Mixing Clownfish

[Brxdxn]

Hey, so I’m new to saltwater and so I have 2 Ocellaris Clownfish and one Clarkii Clownfish (I’m aware of the risk). Soon I will be moving them into my display tank (a 60 gallon) and should I get another Clarkii to get him the same species (None of the clowns have paired yet) and when they do pair I heard they like to fight. Should I get another Clarkii to kinda make 2 pairs and maybe they won’t mess with eachother?? I don’t know please help.

Thank you!

 

[Jekyl]

I wouldn't add another. Usually more than 2 is an issue.

 

[Jekyl]

There's no chance at having 2 pairs. If there are 2 females in the tank it will be thunderdome.

 

[Brxdxn]

So should I just keep the 3 and see how that goes?

 

[jradishness]

You can try to keep three. Ones going to become female, then she’ll pick a male, then the left-out third clown is going to become dive-bomb targeting practice for her. Maybe you’ll get lucky and it won’t turn out that way.

Good luck!

 

[Brxdxn]

Ok thank you. What do you think I should do to lower the aggression before they pair?

 

[Brxdxn]

You can try to keep three. Ones going to become female, then she’ll pick a male, then the left-out third clown is going to become dive-bomb targeting practice for her. Maybe you’ll get lucky and it won’t turn out that way.

Good luck!

Thank you! What should I do to lower aggression?

 

[Don_Jorge]

you can't lower aggression I wouldn't think, its in their nature

 

[jradishness]

I would think that if you didn’t remove one of the clowns (probably best if it’s the Clarkii), eventually two will team up and kill the other. Short term aggression fixes like mirrors and rearranging rocks, I wouldn’t think would work as more than mere bandaids. This is just one of those things that doesn’t work in typical home aquariums, like pufferfish and tridacna, unless you’ve done a ton of research and built a specific aquarium setup for housing more than two clowns. Whether that’s a harem tank, or an 800g plywood tank with plenty of space. Maybe that’s overkill. Maybe I could fit more than one pair in my 310g, but I see the two I have now all over the aquarium, so I won’t risk it.

There are plenty of other fish in the sea.

 

[Brxdxn]

Thank u for your help!