Maroon Lightning w/ 2 ocellaris Clowns?!

ASIN28 · Dec 29, 2020

Hey all,
So I have 2 Ocellaris Clowns in my 120G right now that drive me absolutely crazy. They literally stay in the corner of my tank 23 hours out of the day and host the mag float. I had them in an acclimation box with my BTA for a few days, wanted absolutely nothing to do with it. I do understand that BTA is a natural host to the maroon clown in the wild. Now my question is:
What are the chances I can add a bonded pair of Maroon Lightning Clowns to the tank with the two ocellaris clowns? Will this be a major issue?
Thanks

James M · Dec 30, 2020

Since you have a large tank it could work out as the pairs will keep to themselves but there’s always a possibility of them fighting.

Bdroid · Dec 30, 2020

As long as there’s enough room, it should be doable. There will be some fighting since they’re naturally territorial especially when paired. I would just monitor it for a while until each pair can hold their grounds.

I have a pair of snowflakes and a pair of lightening maroons as well as one lone wolf (snowflake) that usually stay towards the pumps. Might try to pair it up down the line...

GoingBroke88 · Dec 30, 2020

It may work, but there's also a very good chance that it won't work. I have a RSR 450 with a 92 gallon display. I put a maroon in with the pair of ocellaris that I already had in there. The occelaris initially went after it and drove it to the other side of the tank. However, within a day or two, the maroon was out there making trouble, literally swimming across the tank to harass the occelaris on the other side.

The one positive was that my ocellaris never had any interest in BTAs for months, but once the maroon went in they learned to host BTAs real quickly. I've since removed the maroon but the ocellaris stay in the BTAs. So just have a plan to get the maroon out if necessary.

ASIN28 · Dec 30, 2020

GoingBroke88 said:
It may work, but there's also a very good chance that it won't work. I have a RSR 450 with a 92 gallon display. I put a maroon in with the pair of ocellaris that I already had in there. The occelaris initially went after it and drove it to the other side of the tank. However, within a day or two, the maroon was out there making trouble, literally swimming across the tank to harass the occelaris on the other side.

The one positive was that my ocellaris never had any interest in BTAs for months, but once the maroon went in they learned to host BTAs real quickly. I've since removed the maroon but the ocellaris stay in the BTAs. So just have a plan to get the maroon out if necessary.

My ocellaris want absolutely nothing to do with my BTA either