Do difrent clown species get along?

dab.daniel_ · Mar 27, 2016

I have a 35 gallon tank with two "paired" clarkii clowns and a domino damsel.
The dominant clown has a weird habit of trying to jump out of the tank and slamming into the hood of my tank in the god danged dead of night, which scares the lps corals out of me, but that's another story. Also my domino damsel seems to be a cracker. It's constantly stabing itself on the needles of my sea urchin. I recently purchased a Molly, honestly don't know what for, but as soon as I introduce it to the tank the dominant clown ripped it to shreds. I want to add more fish to my "system" specifically clowns, but I'm afraind my clowns are too aggressive and might kill other clowns/fish I introduce to the tank.

Reefiness · Mar 27, 2016

Adding another clown to the system would be poor choice. Clowns are particularly aggressive towards other clown species especially yours being a mated pair.

The clown trying to jump, can be from aggression from the domino. Dominos are known to be some of the most bad butt tempered fish in the hobby for their size.

reefwiser · Mar 28, 2016

Remove the Domino damsel not a good fish to have with clowns or any other fish in the tank. Will bully the clown fish and is most likely the cause of the one trying to jump out.

Lynn52 · Mar 28, 2016

All three of the fish you have are very aggressive fish in a small tank. You will have problems as they fight for territory, good chance in the end you'll have only one left. You can't mix different species of clowns unless you have a really big tank. With clowns they will only work with one female. Sometimes you can do more than one male but I doubt it would work in your tank. I agree with getting the damsel out. Dominoes are one of the most aggressive damsels you can get and they get pretty big fast. I think you will have issues introducing any other fish into the tank. Your best bet would be to get more rock for more hiding spaces and you might be able to get a goby or a royal gramma. Both will need a lot more rock work though.

dab.daniel_ · Mar 28, 2016

Thanks for the feed back. Not sure if you'll see this but honestly the least aggressive fish in my tank is the the domino.
When I got my fist fifteen gallon nano cube I introduced all three fish together. The domino was much smaller then the clowns and was promptly beaten into submission
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ in the course of about 8 to nine months it has stayed like that and in no way seems to bother the clowns regardless of its now much bigger size. If anything I feel like the dominant clown still punks on the damsel from time to time. In any case I'm perfectly fine with removing the domino since you guys know best. Come to think of it I have noticed my domino being quite active at night. It could be that the domino uses its nocturnal powers to get revenge on my dominant clown and cause it to freak out. Idk tho
Do you think maybe having possibly a condalyct anemone might help calm things down?

DeniseAndy · Mar 28, 2016

Note for future clarkiis can get rather large full grown. 35 will be a smallish tank for them. This will cause aggression issues period. Domino will not work with this trio much longer. If a clown is jumping, it is being bullied.

As far as different species or more than two in a tank, it can be done, but you need good territories and proper introductions and good observation.

dab.daniel_ · Mar 28, 2016

DeniseAndy said:
Note for future clarkiis can get rather large full grown. 35 will be a smallish tank for them. This will cause aggression issues period. Domino will not work with this trio much longer. If a clown is jumping, it is being bullied.

As far as different species or more than two in a tank, it can be done, but you need good territories and proper introductions and good observation.

Soo do you think if a had an anemone they would take refuge in there and possibly be no longer "bullied" ? See I want to keep my fish they sort of have at this point some sentimental value.

DeniseAndy · Mar 28, 2016

I get that completely. I keep my undesirables that I cannot give up, in my sump. I call it time out or seclusion. That is unless the sump is not an appropriate home. Mine have been large conch and a starfish and my azur damsel. So, fine in sump.

Anyway, your system needs to be mature to get an anemone and keep healthy. The only nem I would consider in a 35 would be a Bubble Tip (Entacmaea quadricolor). The clowns will like it and while it will not stop aggression, could slow for a bit. The damsel would have to learn its own territory, or the clowns will hurt it.

Gomery12 · Mar 28, 2016

I had a maroon clown and a snowflake that where in a tank together and they formed a great bond until the maroon "flew the coop", now my snowflake has bonded with a blue tang. By far my snowflake is the bully in the tank, but that's only if you get near her space. She forgets the territorial aggression during feeding as all my fish group up together and come to the top when I turn the pumps off for feeding.

dab.daniel_ · Mar 28, 2016

DeniseAndy said:
I get that completely. I keep my undesirables that I cannot give up, in my sump. I call it time out or seclusion. That is unless the sump is not an appropriate home. Mine have been large conch and a starfish and my azur damsel. So, fine in sump.

Anyway, your system needs to be mature to get an anemone and keep healthy. The only nem I would consider in a 35 would be a Bubble Tip (Entacmaea quadricolor). The clowns will like it and while it will not stop aggression, could slow for a bit. The damsel would have to learn its own territory, or the clowns will hurt it.

Why would a starfish be undesirable?
Also I've had succes with a condalyct in the tank I had before but it got to big for it and kept getting stuck on the intake so I gave it back to the pet shop. Would a condalyct be a good idea?

Slickrick · Mar 28, 2016

I have 4 clowns in my 10 gallon nuvo. BUT all were bred together, introduced together, everything together. Haha! So far zero issues.
I also have two black misbar clowns with a single maroon in a 10 gallon.

However this isn't really practical and I wanted to try it out because I felt educated enough and I have a back up tank if nothing works out.
But 4 months later, no dead fish, no issues!

Slickrick · Mar 28, 2016

They were all together for 2 months, until I decided to set up a macro algae tank. Now the two black and maroon reside there.
I keep a good feeding schedule as well.

DeniseAndy · Mar 28, 2016

The starfish was a choc chip and it eats corals. I use it for showing kids and touching for kids. The conch was eating my clams.

Condis are not the best for clownfish as they are not naturally with them. I would go with a bta.

dab.daniel_ · Mar 31, 2016

DeniseAndy said:
The starfish was a choc chip and it eats corals. I use it for showing kids and touching for kids. The conch was eating my clams.

Condis are not the best for clownfish as they are not naturally with them. I would go with a bta.

When I first got my clarkii they were hosting a condy
I'm sory to hear about the starfish

DeniseAndy · Mar 31, 2016

clarkiis will host more nems than most from what I hear. I only have my first pair. I just know condis are not a natural host. At least the Atlantic ones.

The starfish was suppose to be food for my harliquins, but they did not go near it. So, sump it is.

dab.daniel_ · Mar 31, 2016

DeniseAndy said:
clarkiis will host more nems than most from what I hear. I only have my first pair. I just know condis are not a natural host. At least the Atlantic ones.

The starfish was suppose to be food for my harliquins, but they did not go near it. So, sump it is.

Have you tried putting your harlequin in your sump? [emoji102]
Must be cool to see one a those eat no?

PurpleTreeSpiders · Mar 31, 2016

We have a pair of blacker ice and a single regular occy in our 90 and the little guy resides in the far far far opposite corner of the tank. He was in our cube which we tore down for a bit. He's going back in the cube after I get it cycled. Doesn't seem fair to have him cowering his life away.
We have a Condi which our beastly clowns have moved into their cave under the rbta to use as a bed. They are not a natural host, however, and btas are a better choice from research. Also Condi seem to prefer a dsb to bury in. Ours is still not stuck.