One of My clowns passed away a few weeks ago :(

[kahlua]

I went to the LFS thought hey maybe a perfect time to pick him up a little buddy. When I asked them they said to only put mated pairs in there that he would most likely fight with another clownfish. So I thought I would hop on and see what you guys think!! I currently only have one occellaris clown in there now hes not to big I got him when he was teeny. But he seems very lonely he doesnt really do much kinda sits in one area and doesnt really move :( He was like that with his other buddy is that normal kinda just hand in one spot dont really swim much? But they said not to add another clown in there to keep em company that they will just fight. I need to add a six line to but dont want to until my tank has everyone in there home so he doesnt beat them up you know!!

But is this true I was going to add a false percula I think there so awesome looking or another occellaris what do you guys think?

I have really no stock in my tank because Ive been scared since Ive been fighting cancrid crabs forever lol

I was going to head over today if not and try an anemone and see how that goes if not!!

HELP!!

[greech]

False Perc = Ocellaris

You can certainly add another clown. But you need to consider a few things first. Highly recommend you read this first though:

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=215098 (http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=215098)

As far as a nem goes, I would not try anything other than a Bubble Tip in your cube and know there is a risk that it will walk and when it does corals in its path might get toasted. Ther are also prone to get stuck in overflows and powerheads when they decide to walk. Water quality should be maintained at a high level and flow should not be blasting but consistent. If you change flow and the nem is no longer happy where it was, it will walk. You should also be prepared to target feed it with substantial meaty foods (again, if you don;t feed it chances are it will start walking to look for its own food). Lastly, nems split and will get a decent size. While splitting is a form of propagation, too much splitting may be a survival mechanism indicating poor conditions in your tank.

[kahlua]

Thanks a ton Greech I appreciate it so much your always there to give me a hand ever since day one!!

Hey Greech the other one I want has more white in it I think the one I have looks more like this

http://animal-world.com/encyclo/marine/clowns/truepercula.php

The one I want looks more like this

http://animal-world.com/encyclo/marine/clowns/ocellaris.php

I think thats how it is I cant pull my pictures Ive posted at work they dont work grrr
So more or less the best thing is make sure I get a smaller one than my current fish so I dont end up with two females running around my tank I think from what I got there. The one I like has more of a light color with what seems like more white and darker lines around it!

[greech]

Not sure what species you have either but I would not recommend trying to pair an Ocellaris with a Perc (especially in a small cube). There is a good chance your surviving clown is a female but if it was the male in the former pair it likely has not converted to a female over the course of a week. Was the surviving fish the bigger of the two? Was it the boss? If so it was the female and you should be fine adding a small (I would buy the smallest one) out of a COMMUNITY tank at your LFS. Buying a single clown that has been kept alone in a tank at your LFS for a while very well could be a female. A sole clown will likely be a female within a month assuming it is physically old enough to sexualy mature.

If you feel the surviving clown was a male, I would probably wait a few weeks and then add the small clown from a community tank. This way you stand a better chance of having a female in your tank and adding a male.

[Amphiprion]

They'll actually pair just fine, but the offspring will be hybrids. Hybridization is fairly common for these two species.

[greech]

Seriously? Obviously I will not question your knowledge of clowns but everything I have ever read indicated this is not a good idea (especially in a small tank).

[greech]

Well what do you know.

http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/reefs-magazine/51884-odd-couple-percula-onyx-x-ocellaris-darwin.html

Sorry kahlua. Should have indicated that I didn't have any hands on experince in the matter. Just shows you should never trust strangers on the internet :)! Some people just give bad advice. Geez...:)

[Amphiprion]

Not bad advice. It is very sound advice--it just doesn't seem to apply as much to these two species.

[kahlua]

Sweet thank you guys thats awesome! I wanna get him a buddy hmm I wonder what one to go with hehe. How would I know if its reached maturity? Is there a way to tell which it is?

[kahlua]

Hey Greech its I asked the gf she said its been about a month and a half I just am stuck working my butt off so never know rofl!!

heres a pic of my clown its an old one but works!!

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/kahlua403/corals%20etc/tanknew058.jpg

[kahlua]

Thanks to Amph and greech for helping me!!

[greech]

At the risk of being wrong twice in the same day in the same thread I'm going to say Ocellaris :)

Is the one pictured the one that you lost? Can't really see the other one but I am going to continue my overconfidence and guess the pictured one was the male. If so I would get a small Occ. out of acommunity tank and you should be fine. Even in this situation you may see some chasing and aggression displays but not all-out death matches!

When I lost my male I did not replace him for months and when I did my female chased her new bo all over. Funny thing was she was never aggressive at all. She was chasing him because she was so happy. After about 5 minutes they were literally doing the clown dance in the corner of the tank. It was very cool.

[kahlua]

haha awesome I cant wait!! I went yesterday to look they just got a huge shipment in!! Umm they were pretty close in size so I wonder if maybe thats why we lost one they pretty much grew identical you know I seen one doing the little vibrate thing so maybe that was the male. But they literally look identical so Im not 100% sure which was the female.

I was wondering if I should wait more it has been a little but I have no idea how old the clown was when I got it!! But I want to see the my clown happy to you know!

Sweet so thats one story of success!! What type of clowns do you have Greech?

[greech]

I have a pair of Black & White ocellaris. Buying two juveniles that were the same size from a community tank should have been fine. One would have become dominant and turned female. Shaking, etc. is normal even in an established pair. The longer you wait the more likely yours will be a female and buying a small one (again from a community tank) should work out just fine. Good luck.