Mixing clown species

brendans_life · Jul 20, 2018

Hi everyone,
I am starting up a new 29 gallon with a 10 gallon sump, i am taking over my girlfriend's ten gallon salt tank with a true percula clown. Me being me i am overhauling everything and diving straight in but i was wondering if i could mix it with another clown species. I would put this new clown through QT and then add them both to the display at the same time so one doesnt bully the other.

HotRocks · Jul 20, 2018

brendans_life said:
Hi everyone,
I am starting up a new 29 gallon with a 10 gallon sump, i am taking over my girlfriend's ten gallon salt tank with a true percula clown. Me being me i am overhauling everything and diving straight in but i was wondering if i could mix it with another clown species. I would put this new clown through QT and then add them both to the display at the same time so one doesnt bully the other.

Welcome to R2R!!!

Clowns can be aggressive, The way you plan to do it will give you the best shot at success! Just be ready to separate if need be!

davocean · Jul 20, 2018

Well depends partially on species, so like percs and occs no big deal, as a pair, a maroon most likely different story.
Why a mix, why not a perc pair?
And I would not do more than a pair

brendans_life · Jul 20, 2018

davocean said:
Well depends partially on species, so like percs and occs no big deal, as a pair, a maroon most likely different story.
Why a mix, why not a perc pair?
And I would not do more than a pair

Its more of whats available in my area, the i havent seen another perc in over a year. I also want to get into designer clowns.

davocean · Jul 20, 2018

many people mix occs and percs, just make sure you are giving a small male

Ferrell · Jul 20, 2018

brendans_life said:
Its more of whats available in my area, the i havent seen another perc in over a year. I also want to get into designer clowns.

Vivid Aquarium has percula regularly. They have very healthy fish. Excellent service and ship overnight.

Gareth elliott · Jul 20, 2018

I am personally not a fan of captive bred hybridizing. In the wild hybrids occur naturally and does lead to new speciation, but the environment weeds out the less fit offspring.

If go down this route and breed them later make sure any offspring have their parents noted.

My disdain of parrot and flowerhorn cichlids may play a role in this view [emoji23]

davocean · Jul 20, 2018

Well that's another topic, even same species breeding has produced a lot of issues from inbreeding.

I do prefer same species myself, and percs are my particular favorite, and what I'd aim for, and yes, lots of good online breeder options these days.

I follow fb page clownfish marketplace, some good breeders on there.

brendans_life · Jul 20, 2018

Gareth elliott said:
I am personally not a fan of captive bred hybridizing. In the wild hybrids occur naturally and does lead to new speciation, but the environment weeds out the less fit offspring.

If go down this route and breed them later make sure any offspring have their parents noted.

My disdain of parrot and flowerhorn cichlids may play a role in this view [emoji23]

Im just wanting a nice looking tank, i have no intention of breeding

brendans_life · Jul 20, 2018

davocean said:
Well that's another topic, even same species breeding has produced a lot of issues from inbreeding.

I do prefer same species myself, and percs are my particular favorite, and what I'd aim for, and yes, lots of good online breeder options these days.

I follow fb page clownfish marketplace, some good breeders on there.

Then you might know if there are any color morphs for perc clowns, i see some listed as onyx or picasso percs but im new to clowns so i have no idea what and who to trust.

Gareth elliott · Jul 20, 2018

https://www.orafarm.com/products/fish/clownfish/

VTBig053 · Jul 20, 2018

I recently tried pairing a small (1.25”) picasso (perc) with a large (2.25”) female occy and unfortunately it didn’t work out. I had them together for about two weeks but the female occy was very agressive. The first time I saw her latch on to the little perc and shake him, I decided it was time to split them up. I picked up a small (only slightly smaller than the picasso) onyx picasso a few days ago and added it with the picasso. So far so good. There’s some run of the mill clown dominance jostling but nothing too rough and they spend time swimming together. The onyx picasso has even begun doing the submission shuffle. This is just my personal experience and not saying you can’t pair an occy and a perc, just that its less likely to work out and you really need to keep a close eye on them. Hope it works out for you though.

davocean · Jul 20, 2018

Well, even same species sometimes the female won't accept certain males, it does not always work on the first try.
This is why I always advise introducing in an acclimation box of some kind, observe females reaction, it's usually obvious if she wants to kill the new guy.

As for color morphs and such, there are just too many variations for me to know all or advise.
My particular favorite are picasso's, what I keep, but there are lots of other nice clowns out there, just an eye of beholder thing.