Saturday i got a new clown and bta, everything was going great. my bigger clown nipped at the little guy for maybe 15 min. then they went everywhere in the tank together. got up Sunday and both were sleeping in the bta, its been good all week ,all was great. tonight i came in and checked on my tank like i always do and everything was ok. now the bad , sitting here talking to my son and i look up and i don't see my new baby clown. i get up and start looking round and find him behind my tank on the floor. i am so pi##ed i could kick myself. i have an egg crate top but was not using it because i have not had any problems with jumpers since my blenny went for a walk. grrrrrrrrrrrr this is so frustrating. so do i try again and keep the top on or just let my clown stay alone?
What kind of clown was it because I have several and none have ever jumped out of the tank. I have had other fish jump out but never a clown.
The only time that I have had luck adding to a tank with an existing clown is by adding a larger one. It seems that way they are more able to handle the abuse dished out by the resident clown. More than likely the reason it jumped was to try and escape the beating it was receiving. Tom
they were getting along great. i was expecting more nipping but she only went at him a few times the 1st day. what i may do is take her back to nsa and trade her for a pair, scott said they would do it.
Sorry to hear about your loss not read much about them being jumpers... may been just one of those things... I think I would take Scott at NSA up on that offer & get a pair. I got my clown fish pair there, I sat & watch two of them that seemed to be a pair - always side by side, one bigger than the other - for 30 mins... they are my favorite fish - in the video in my tank thread and my avatar.
This is always hit or miss when adding another clown, or any fish of the same species to an existing tank. Depending on the fish, aquascaping, size of the tank, and many other factors, the results vary each time. I have add a small tomato clown to the ref of the frag system where a very large agressive female had been for a few weeks. Just lucky I guess, because when I added a much smaller male they began the head shaking and jerking against each other almost at the first meeting. Been paired ever since and have spawned a couple times. I would suggest trading the one in and getting 2 more. Any 2 will make a pair, but try to vary the size a little. When both are introduced to the tank at the same time there is no dominance factor to contend with. They should get along fine and be a nice pair for you in the future.
Like you say they were getting along fine, I think it was something else that spooked it. Perc's and ocellaris are some of the more even tempered clowns. It is abnormal for a clown to jump out of a tank even if he is being chased. What other fish do you have in there? I think you did it exactly right by adding a smaller one, they well usally pair right up. I just did the same thing about 2 months ago as the male got something stuck in his gut and died. I added a small one to a very large female and they got along fine after the a few check outs. Either way should be fine, personally I couldn't give up my female, she says hello everytime I put my hand in the tank if you know what I mean, ouch!!!!
My clown has dumped several times, luckly I have a 29 Gal. Bio-cube with full lid, so when he jumped he went over the back into the chamber that had water flow so he did not die. I made a antifish jumping wall out of plastic rain gutter guard, no more over the back. So I can see some clowns are skidish IMO and get spooked activating the flee instinct.
