Clown fish

[renaldz]

Hi i am a newbie to saltwater and have been gathering loads of info on whcat 2 do! I am ready to go and buy my tank and equipment, But the question i ask is when my tank has cycled what kind of clown fish can go together if any as i would like to keep these to start with?
thanks
renaldz

 

[steelhealr]

Saltwater fish, in general, should not be paired with their own UNLESS you can find a mated pair or find opposite sexes. Clownfish are a little different....if you can find either two very young fish, or one larger than the other, the smaller will usually become a female (they can change sexes). If you get two and they fight, you should bring one back to the lfs. Remember, make sure your tank is completely cycled and settled in before you add fish. Good luck. SH

 

[renaldz]

I most certainly will thanks for the help

 

[Opcn]

I'm sorry to say SH didn't quite hit the nail on the head. Clown fish can only change sex twice, they start out sexless and change to male, then they change to female if they become dominant, if you go with two very small fish in a year or two you will have a pair, unfortunately if you go with the one fish much larger than the other method which is much easiers and the smaller fish is still good sized you run the risk of having gotten a smaller fish that has already turned femal, in addition to that the larger fish have a bit of a temper when it comes to seeing there own likeness and you could end up with the smaller fish being harassed, best to go with two very small clowns in the begining, since I think I can assume your tank isn't big enought for two territorys.

 

[renaldz]

i havn't actually bought the tank yet i have been assesing my options and i think that i am going to go with the aquamedic chromis as this wil be my firts marine tank!
I have a shop near to me that sell the tank bred clowns and they r quite small so i wil look to going there.
Also which clowns are the ebst in your opinion as you can get the black and white , orange and white and also the maroon clowns??
thanks
renaldz

 

[Navarre]

I think i will add another aspect to the question also..

You ask what kinds of clownfish can go together? NONE. Yes a pair of the same species is fine as long as you follow the guidlines abovce but clownfish are very intollerant of other species of clowns so unless you have a huge tank i would not recoment keeping different species of clowns together as they will fight to the death usually.

 

[Great Lakes]

Additionally, depending on tank size, you may be limited on future purchases if you end up with a mating pair.
The crankiest fish I have had to date were a pair of clowns. They would both attack my hand if I had reason to put it into the tank.

GL

 

[renaldz]

Wow that pretty mad that it wud go fro ya hand! I wil just have to decide on what type i would like if any. Thanks for the help peeps
renaldz

 

[veen]

isn't it the other way around -- the LARGER one becomes female, not the smaller?

i have a mated pair of true perculas that are the coolest little fish. if you do decide to go with clowns, do as others have suggested and only get one kind, don't mix species. for instance, you wouldn't want a percula & a maroon, or a tomato and a clarkii, etc.

ocellaris (false percula) clowns are great for beginners, so perhaps you could try getting one of them. they're colorful and interesting to watch.

 

[Navarre]

That is right, the larger of the 2 clowns will be female providing they both started out as male or non sexed.