Two Clowns

[wwest]

ok i currently have a maroon clown and a LTA that is cloning itself. my question is, do i have to stick with another maroon clown if i want to by another one? or can they pair with anything? i was thinking about a tomato clown but i have "strongly" heard not to put them together. does anyone have any suggestions? thanks in advance.

[fat walrus]

two different clowns of same color is bad idea. especially possibly the 2 meanest. it takes a large tank to pull it off.

[wwest]

ow i always heard that two of kind is the one way multiple clowns will live with each other. so i should get two diferent types?

[fat walrus]

two different types of clowns of same color is more trouble than two clowns of same type. maroons and tomatos (just about all the red clowns) are considered more agressive than others. if you are trying to pair your maroon, most people will go for a smaller one so that the established clown sees it as less of a threat.

[Rob]

well, its not so much the color as it is the species.

and when working with clowns of the Amphiprion Genus, you have more options.
but when dealing with a maroon clown (Premnas genus) you are quite limited. Maroons are very agressive, and will likely attack any other clown you put in there.

first off, your other anemones does not need a clown fish to be healthy.
but if you were to get one, it would have to be a very small maroon.

this will cause your exiting maroon to quickly establish its dominance and the new one will quickly become submissive before getting killed.

so in short, unless your tank is HUGE, get a small maroon.
if you do, you will see lots of fighting and bickering, but it should reside. Maroons are tricky like that

[wwest]

thanks for the help guys. i know i dont "need" another one but "want is more like it. lol i would just like to have another clown i should of bought two out of the same tank to begin with but for some reason i didnt..

but thanks guys.

[bob21115]

I agree completely with rob.

If you want 2 clowns get a small Maroon. If your current clown is a gold strip get a gold strip. If its a plain maroon get a plain maroon. Make sure its smaller. They will bite and flip thier fins at each other, this is normal. Give it a few days and they will calm down.

If you are getting another clown just for the anemones it dosn't need one. I havn't had 2 single clowns of a differnt type in the same tank.

I have tried to house differnt clowns in the same tank a few time. Heres what happened to me.


2 Orange skunks in a 55 reef (alone for 2 months) Beat the cra* out of 2 gold strip maroons

Same 2 Skunks got along with a single True Percula in the 55( after the maroons killed his partner in the 240)

Moved the 2 Gold Stripes to a 240 with 2 other Gold Stripes (They had been the only clowns in the tank for months). They didn't get along at all.


Final arrangments

2 Orange skunks in a 39
2 Gold Strips maroons in a 240
2 Gold Strips maroons in a 55

My 240 cracked and I put all my fish in a 150 gallon rubbermaid tub and lost all my fish but the female Gold strip. When the new 300 was up and running I put all the live stock from my 39 into the 300 at the same time as the female gold strip. To my surprise they left each other alone. About a week later I had the chance to get a smaller gold maroon and put him in with the other 3. Its been a month and they totally leave each other alone. Maroons stay to the left and Skunks to the right. The skunks are hosting in a huge toadstool and don't stray to far away from it.

This may be caused by a few factors:

Large tank (But I've had problem in a large tank before dosn't alway work)
All fish added to a new enviroment at the same time
Female maroon was very stressed and hide for a few days

Just be careful that you watch them very close if you mix clowns. Make sure you can remove one clown and have a place to keep it.

[wwest]

thanks bob21115 for the advice and im sorry about your live stock. Welcome to Talking reef..

[bob21115]

Thanks for the welcome and the comment. It was my first big mistake. I had 2 150 gallon stock tanks and put all the rock and coral in one and all the fish in the other. After I got out all the LS I wasn't thinking since it was 3 or 4 in the morning and dumped a 5 gallon bucket of sand into the tanks with the fish. I got most of them out but they didn't make it.

[fat walrus]

welcome bob21115.

[dreams]

if you are going to get another maroon, i would suggest having a place to remove him to.....maybe a breeders box or plastic kitchen strainer......the bigger clown could be pretty aggressive w/ the smaller one

maroons are pretty darn aggressive

[wwest]

yea i have another tank i can stick it in, however i might just bring my maroon to work and get two new ones. what type are the most calm clowns? :-)

[dreams]

ocellaris....it might say false percula or just percula....so, you should ask to make sure....they are around $15 ea