Questions about clown fish

Dinkin's Aquatic Gardens
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Welcome to the club, that would be just about any of us. Please ask your questions and get ready to be deluaged.
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Thank you everyone. We’ve had these fish for a few months, when we moved the previous owner left their saltwater tank(empty), so after a while we decided to clean it and use it. We had gotten some damsels and an eel. Going good there! Now that we’re addicted, we bought a 75 gallon tank and moved our eel over and bought four clownfish, one clown didn’t make it, so the single one has gotten big and she’s mama over all, we got four more, all paired up. 2 snowflake, 2 black and white with orange faces, 2 maroon. Ok Question is. . . The black and white ones with orange faces, Mama always makes them stay in holes or at bottom of rocks and won’t let them out to eat or anything. Why does she do this? One of the fish they were all chasing one of them and stressed him and the next morning his face turned black. Is that normal? I just worry about those two. Any help would be appreciated.
 
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lacybluemoon said:
Thank you everyone. We’ve had these fish for a few months, when we moved the previous owner left their saltwater tank(empty), so after a while we decided to clean it and use it. We had gotten some damsels and an eel. Going good there! Now that we’re addicted, we bought a 75 gallon tank and moved our eel over and bought four clownfish, one clown didn’t make it, so the single one has gotten big and she’s mama over all, we got four more, all paired up. 2 snowflake, 2 black and white with orange faces, 2 maroon. Ok Question is. . . The black and white ones with orange faces, Mama always makes them stay in holes or at bottom of rocks and won’t let them out to eat or anything. Why does she do this? One of the fish they were all chasing one of them and stressed him and the next morning his face turned black. Is that normal? I just worry about those two. Any help would be appreciated.
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Clownfish are highly territorial which means they generally won't tolerate other species. It also means that females of the same species will not tolerate each other. You may have an uphill battle on your hands with so many clowns in the same, relatively small, aquarium.
Clownfish are protandrous hermaphrodites which means they are male first, then change to female at some point in their life. Aggression is an important ingredient in determining when this change occurs. In the absence of a female, the most dominant male will change. Most males are sexually immature and only 1 will develop within a group. This means there is a strict hierarchy and the aggression leads to production of hormones that stop the transformation. Females, or males whose brain has developed to be female (which happens well before the transformation of the reproductive parts), will fight each other to the death.
The female you mention is doing 2 things. Firstly, she is responsible for the safety of her own group, so, she is keeping the male safe from the other clownfish. Secondly, she is asserting her dominance and restricting him from eating, which is part of how she stops him from becoming female. As for the face turning black, it sounds sudden but if these are black occelaris clowns, the juveniles have orange faces but they do turn black as they mature.
 
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lacybluemoon said:
Hello, I need to ask someone who’s got experience with clown fish a couple questions. I am new to saltwater fish and have questions.
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bnord said:
Welcome to the club, that would be just about any of us. Please ask your questions and get ready to be deluaged.
FA2695D7-C0A0-4A1B-B9C1-6D7871B82AFB.jpeg
Click to expand...

Welcome! Glad you joined. Clownfish (Nemo!) are like the mascot of this hobby, so most are familiar. If you search, you'll likely find your questions are same as many before have asked.

There is an area of Forum for Fish questions:
www.reef2reef.com

Fish Discussion

Discuss all topics related to salt water aquarium fish. Angelfish, Anthias, Basslets, Blennies, Butterflyfish, Clownfish, Damsels, Dottybacks, Eels, Gobies, Jawfish, Lionfish, Pipefish, Puffers, Rays, Seahorse, Tangs, Triggerfish, Wrasse, and more.
www.reef2reef.com www.reef2reef.com

Have you considered starting your build thread? I found its a great place to document my tank's evolution for myself. I started tank first then joined, so I'm still finding myself going back collecting pictures & updating historically as well as current state. Once you create your first post in your thread and link it to your account, they will give you build badge (look left, under my ID)

This might help you find people local to you:
www.reef2reef.com

Local Reef Club Discussion

Looking for some locals to share frags and info with? This is the place! Find a local club that meets in your area! If you want to add your club just contact us.
www.reef2reef.com www.reef2reef.com

This is a good reference book type online article I still review:
www.reef2reef.com

The Supreme Guide To Setting Up A Saltwater Reef Aquarium

This article was sponsored by @MarineDepot at www.marinedepot.com. Introduction The marine environment is one of the most complex systems on the planet. The aquarium you are about to set up is only a tiny sliver of the vast ocean, but it is no...
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firechild said:
Clownfish are highly territorial which means they generally won't tolerate other species. It also means that females of the same species will not tolerate each other. You may have an uphill battle on your hands with so many clowns in the same, relatively small, aquarium.
Clownfish are protandrous hermaphrodites which means they are male first, then change to female at some point in their life. Aggression is an important ingredient in determining when this change occurs. In the absence of a female, the most dominant male will change. Most males are sexually immature and only 1 will develop within a group. This means there is a strict hierarchy and the aggression leads to production of hormones that stop the transformation. Females, or males whose brain has developed to be female (which happens well before the transformation of the reproductive parts), will fight each other to the death.
The female you mention is doing 2 things. Firstly, she is responsible for the safety of her own group, so, she is keeping the male safe from the other clownfish. Secondly, she is asserting her dominance and restricting him from eating, which is part of how she stops him from becoming female. As for the face turning black, it sounds sudden but if these are black occelaris clowns, the juveniles have orange faces but they do turn black as they mature.
Click to expand...
This is a very good point, if they were added one at a time there could be some territory issues. If it gets too bad (last resort) you and rearrange the rock work, this will reset the territories. But… this is stressful for them so only do it if you absolutely need to. Clowns naturally nip at each other though, and they “clown” around.
 
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