Amphiprion nigripes

mort · Apr 11, 2017

Hi, does anyone keep amphiprion nigripes? was wondering how you found them and anything you'd like to share about them would be great.
I've got a pair in qt now as I personally think they are massively underrated and can't find many people who seem to have kept them.

Maritimer · Apr 11, 2017

I've never kept them, but have always thought them a cool and unusual clownfish.

Therefore, bumpin' your thread. (>_<)

~Bruce

Lowstorm · Apr 11, 2017

I have them. Love them to death. Kinda slow growing, but they were pretty small when I got them. Not terribly aggressive, but after a few months they stopped being afraid of me and now will come right up to the surface for dinner

mort · Apr 12, 2017

I've always loved them but only seen two pairs available in a decade so I jumped at this pair. They are captive bred from Sri Lanka and a good size already. In the shop they were really shy living under their toadstool and had been for a few weeks. No one else had shown any interest in them so we did a deal. In qt they fed less than an hour after going in but are hugging the back corner behind the rock structure in the flow. Looking forward to seeing how they develop and if I can bring the orange colour out more with good feeding.

Lowstorm · Apr 12, 2017

Ahh You're in England! I live 2 hours away from a breeder dealer. I got to see THE lightning maroon clown in person before she was breeding. Totally awesome!

They've lost their colors over here too. More of a dark reddish brown than orangish yellow. I Feed mine mysis, brine shrimp, flakes, coral foods, white worms.

mort · Apr 12, 2017

Most of our tank bred clowns come from the bigger commercial breeders in the US where you guys are much better at aquaculture (we did have a wholesaler with commercial breeding setup but they found it wasn't economical to continue). We tend to see less wild type species, or less of the more uncommon ones like this, and mostly the designer stuff with isn't really my thing.

Do you have an anemone for yours? Mine were hosting a toadstool in the shop. They were in a tank with LTA's before but apparently showed no interest.

ocboat · Apr 13, 2017

I have a single nigripes that was captive bred by Sustainable Aquatics. It has a severe underbite and an extremely flat face and looks nothing like a nice wild caught fish. It took immediately to a haddoni anemone. I would love to find a wild caught pair but I haven't seen them in a long time and I have heard that they are terrible shippers and easily prone to disease

mort · Apr 13, 2017

ocboat said:
I have a single nigripes that was captive bred by Sustainable Aquatics. It has a severe underbite and an extremely flat face and looks nothing like a nice wild caught fish. It took immediately to a haddoni anemone. I would love to find a wild caught pair but I haven't seen them in a long time and I have heard that they are terrible shippers and easily prone to disease

I've never seen them available as wilds over here. The fact they were captive raised was the key to me getting them as I've seen a few nice wild pairs of other species i'd have been interested in but read about their difficulty. Mine appear to be near identical to the wilds in this video both in terms of profile and colouration (even though they are still relatively small, 2"), so maybe its worth looking out for some Sri Lankan bred ones but that's assuming they are imported into the States.
The pair I have are becoming bolder and i'll try them without a nem first because I have pretty strong reactions to their stings and the fact they didn't go into a nem in the shop (were in with a dozen or so). If they don't seem to settle then we will have to look into it.

ocboat · Apr 13, 2017

I would love some that look like those. Here is what mine looks like:

The fins look terrible because that tiny orange skunk all of a sudden thinks that the haddoni is his territory even though it is less than half its size.

1.0reef · Apr 13, 2017

There's another version of the the nigripes that show a gorgeous vibrant orange in the wild, unfortunately these are delicate for clownfish and WC ones are battered from shipping.

mort · Apr 14, 2017

ocboat said:
I would love some that look like those. Here is what mine looks like:

The fins look terrible because that tiny orange skunk all of a sudden thinks that the haddoni is his territory even though it is less than half its size.

Hopefully that little guy colours up when he grows. Mine are about 2" now and show good colour but the first pair I saw from the same supplier were smaller and more like yours. Maybe they have an ugly duckling phase.

mort · Apr 14, 2017

1.0reef said:
There's another version of the the nigripes that show a gorgeous vibrant orange in the wild, unfortunately these are delicate for clownfish and WC ones are battered from shipping.

That would be my classic image of the species. There is one I think in the video I posted that looks like that from the top but more like the darker versions when on side view. I think some of the colour in that photo may also be enhanced with the use of a flash but it is something I am to try and replicate with a good diet and a few years.

Lowstorm · Apr 18, 2017

Sorry I've been busy and didn't answer. No,mine haven't been hosted by anything.

NanoCrazed · Jun 26, 2017

Coincidentally, just stumbled upon a pair today! So jumped on the chance since I have a new tank in need of tenants aside from coral.

I have a large green hairy mushroom rock, I am hoping that they might consider hosting... just for the heck of it.

adtravels · Jun 26, 2017

I have a wc pair formed from two similar sized individuals. They fought really aggressively at first but and in the gender acceptance phase now. They ase hosted by two magnifica anemones. They look like the wc examples with lots of yellow on the fins. One has an incomplete bar on the head.

ocboat · Jun 26, 2017

Pictures please. Both of you.

NanoCrazed · Jun 27, 2017

ocboat said:
Pictures please. Both of you.

My new pair was looking stressed in their new home and the emerald crabs were looking to make a grab of them when I was leaving the office (tank is there)...

so, hoping they will make it...if so, will post one.

NanoCrazed · Jun 27, 2017

Sadly, both of my nigripes didn't make it.

I couldn't stop worrying about the fish so decided to drive into the office just now (yes, it's 11;30p PT) to see about maybe putting the fish in a breeder box to better settle. One of them is currently a meal, and the other is covered in white spots and breathing heavily.

Since tank was absent of fish prior, I can only guess they caught something at the lfs. When the guys at the lfs was getting the fish, the swam under a rock...which turned out had another nigripes being snacked on by a shrimp. So whether they were sick to begin with or got spread to via contact of the other fish...which stress of move probably made it worse. Ugh.

adtravels · Jun 27, 2017

I will put some of mine up later this week, out of town atm.

Maritimer · Jun 27, 2017

NanoCrazed said:
Sadly, both of my nigripes didn't make it.

I couldn't stop worrying about the fish so decided to drive into the office just now (yes, it's 11;30p PT) to see about maybe putting the fish in a breeder box to better settle. One of them is currently a meal, and the other is covered in white spots and breathing heavily.

Since tank was absent of fish prior, I can only guess they caught something at the lfs. When the guys at the lfs was getting the fish, the swam under a rock...which turned out had another nigripes being snacked on by a shrimp. So whether they were sick to begin with or got spread to via contact of the other fish...which stress of move probably made it worse. Ugh.

You may be dealing with velvet ... are there other fish in the office tank? Can you set up a quarantine tank with copper or Chloroquine Phosphate for them if there are? Velvet moves fast . . .

~Bruce