We have 3 clown fish and 2 of them are attacking the 3rd. They were all bought and introduced at the same time. Now two of them are hanging around together and the 3rd one has started hiding all the time. I thought he had died because I had not seen him in a couple of days, then he came out of hiding for a few minutes yesterday. He stayed out until the other two started chasing him and then he went behind the rocks and has disappeared again. Should we get another to make 4 or should take the third one out and just leave the "pair"?
Which Is Best 3 Or 4 Clown Fish?
- Thread starter sahmof2
- Start date
@ombomb
Fish Gatherer
leave the the pair, they will agressively defend their territory from any other clowns in there now
Yup, leave the pair and take out the other.
clinton ><>
Fish Crazy
i would say 4
Sea Turtle
Fish Crazy
I have heard that even numbers work fine. However, I would take him out. Must be hell in there for him. 
thefirethief
Fish Crazy
I remember reading a bit about clownfish communites a while ago. From what I remember there will always be a heirarchy so even introducing another fish wont neccessarily make 2 pairs.
Ive just searched google a bit and heres a pretty interesting snippet from the Florida museum of natural history website...
What the movie "Finding Nemo" doesn't tell you about clownfish is that they're all transsexuals. In a study published in the journal Nature, evolutionary biologist Peter Buston and colleagues report that clownfish in Papua New Guinea reefs can change their sex at will for social reasons. Clownfish live in strict hierarchical communities. Each neighborhood is dominated by a top-ranking female breeder. Her male partner is next, followed by up to four progressively smaller, non-breeding fish. When the dominant female dies, her mate changes sex and becomes female. The top-ranking non-breeder becomes a sexually active male, and all the other fish shift up a rank. Clownfish also appear to regulate their size in order to remain part of the group. Each fish keeps its body mass 20 percent smaller than the fish directly above it in social rank, probably to avoid conflict. Fish who disrespectfully outgrow their rank are rejected by the clan.
Sorry my post doesn't exactly give you any answers but I think its interesting reading and might give you an insight clownfish relationships.
Mark
Ive just searched google a bit and heres a pretty interesting snippet from the Florida museum of natural history website...
What the movie "Finding Nemo" doesn't tell you about clownfish is that they're all transsexuals. In a study published in the journal Nature, evolutionary biologist Peter Buston and colleagues report that clownfish in Papua New Guinea reefs can change their sex at will for social reasons. Clownfish live in strict hierarchical communities. Each neighborhood is dominated by a top-ranking female breeder. Her male partner is next, followed by up to four progressively smaller, non-breeding fish. When the dominant female dies, her mate changes sex and becomes female. The top-ranking non-breeder becomes a sexually active male, and all the other fish shift up a rank. Clownfish also appear to regulate their size in order to remain part of the group. Each fish keeps its body mass 20 percent smaller than the fish directly above it in social rank, probably to avoid conflict. Fish who disrespectfully outgrow their rank are rejected by the clan.
Sorry my post doesn't exactly give you any answers but I think its interesting reading and might give you an insight clownfish relationships.
Mark
Yes that is correct, but it misses out the part where the fish cant go down a rank, so female cant turn into male. And i wouldnt call them transexuals, theres an other scientific term for animals that can change genders.
bambam
Fish Fanatic
i have four clowns in my tank and when they are all together you can tell exactly which ones the female, the male and the other two non breeders.... it so fasinating to see it actually happening in your own home........ i have four clown fish one set where introduced 3 months ago and the other two added about a month ago and it didnt take long for them to group together..... it also helped the ones i added last were alot smaller then the original two
Robert247
Fish Fanatic
what size tank do you need to get this happening
bambam
Fish Fanatic
i have a 65 us gal
amstar15
Fish Crazy
remove the 3rd. Like it was stated earlier, the two have set up shop so to speak. They will defend their territory now that they are established in the thank. If you truely want to have 4, catch all three, take them back to the LFS and get 4 new ones.
Lynda B
Fish Addict
This is fascinating stuff.....
First learn to sex them... which is quite an interesting pursuit when it comes to clownfish.
In a group the female is the largest, with the male as the second largest. All others will be juveniles and gender-neutral. When one of the adults disappears, the next biggest will take its place. Thus the male will become female and a juvenile will turn into a male. Once they are female they cannot change again. In certain species there are physical differences but it's not a real good idea to rely on this as they may have changed sexes but not markings.
http
/www.petstation.com/clownfish.html
Also...
Q: What is the nature of clownfish in terms of gender?
A: Clownfish are protandrous hermaphrodites. Clownfish are hatched sexually immature or in other words sexless, neither male or female. This in the simplest of terms means that they change from sexless to male to female. This is a one way trip; sexless to male never to sexless again and male to female never to male again. They may spend their entire life as a sexually immature fish depending on their environment.
http/www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthre...threadid=215088
First learn to sex them... which is quite an interesting pursuit when it comes to clownfish.
In a group the female is the largest, with the male as the second largest. All others will be juveniles and gender-neutral. When one of the adults disappears, the next biggest will take its place. Thus the male will become female and a juvenile will turn into a male. Once they are female they cannot change again. In certain species there are physical differences but it's not a real good idea to rely on this as they may have changed sexes but not markings.
http
/www.petstation.com/clownfish.htmlAlso...
Q: What is the nature of clownfish in terms of gender?
A: Clownfish are protandrous hermaphrodites. Clownfish are hatched sexually immature or in other words sexless, neither male or female. This in the simplest of terms means that they change from sexless to male to female. This is a one way trip; sexless to male never to sexless again and male to female never to male again. They may spend their entire life as a sexually immature fish depending on their environment.
http
/www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthre...threadid=215088
Robert247
Fish Fanatic
If you get 4 clowns as juveniles will one become female and the other male, and will the male and female breed without getting sort of terotorial with the others and will they attack or eat the eggs or when they have just hatched.
also whch type of clown are the easyest to breed and how long if you get juveniles does it take for them th mature
also whch type of clown are the easyest to breed and how long if you get juveniles does it take for them th mature
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