Need opinions on adding a 3rd clown

[bec1750]

Hi everyone! We have a 130 gallon. We currently have a pair of clowns and they have been together for about a year now maybe a little bit more. They don’t breed or anything like that. They are not territorial at all! I won a clown fish last night. It’s small, smaller than our current female and the same breed of our current ones which is ocellaris. I was wondering what everyone’s thoughts are in adding this 3rd one to our tank? Looking for advice and your experience with adding a 3rd. Thanks!!

 

[Got2bSkUnKeD]

Hi everyone! We have a 130 gallon. We currently have a pair of clowns and they have been together for about a year now maybe a little bit more. They don’t breed or anything like that. They are not territorial at all! I won a clown fish last night. It’s small, smaller than our current female and the same breed of our current ones which is ocellaris. I was wondering what everyone’s thoughts are in adding this 3rd one to our tank? Looking for advice and your experience with adding a 3rd. Thanks!!

Everyone tells me, “no”. In the wild a pair (mostly the female) can have up to a 10 sqft territory. I’m also told that if the area is split up by up to 10 clowns, the aggression may be equally spread so that a single adolescent male may not be killed like in a threesome.
I have three in a 29gal, was a 60 til it cracked. I bought them all from the same tank at the LFS, because I didn’t want to leave the little one alone. There have been fits of aggression, but they seem pretty cordial right now.
All fish are different, and some people get lucky. Like I said, though, everyone tells me that the two will eventually kill the third.

 

[Cell]

Rarely works.

 

[landlubber]

i'm leery based on the things i've seen that lead to success. Harem systems where there are multiple fish to dissipate the aggression is the road to success. Adding a single fish is dicey!
at the very least i would get that fish into an acclimation box for at least a few days before i let it loose.

 

[brandon429]

I always think disease loss I forget behavioral issues until Cell mentioned

 

[kindafun]

I bought a pair starting out last fall, they were both very young. One of them died within 2 weeks. I then purchased another, about 6 months later, but was sent 2 that are both younger than my remaining clownfish. I had to put the older one in an acclimation container, but the next morning I let it out and the 3 have been great companions for the last 2 months. I've read that things may change if 2 of them become a pair, but I'll deal with that if it happens. It's been fun to watch the 3 together.

 

[DarthSimon]

Once a pair is established, it most likely will not work.