A third clown

[Noah Hemingway]

My 8 year old black and white O clown recently lost her partner. They were in a 30G tank with a few gobies and some coral.

Since my “new” tank (6 months old) is now ready for some new inhabitants I recently moved the gobies over to it, Leaving the clown now by herself. I want to shut the 30G down and just focus on my 125G reef.

My problem is I already have an established pair of classic O Clowns in that tank and im worried they will fight if I add my Black Clown.

I don’t want to rehome her though as she was my first ever SW fish! However - I can’t catch the other pair out of the tank!

It’s 6 foot long and they have only been in there a few weeks. They have established a territory on the far right side of the tank.

If I introduced her on the far left (about 5 feet away from them) do you think the 3 would be okay in the same tank?

I would be happy to get her a new mate if needs be as well.

Any advice would be very greatly appreciated.

Thanks - Noah

 

[i cant think]

I don’t recommend adding a third clownfish to an already established pair, (unless you move rockwork around and get a fourth clown to give the unestablished female a mate) they will fight to the death

 

[blaxsun]

I have 3 clownfish in my tank: A percula/mocha mated pair and another black and orange male. They all got along from the outset when introduced into the new tank over 24 hours, but the mated pair apparently killed off two dozen other clownfish from the original owner, and the black and orange male bites me. They’re named Bonnie, Clyde and Dillinger.

I also have four damsels that get along swimmingly. Strictly speaking, this probably shouldn’t work - but for whatever reason with my particular fish it does.

 

[Supa]

I would like to think a 6ft tank can have more then 2 clowns. I would second what “icantthink” said above….. which is go with 4 total instead of 3.

 

[melonheadorion]

ive heard many times that having more than 2 could cause issues. however, it is done all the time, so we know that it can work. it really would likely come down to territory. so if you have a large tank, and the current set have their territory mapped out, and you add the third maybe to a spot that is away from the others, you might be alright. i would probably add a fourth just so that there are 2 pairs instead of a pair and half. thats my thinking on it. not really sure if that theory would really work though.

 

[i cant think]

ive heard many times that having more than 2 could cause issues. however, it is done all the time, so we know that it can work. it really would likely come down to territory. so if you have a large tank, and the current set have their territory mapped out, and you add the third maybe to a spot that is away from the others, you might be alright. i would probably add a fourth just so that there are 2 pairs instead of a pair and half. thats my thinking on it. not really sure if that theory would really work though.

Having 2 pairs should work and the reason why is because there isn’t a clown that gets left out and killed by the female (It’s weird because in the wrasse world where I come from it’s different and only having two ends badly)

 

[vetteguy53081]

The best chance you have would be removing the larger which is likely female and place in acclimation box for 2 weeks allowing new clown to settle in but no guarantees.

 

[melonheadorion]

Having 2 pairs should work and the reason why is because there isn’t a clown that gets left out and killed by the female (It’s weird because in the wrasse world where I come from it’s different and only having two ends badly)

that was always my thinking too, and you always hear people say no more than two. however, you go to a LFS, and you will see multiple in the same tank as it is. i suppose it just comes down to how agressive is the female, but with that size of tank, if they are aggressive, if they segregate themselves anyway, i would think it should be ok

 

[i cant think]

that was always my thinking too, and you always hear people say no more than two. however, you go to a LFS, and you will see multiple in the same tank as it is. i suppose it just comes down to how agressive is the female, but with that size of tank, if they are aggressive, if they segregate themselves anyway, i would think it should be ok

I think I know how the LFS’ get away with it, the one I go to add them all in at the exact same time and there’s Atleast 20 in each type of clown, the most dominant of those clowns will become the most dominant female then I think the males pair up and the females of those pairs are the less dominant ones