clown fish

[tred8181]

Hi all, ive kept fish for about 3 years now and thinking about getting a tank for marine fish as i fancy some clown fish ive read alot of articles about it and some say i should only keep a pair and some say its fine to have a shoal, whats everyones views, i really want a large shoal, how hard is it to keep marine tank? what other fish can i have in the tank with them i like really colourful vivid fish. cheers.

[Bill19]

You can keep these MARINE ( :D ) fish in small groups, but its risky and can end in disaster, its best to have a spare tank in case one gets overly bullied. they are great in groups or pairs. :) There tones of fish out there which can go with them. depends on size of tank etc

Do lots of reading and research, and post in the marine section in future as you will get more answers there :)

[tred8181]

ill be getting the same size tank as i have now 225 ltr, whats the maximum size group you would recommend?

[Bill19]

Erm well in the wild they can get pretty big, and in a guys very large reef he has 22.... erm ... t1gerbee has 5 in 130 litres, so maybe around 5-8? but not sure

[tred8181]

cool, i didnt realise they got very big, how big are we talking my loach are 15cm any bigger than that?

[t1gerbee]

Clown fish are not shoaling fish, they don't shoal in the wild

They live in mated pairs with individual territories...


Within that, there is scope to keep a group... as juveniles it isn't a problem, it's as a true pair form that the risk occurs and the outsiders can be badly bullied very quickly...


The theory is that in the wild a group can live in a hiarachy, where the alpha male and female become a pair and the rest remain sexless, until the top male/female die at which point a lower ranking fish will replace it....

So in theory it can be done, and I have had success so far, (getting on for 6 months) but I also have two other marine tanks that I can quickly transfer fish to if there is bullying once the first true pair forms...

They do all sleep together in the same corner, but they don't shoal as such, they all bimble about doing their own thing,and just huddle together if they get spooked.


Its certainly not something I'd do without two marine tanks running, and may yet go wrong for me, only time will tell....

[tred8181]

cheers mate the set im looking at comes with a couple of smaller tanks so that would be ideal, what other fish are you keeping with them, how likely is it that the clowns will breed?

[t1gerbee]

I have a baby sailfin tang in with them, but i won't have as soon as i can catch him. Put him in there to grow out a little before being transfered to my bigger FO tank... but now i can't catch him!

I'll get him soon, and then i'll just have the clowns. I prefer the look of the tank with just clowns. :)

your tank is bigger though, so you could add more fish, but if you want to do a group of clowns, i'd leave it at that...

[tred8181]

i was looking at buying this tank whats you impressions on it, it on ebay,

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&Item=280329400917&Category=46312&_trksid=p3907.m29&_trkparms=algo%3DLVI%26its%3DI%26otn%3D2

[Bill19]

sorry by big i meant big groups :) the trouble is the pair of clowns he already has will have probably paired etc and will make ita bit more risky adding more

[tred8181]

yeh i realised this but i thought it was a pretty good set-up lol

[t1gerbee]

you'll not be able to add more clowns to a set up that has an established pair.. and the puffer he has in there grows to 12 inches long, so would need to be upgraded to a 6 foot tank..

also looks like a load of red bubble algae on the rocks (though its hard to tell) which could be a problem...

it depends what you want and whether you are happy to inherit someone elses tank... :)