Two Types of Clown Fish

I am new to the hobby. My aquarium is a 65 gallon Red Sea Max 250. I currently have 45 pounds of live sand and 70 pounds of live rock. The tank has been up and running for 2 months. I started out with a orange/white false percula clown fish and now have a flame tail blenny. I would like to add another clown that is black and white. Would these fish get along well with each other? My current percula seems quite tame and cheerful. I really can't see him fighting with any other fish. I'd like to hear your thoughts. Thanks!

Austin

 

it all really depends on teh individual fish. but my orange perc pair and black perc pair have split and joined in two odd ball pairs now so it can happen that they pair up

 

I don't think it would be a good idea to put two different clowns in the same tank as 99% of the time they will fight. Not to say it can't be done but screwsloose's tank is 700 gallons and there is plenty of room and he has gotten some clowns that seem to get along but that doesn't happen very often.

 

grimmet +1. I've always heard that it's best to add at the same time if you are going to have two.

 

I would rearrange the rock work just before I added the new one so there wont be a territory established.

 

If you are going to add one more clown I would suggest getting the same species and it should be smaller than the you have now. I wouldn't put two species of clown in the same tank as they will fight sooner or later no matter how much you rearrange the rock one will get bigger than the other and the fight will be on.

 

I see this asked a lot and I see lots of B & W and Orange and White Clownfish in many RSM tanks & they are the same species and get along like two of the same color.

Of course adding a pair of clownfish at the same time is best & one a little smaller will help. Just pick one that is a bit smaller, they may fight a bit, as they determine who is going to be the girl & who is going to be the boy (they can change sex), but from all the post I have read & the many tanks I have seen doing this, I think you will be fine.

Come visit the Red Sea Max Club on Reef Sanctuary - hundreds on members with RSM tanks from around the world & usually 30 or so online in the forum all the time. A wealth of Red Sea Max knowledge.

http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/red-sea-max-owners-club/index2.html

Say hi when you visit & I will point you to several Red Sea Max tanks with clownfish just like you are wanting.

 

here just one pic of many... pair I know of...



http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/red-sea-max-owners-club/49152-shamus-rsm130d-tank-thread-9.html

 

Your false perc is actually a ocellaris and they are some of the more gentle species. As long as the blk and white is a ocellaris and like suggested above by some a different size, things well be fine. If your present one is big, then add a small one, and if yours is small, add a larger one, either way there should be no problems. I have done it a few times over the years when one or the other has died for some reason and never had an issue. Just make sure they are the same spieces and a different size.

 

Check this link out and pics...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocellaris_clownfish

The Ocellaris Clownfish or False Percula Clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris)

Two False Perculas, one normally coloured and one of the black melanistic variety.

 

Nemo was a Ocellaris Clownfish or False Percula Clownfish

 

Here is a picture of my clown fish. It's a false percula, correct? Okay, so what I have understood so far is that it is indeed possible to have both an orange/white and black/white false perculas in one tank as long as one is careful about choosing the size and behavior of the clowns. For instance, my orange/white fish is very tame and nice to my blenny. It's a rather large clown to start out with. If I can find a well behaved black/white clown (false percula) that is smaller, then the chances of them getting along increases. Please let me know if I'm on the right track! Thanks a lot for your time.

Austin

 

Beautiful tank & fish !!!

thanks for sharing the pics - hope you will start a tank thread & let us follow along !

To your questions... imo - yes you are on track

 

Go for it, you shouldn't have any issues.

 

That's a nice looking flametail. I have one too!

 

Thanks a lot, guys. I appreciate all of your posts.

Just wondering if an orange/white and black/white ocellaris can produce viable offspring? I guess they probably wouldn't be too pretty!!!

 

from what i have read about it and they can. but they wont be a mix. they will either carry the mothers dominant genes and be orange/white or the fathers and be black/white. a mix of both would not be likely

 

Thanks for the info, screwsloose.

Glenn, I came across this photo of your tank on the link you provided. Wow, your tank is totally awesome! Simply incredible.

 

Thank you Austin !

 

I finally found a black ocellaris clown fish that I liked the other day at Petco with perfect markings. I introduced him to my orange ocellaris, and they are best friends. I made sure the black clown was smaller than the existing clown. My orange is doing the clown fish shake sometimes with the black one. I think this has to do with dominance. No worries about adding these two types of clowns together.

Cheers,
Austin