Peculiar and Clarkii differences

gemini9 · Sep 6, 2014

Finally decided to put some fish in my 30g tank after a long battle with nitrates. Nitrates are still a little high, but it's time to introduce some fish. I picked up a Yellowtail Damsel today and if she survives a few weeks, I get a clown or two. the LFS had Peculiar clown fish and Clarkii clown fish. Other than the $10, what's the difference between the two? Do both species host?

fishroomlady · Sep 6, 2014

good to see you posting again gemini! I'm thinking you mean percula clownfish and not peculiar

A percula will by and large be more peaceful than a clarkii and obviously the differences in color. Many different anemones will host clarkiis although a percula will also be hosted by certain anemones.

gemini9 · Sep 6, 2014

lol yeah I see you're still here! I'm back. I must admit, with the way the tank was going I was a bit discouraged. Nitrates are still up there but not as bad as before. Seems to be coming down slowly with time and water changes. 4 of the 5 hermit crabs I bought are living still, and so I decided to go ahead and throw in a Yellow Tailed damsel. I just now placed her in the tank and she seems so depressed. even during acclimation, she was very low in spirits. She stayed in the bottom of the bucket near the sides and barely moved. When I put her in the tank after a good 4 hours of acclimation, she seemed to kinda float down toward the bottom between a few rocks and has been hiding there. I hope my fish will be alright.

She looks terrible and depressed.

About the clowns, I did notice the colors. The perculiar... percula.. pecula lia... ahem.. was more brightly colored and $10 more.

Dalmatia · Sep 7, 2014

Clarkii will get almost twice the size and will be more aggressive towards other fish when hosting an anemones

fishroomlady · Sep 7, 2014

gemini9 said:
lol yeah I see you're still here! I'm back. I must admit, with the way the tank was going I was a bit discouraged. Nitrates are still up there but not as bad as before. Seems to be coming down slowly with time and water changes. 4 of the 5 hermit crabs I bought are living still, and so I decided to go ahead and throw in a Yellow Tailed damsel. I just now placed her in the tank and she seems so depressed. even during acclimation, she was very low in spirits. She stayed in the bottom of the bucket near the sides and barely moved. When I put her in the tank after a good 4 hours of acclimation, she seemed to kinda float down toward the bottom between a few rocks and has been hiding there. I hope my fish will be alright. She looks terrible and depressed.

damsels tend to be pretty hardy - what are your levels? I might be a little concerned about the behavior of the damsel you describe

robert829 · Sep 9, 2014

Totally agree with everything said above... A pair of Clarkiis were my first fish. So, I have a couple of extra things to add.

1) Clarkiis are an insanely great starter fish. I found mine to be more hardy than damsels; and damsels are pretty ruggid fish. As long as your nitrates are not off the chart (literally) Clarkiis should be able to withstand moderate levels. They literally spit in the face of high nitrates.

2) Size should also be considered here just b/c of your tank size. The Clarkiis do get significantly bigger than most of the other clowns.

3) Do not buy the Clarkiis based on how they look in the LFS. After good, regular and varied feeding. their color is amazing! Mine have really become beautiful.

4) So, these little things can be quite aggressive in a tank... mainly if you have a nem in there with them. Anytime I put my hand in my 75g... they attack! It's kinda funny to see how aggressively they try to kill my hand, especially the female.

5) As for the aggression towards other fish, they really only chase other critters away if they come to close to their nem, but never attack!

HOWEVER - a word of caution. In a few instances, Clarkiis can have a rare behavior trait that can be devastating to a new tank. Once the Clarkiis are established and have territory w/ a nem in it, there is a chance that each time you put a new fish in the tank, the Clarkiis will grab the new fish and drag it to the nem. This means almost certain death for the newest addition. This is horrific to watch. However, "they" say this is fairly rare and almost never happens... EXCEPT that it happened to me! So, just be mindful of that.

Good luck and press on... and consider "Vodka Dosing" for your nitrate problem. :-D

gemini9 · Sep 9, 2014

fishroom>> The little damsel is doing fine now. When I got up the next day, he had emerged from his hiding place and was swimming around. I fed him and he ate fine. He seems happy! He swims toward the middle of the tank and ride the current from my powerhead back to the left side, bobs in little nooks and cracks and out the other side of the LR and eats like a horse. Soon as I drop food in there he bolts around and gobbles it up right away. Energetic little fellow he is! When aquarium lights are out, he calms down a bit and goes into a rock. Soon as the light goes on and I drop in the food, he's up and about the rest of the day. Sometimes I'm afraid he'll choke. He sometimes chugs a big flake too large for his small mouth and swallows it. But yeah... he's happy!

Here's the levels: Nitrates range between 40 and 60ppm. Ammonia and Nitrites are pretty much undetectable, as I feed minimally for now, only once a day and only enough for him to eat. SG is 1.022, PH averages 8.0. Not sure about phosphates, I never test that. Temp is at 77.

Thanks for the info about the clarkii. Since they get larger in size, I think I'll stick with the Peculiar. I don't want large fish in the tank since it's only a 30g. I'd rather have several smaller fish, than a few large ones.

But yeah, Damsel is doing fine so far. I may pick up another fish tomorrow!

robert829 · Sep 9, 2014

Yes! Press on!

robert829 · Sep 9, 2014

PS - your nitrates are not great... but they're easy to work with!

gemini9 · Sep 10, 2014

I've had trouble with nitrates ever since I first started this tank. The first few months was a nightmare, as fishroom probably remembers. They were off the charts. I would do a 50% water change, get them down to 80ppm and 2 days later they would be back up to over 160ppm. As I understand, it's because I started my tank with dry rock that was not properly cleaned or rinsed. And maybe the addition of a big rotting shrimp, as recommended on here, and now wished I hadn't done.