SaltEverywhere · Apr 18, 2017

Christopher Davis said:
I think it's safe to say you can go ahead and remove it now if all clowns are happy and adjusted to each other, they will eventually find something else to host them! Pictures.

Oh sure, after I take them from the tank they have lived in, remove their home and put them in a sparse QT tank for weeks, then move them to another tank with new tank mates and a turf war, I'm gonna look in those little faces and take their new house away? I don't know if I can do it. I'm hoping the other fish will laugh at them and peer pressure will get them to move out voluntarily.

Christopher Davis · Apr 18, 2017

SaltEverywhere said:
Oh sure, after I take them from the tank they have lived in, remove their home and put them in a sparse QT tank for weeks, then move them to another tank with new tank mates and a turf war, I'm gonna look in those little faces and take their new house away? I don't know if I can do it. I'm hoping the other fish will laugh at them and peer pressure will get them to move out voluntarily.

Hahaha it's pretty comical actually! I kinda like it! But if you want them to stay put you can replace the pineapple under the sea with a flower pot!

SaltEverywhere · Apr 19, 2017

Ya, it's kind of cracking me up too. I think I'd rather have the pineapple for now. It's early still, hopefully they'll go back to their leather coral. If not, then, as long as I look in the front of the tank and not the side it isn't that noticeable.