Clownfish question

[MysticBlue]

Hey guys so I have two clowns a midnight clown and a ocilaris clown “I probably butchered that word lol” anyways they’re in a 210 and stay on one side of the tank and I was wondering could I add some baby clowns for the other side?
I was always told two clowns to a tank and that’s it but now I see people with lots of clowns in a tank like a community of them so my question is can I do that?

 

[Fish Think Pink]

Hey guys so I have two clowns a midnight clown and a ocilaris clown “I probably butchered that word lol” anyways they’re in a 210 and stay on one side of the tank and I was wondering could I add some baby clowns for the other side?
I was always told two clowns to a tank and that’s it but now I see people with lots of clowns in a tank like a community of them so my question is can I do that?

Maybe you can do it, but with plans for long term changes.

Are your tanks stable? What do you have in your tank? Lots of anemones all over? Small frag plugs all over? Anemones and corals don't get along together. Clownfish live 20+ years so you want to be sure you are staying in this hobby long term to care for them before making a commitment to lots more fish.

Clowns are very aggressive, it is how they determine sex and reproduction. It might be cute for a while, but long term I suspect you'll encounter problems. HOWEVER, if you have a plan for rehoming some down the road, it does give you better odds that they'll pair up into breeding pairs... but then they may clean areas of your tank so severely that if you have small corals they will rub the corals to death as they force corals to host them. If you have just FOWLR with rocks and caves, they'll find and make little territories and claim those for egg laying.

Once they start laying eggs, it takes a lot out of them and quality frequent foods are needed. I've found a lot of work goes into trying to keep water parameters stable and coral quality so mixed reef while possible is not the right choice for everyone.

Think hard on this decision before moving forward.

 

[MysticBlue]

Maybe you can do it, but with plans for long term changes.

Are your tanks stable? What do you have in your tank? Lots of anemones all over? Small frag plugs all over? Anemones and corals don't get along together. Clownfish live 20+ years so you want to be sure you are staying in this hobby long term to care for them before making a commitment to lots more fish.

Clowns are very aggressive, it is how they determine sex and reproduction. It might be cute for a while, but long term I suspect you'll encounter problems. HOWEVER, if you have a plan for rehoming some down the road, it does give you better odds that they'll pair up into breeding pairs... but then they may clean areas of your tank so severely that if you have small corals they will rub the corals to death as they force corals to host them. If you have just FOWLR with rocks and caves, they'll find and make little territories and claim those for egg laying.

Once they start laying eggs, it takes a lot out of them and quality frequent foods are needed. I've found a lot of work goes into trying to keep water parameters stable and coral quality so mixed reef while possible is not the right choice for everyone.

Think hard on this decision before moving forward.

I’ve been in this hobby for a while so I know what I’m doing lol. Tank has established corals and two anemones a BTA and a long tentacle anemone. Both anemones are happy and my other two clowns have actually hosted to a flower pot. I’ve had my two for years and they’ve never really seemed interested in breeding. I have several aquariums so if something goes wrong I can remove them. Just looking for someone who’s done it before to give me some advice on weather it’s worth it or not.

 

[Tired]

Midnight clownfish are a type of ocellaris clownfish bred to look the way they do. In other words, you have two ocellaris clowns.

The people who have those groups of clownfish start with groups. Trying to add more clowns to a tank with established clowns is likely to go poorly.

 

[Jekyl]

@vetteguy53081 keeps more than 1 pair in his tank.

If attempting have an acclimation box handy.

 

[robertifly]

FTP gives good advice, seeing large seemingly "schools" of clowns in photos that are in the ocean makes you want maybe just two pair in a tank and maybe with the right tank and the right landscape you can. I have a mated pair of true percula that I bought about 7 years ago that have laid countless batches of eggs that have helped to feed their tankmates over the years, I have BTA anemone that get little to no attention from them. I decided it would be cool to also have a pair of Black Ice clowns as well, in a 90gal tank, wrong! To begin with the larger black ice absolutely harassed the smaller one until it cowered in a corner or under the overflow box and wouldn't come out at all even to eat until I found it dead in the overflow one morning. Then the bully started harassing the pair and trying to break them up so I banished it to the sump for two months just now put back into tank but 3 is a crowd.

 

[Jekyl]

Stick a mirror in front of them and see how bad the reaction is. Could help knowing temperament ahead of time.

 

[BlueFynn_Ian]

As others have said, it could go either way. I've seen it done with success and also seen it go horribly wrong.

Clowns are extremely territorial in the home aquarium. Lot's of potential homes, good feeding and more docile pairs and it could work out. But your two in the corner could also decide to become horror movie murder clowns and harass the newcomers to death.

If it's something you really want to try, then plan it out as best you can. Someone on here once recommended purchasing a second pair that is already hosting anemones. Add them to your tank in an existing anemone and that could help them establish a home quickly. No clue whether there is any weight to that.

And lots of tanks you see online with multiple clowns were started with an entire clutch. Same batch, same type, same size and color.

 

[jabberwock]

I would just back away from this...

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hey guys so I have two clowns a midnight clown and a ocilaris clown “I probably butchered that word lol” anyways they’re in a 210 and stay on one side of the tank and I was wondering could I add some baby clowns for the other side?
I was always told two clowns to a tank and that’s it but now I see people with lots of clowns in a tank like a community of them so my question is can I do that?

Midnight may pose an issue at introduction and soon pull back. The larger often being a female tends to be the aggressor, territorial and keep new inhabitants to the other side of tank

 

[MysticBlue]

Midnight may pose an issue at introduction and soon pull back. The larger often being a female tends to be the aggressor, territorial and keep new inhabitants to the other side of tank

The midnight is the male and the ocilaris is the female huge size difference. Should I add baby clowns rather than adults? Would that help? Again thank you all so much

 

[vetteguy53081]

The midnight is the male and the ocilaris is the female huge size difference. Should I add baby clowns rather than adults? Would that help? Again thank you all so much

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