Probobly a dumb question. anemone

specialk · Oct 29, 2013

Hey All.. so not new to the saltwater world as I have been at this for about 2 years now. I have a 55 and a 145 DT mixed reef that is thriving a doing great, the 145 being the newest one. I took most of my stuff from my 55 and moved it into the 145 which has been up and running for about 2 months now. I decided to turn my 55 into a clownfish / anemone only tank. I previously had 2 clownfish in the 55 and just left them there ... they were hanging out a bit and the 2 of them were cool. I just added 2 more in there and I am probably going to add some more. My question is, and again this may be basic with some of the most basic, all be it, loved fish in the hobby, but how many clownfish can I keep in the same tank? Another words when I put 2 more in there, did that disrupt the 2 others that were hanging out ..? Is there a "correct number" of clown's to have in there? I am only keeping the true perc's in there and I know not to mix and match as some are more aggressive (although I was told some skunk clowns would be ok in there...?) but is there a general rule of thumb to follow when doing a setup like I am now getting going? Thanks a ton to all !

Trex · Oct 29, 2013

General rule of thumb --- one pair of clowns per tank. Of course, there are exceptions, but the vast majority of the time it doesn't work out. Things may work out in the short term (( year or 2 )), but once a pair starts to spawn, all bets are off --- it is shocking just how aggressive a pair of spawning clowns can be towards other clowns (( or other fish for that matter )).

Out of all the clowns I have kept over the last 20 years, the most aggressive pair I have had was a spawning pair of pink skunks (( A. perideraion )) --- ending up selling them to a local breeder because I couldn't deal with their aggression.

specialk · Oct 30, 2013

Wow ok .. I guess I was under a different impression. I am glad I asked. I thought that as long as they were of the same species that it would generally be ok ..

specialk · Oct 30, 2013

Also, on that note now, and this is a legit question I feel now as I look around at other tanks, how is someone and a tank like "marvins reef" able to have a 90 g with so many clownfish in there? I know he is obviously an expert and "master clownfisher" ...lol.. but this is part of the reason I was under the impression that there would not be an issue with it. How is he able to get away with it?