Nothing but Clowns

[flyinbryan4295]

I've been out of the hobby for the most part since the mid 2000's. I restarted a reef tank in February, and now as I'm looking to stock the tank, it seems like half of the tanks at the LFS are just versions of designer clownfish. Frostbites, lightnings, picassos, etc. Don't get me wrong, they're nice but I can't tell the difference between half of them, and the prices seem way too high. It doesnt seem like there are Clarkiis, or cinnamons, or skunks anymore, just the designer Ocellaris, and Maroons. Is this just a recent thing with it being harder to import other fish due to Covid? Or is this been the trend for a while?

 

[KevinC]

It's not import, a lot of clownfish in legs actually come from sustainable aquatics located in US. But yes there have been trends to clownfish with exotic patterns

 

[dreamcatcherr9]

My wife fell in love with pair of Frostbites we saw at LFS this weekend. Then I came home and showed her the price of them online. Hahahahaha

 

[Zionas]

I’m not a fan of any designer Clownfish. I much prefer the original varieties and nobody can convince me otherwise. Don’t like the idea of playing God with nature.

Try ordering from LiveAquaria or other sites. They’re low on stock for a lot of fish right now but Clowns are almost guaranteed to have at least some captive bred original varieties in stock. If you’re going for a peaceful tank with a couple of more aggressive fish, Ocellaris or Percula or the Skunks if you’re into their looks.

If you’re going for an aggressive tank then Clarkii, Tomato, Cinnamon, Maroon, or Saddleback.

Buy Captive Bred. Wild caught Clowns are iffy when it comes to hardiness and survival.

 

[Zionas]

I’m not a fan of any designer Clownfish. I much prefer the original varieties and nobody can convince me otherwise. Don’t like the idea of playing God with nature.

Try ordering from LiveAquaria or other sites. They’re low on stock for a lot of fish right now but Clowns are almost guaranteed to have at least some captive bred original varieties in stock. If you’re going for a peaceful tank with a couple of more aggressive fish, Ocellaris or Percula or the Skunks if you’re into their looks.

If you’re going for an aggressive tank then Clarkii, Tomato, Cinnamon, Maroon, or Saddleback.

Buy Captive Bred. Wild caught Clowns are iffy when it comes to hardiness and survival.


EDIT: Not sure about how good these other sites are but there’s also Sustainable Aquatics and Blue Zoo and I’m sure a couple of others. Captive Bred Clowns (original) are still very much standard fare.

My bets are Covid’s rendering imports lower and slower than usual. Same thing happening to my LFS and I live on the other side of the world in Asia.

 

[Fakegolfnews]

Clowns arent fish, theyre demons.

 

[Zionas]

Precisely what’s stopped me from getting Maroons despite finding them so pretty and so exotic compared to the common Ocellaris.