Need Advice – Adding more Clowns

[redfishbluefish]

I’m in need of advice of adding more clowns to my tank. I have a 90 gallon, five foot long tank that currently houses an interracial clown couple. I have a black clown (after Hawkeye’s discussion, I’m willing to bet this is an Ocellaris). paired with a funky orange mis-bar (another Ocellaris?). Now this pair is also in a ménage à trois with a rose bubble-tip anemone that happens to be in the back right corner of the tank. I never see these two fish more than five inches away from the anemone. And the only time that happens is when I bait them away while feeding them. Otherwise they are buried in the anemone. Never do they swim in front of the tank. I do not see them unless I peer around the back corner of the tank. I wouldn’t know I had these fish unless I look for them in the anemone.

Now I also have a small green bubble-tip in the front of the tank, right in the middle…Maybe about two feet from the other anemone, on the other side of a pile of rocks. I also have five clowns down in the dungeon (I mean sump). Two of these false perculas might have actually paired. Now here’s the question…would it be safe to move this potential pair up to the 90? And, if you feel it was safe, how could I introduce this pair to the green guy? My one concern is that since the green guy is small and the rose anemone is big, they would fight for the big red. Thoughts or advice?

I want to throw in one more bit of information…I have three tangs, a long nose yellow butterfly and a starry blenny in the tank as well. For the most part all these fish stay to the right side of the tank. You would think it was Congress the way they almost never venture over to the left. What’s up with that?

 

[Hawkeye]

Just making sure i got this right - you have a pair of false percs in one nem, and want to add another pair of false percs for the second nem.

I don't see the issue but fish have their own personalities. As long as the original pair isn't laying eggs -I think they would tolerate another pair. False percs are pretty tame as opposed to clarkiis or maroons.

As for the picking of anemones - for all we know the new pair may not go to ANY anemone as captive bred false percs aren't all that wise to using an anemone. But you could try and put a specimen container with the percs next to the GBTA to see if that elicits a response - both from the original pair and to see if they suddenly have an affection for the anemone.

 

[Sunny]

Well I added a black ahhmm... ahhmm.. percula to my tank (oops sorry Hawk).. I already had an orange pair. The new guy was beaten and chased. I immediately took him out.
However many people here suggested to add it back at night, let the chasing happen for a few days. So I added it back 6 days ago. It was chased but now he is doing OK. I see him swimming but not as much as I would want to. But he is not getting beaten that much though.

My tank is 150 G though..

Hope it helps..

Sunny

 

[Hawkeye]

Well I added a black ahhmm... ahhmm.. percula to my tank (oops sorry Hawk)..

ah man - you guys are breaking my chops! I'm sorry if i came across as a know-it-all - I didn't mean that. As if I'm an expert!!! we have to count those spines to be sure.

Anyways - cool to hear they are going well. It's all part of the submissive dance I guess.

 

[Sunny]

Just kidding dude. You are right about the clown....

 

[Hawkeye]

Just kidding dude. You are right about the clown....

lol thanks...i've been a mod too long - some people get really mad over really inconsequential things! we're a bulletin board on fish! ;D ;D ;D

btw - if your two clowns ever mate/breed - i'd be happy to help out. Black clowns are very fashionable/retain higher prices. Of course - your batch would probably be like a mix. You'd have to tell people "it will change to black later".... (I'm joking!)

 

[Audi0s]

So how did it go with the second pair? I will be facing this issue soon with my true perc/onyx pair and my captive bred picassos in my 75. I was planning on 2 islands, each with a small nem. Hoping I can get away with it.

 

[Henrye718]

once a territory has been establised (the whole tank unless its really a big tank) the chase and beating spoke of early is pretty much gona happen, it will most likly end in a slow death too.

I would take the establish ones out and leave them in a seperate tank for a few days then try and introduce all of them back to main tank all together.

 

[redfishbluefish]

Well I did something really dump. Instead of taking two of the clowns I had down in the sump, I decided to put a good sized mean-ass maroon clown in the tank. Everything was fine at first….the maroon saw the other clowns…no problem. The maroon then spied the RBTA, and that was the beginning of World War Three. It immediately and very viscously started to attach the other clowns. I first set up nets around the anemone/two original clowns and then started to attempt to catch the maroon. Well, five hours later, and about half the rock removed from the tank, I finally caught this bad boy. It doesn’t end there. I was in the tank barehanded, and keep on hitting into everything. The following day both hands broke out with sores and I ended up in bed all day, tired and sickly feeling. I am allergic to wasps…I guess paly/zoa toxins also hit me hard too. The next day I was fine, but the hands took a number of days to heal.

 

[mnat]

If it continues, pm whitebird he went through it and it turned out not so good. Don't want to scare you, but it can be pretty serious.

 

[redfishbluefish]

If it continues, pm whitebird he went through it and it turned out not so good. Don't want to scare you, but it can be pretty serious.

Mike (or is this Nichole??), this was a week and a half ago...I've recovered. But thanks for the info.

 

[mnat]

It is Mike, I am glad it went away. I have seen some threads on here and RC were it got really nasty for the people who got stung.