fish dilemma

[jish]

my mom and i are trying to pick our next fish, we currently have one ocellaris clown. my question is could we add a second clown later on without them killing each other or should they have been put in at the same time? thanks in advance!:smile:

 

[G_Sanab922]

It should be fine but,,,, To be on the safe side I would make or purchase an acclimation box and see how the first clown reacts. Also, Depends if it's a female as well. So if the one you have now is a female you have to make sure the next one is not a female! If you have a male then it doesn't really matter. What type of clown do you plan on getting?

 

[jish]

we would get the same kind of clown. the one we have is about 1" long and was by itself in the store. we got it 1 week ago.

 

[jish]

unless we could get a different kind without a fight between them. is that possible?

 

[Mike J.]

I see you have a 30 gal. tank, which really isn't big enough for two territories. On the other hand, your clown is very small and probably hasn't matured yet, so your best chance would be to get one slightly larger. The smaller one has the advantage of knowing the tank and its hideouts.

 

[jish]

ok, thanks guys for all the great advice!

 

[Steven@]

Two small clowns in a 30 is ok... Also, it would be best to keep them both they same type of clown, so if they are the same sex, one will change to the other sex and they could lay eggs... the longer you wait to introduce a second clown you increase the chance of them not getting along... Clowns are the most aggressive damsel fish and some types are more aggressive than others... What type do you have now... False perc is very common, most are tank raised and they tend to be less aggressive... Have fun

 

[G_Sanab922]

https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/anemone-clownfish-discussion/144472-clownfish-pair-mixing.html check out this thread. it's always risky but can be done... Your best bet would probably be a perc or black and white. The one you have now should be a male since it's small so you shouldn't have a problem. When do you plan to get the next one?

 

[jish]

when do you think? we thought the rule was 1 fish a month, but would this be an exception?

 

[G_Sanab922]

when do you think? we thought the rule was 1 fish a month, but would this be an exception?

Never heard of that rule before lol... I would say a week is good. Thats what I do for mine. Or I wait for deals so sometimes it's longer.

 

[jish]

ok, thanks!

 

[Mike J.]

You are correct that you should add fish slowly to enable the bacteria to build up to levels that will support an additional fish. In this case with such a small fish adding another one would be okay. Check your ammonia and nitrate levels to be sure first.

 

[jish]

ammonia is .5 nitrite is 0 nitrate is 0 PH is 8.0-8.2

 

[Mike J.]

Did you ever see a cycle? Ammonia at .5 might indicate that you don't have a nitrogen cycle in place. It should have looked something like this:

 

[jish]

we went out and got our new clown!
we got a davinci clown about twice the size, or less, of our normal ocellaris clown, and right off the bat the two clowns are swimming everywhere together! except the larger clown seems to move slower than the smaller one is this normal?:squigglemouth:

 

[jish]

we have been doing tests every day since day 1, and all the chemicals have had spikes that went down back down. not to be rude mike j.

 

[Mike J.]

Really just trying to be helpful. In a new tank .5 ammonia and 0 nitrates would raise a red flag to me.

 

[jish]

ok that makes a lot of sense, thanks!

 

[Mike J.]

Can you post a pic of your new fish?

 

[jish]

i don't know how to upload on to reef 2 reef.