Compatability

[OscarCichlid]

Are damselfish and clown fish compatible. I would like to set up my 30 gallon tank as a salt water tank with 5 Clown Fish, 5 Damsel Fish, and live rock.

Clowns

True Percula
False Percula
Maroon Clown
Cinnamon Clown
Yellowstripe Maroon Clown

Damsles

Blue Damsel
Blue Damsel
3-Stripe Damsel
4-Stripe Damsel
Domino Damsel

Will these fish be compatible. I will also be adding some live coral and anenomes.

 

[RamJet]

Your clowns will not get along, they need to be young when you get them and of the same type. You can mix the damsels, get them young also. As the damsels grow and get used to the tank, they will pester any new fish that you put in, which can stress the new fish causing them to die, die, die. So any new fish that you get down the road will have to be larger then them and not timmid. Oh, if you want your clowns to live in your anenomes, you will also need to get wild caught. Tank rasied will not go in them.

 

[OscarCichlid]

I already have all of the damsels. if i get 5 true perculas and put them in the 30 first. then add the damsels later on will that be ok?

 

[RamJet]

You should be OK doing that, it is when you put new into the damsels tank that you run into the problem. I would still keep an eye on them, and pull any that are causing problems.

 

[OscarCichlid]

ok, thanks for the help.. and i have one more question. You said that only wild clowns will go in the anenomes. What about the damsels.. Will tank raised damsels use the anenomes?

 

[RamJet]

No, Damsels will die if they go in, so they stay away. Clowns are ammune to the sting. Be careful when working on your tank, you can chase the damsels into an anenome, this happened to me just a few days ago. Damsel is doing fine, I got him out quickly, but his scales are pretty messed up.

 

[Landlocked]

No, Damsels will die if they go in, so they stay away. Clowns are ammune to the sting. Be careful when working on your tank, you can chase the damsels into an anenome, this happened to me just a few days ago. Damsel is doing fine, I got him out quickly, but his scales are pretty messed up.

Actually, there are some damsels that will go into anemones, and live there quite comfortably. They won't stay there for extended periods of time, but they can duck into a nearby anemone if being pursued by a predator.

Also, clowns will usually have a "settling in" period, during which they may be stung, or even eaten by the anemone! (It's like getting used to a new car; it takes a while.)

 

[Great Lakes]

If you put those ten fish in a 30 gallon aquarium, the god of saltwater will visit you in the night and curse you.

Also, what if all the clowns want an anemone? You can't have 5 of them in a 30 gallon tank.

GL

 

[NIGE]

just somethign to throw into the confusion:
clowns are a type of damsel (but dont start shouting at me i know they have very different temperments!)
and tank-bred clowns take a looooooooooong time (if ever) to take to an anenome

 

[Great Lakes]

Nige, my tank raised percula took to an anemone about an hour after he was introduced to the tank.

But there is never a gaurantee.

I even have a Haitian anemone that hosts a peppermint shrimp! that's a riot.

GL

 

[ostrow]

I was wondering how far down the thread I would have to read to find someone say that was too many fish. Surprised noone caught it earlier.

You need at least double the tank size for that many I'd say.

I have 2 tank-bred true perculas. They are small, 1.5" I was going to get a BTA this week for them. There are as many who say "only tank-bred clowns will go to anemones in captivity" as those who say "only wild caught clowns will go to anemones in captivity." This seems to be another of the entirely unpredictable outcomes in our hobby. There is no rule on this. Depends on the anemone, the fish, the water and environment in the tank, etc...

 

[OscarCichlid]

OK well then how many fish can i put in the tank? Also you said that clown fish should only be kept with the same species of clown, well what about True Perculas and Black Perculas. Can they be kept in the same tank?

 

[Hazmat]

I would say 5 fish at the most

 

[OscarCichlid]

ok then i would say my fish will be

2 Blue Damsels
1 3 Stripe Damsel
2 True Percula (or if it coulw work 1 True percula and 1 Black Percula)

 

[Adrinal]

Check to see if damsles are 1 or many (but not 2-3) I know some of the small fish i was looking at were like that. I believe some damsles dont get along either.
I don't have enough experience to tell you about compatablity issues, but those are some flags that went up reading your post.