How many pairs of Clownfish can you keep?

[CrazyForWater]

How many pairs of Clownfish can you keep in a 40 gallon tank? I'm thinking of getting two pairs of Ocellaris Clownfish. One pair being the normal color found in the species while the other one being black and white. Can I only keep one pair in the tank?

Thanks in Advance.

 

[Fishieness]

i would only do one pair in a tank that small. Ocellaris, although one of the more peaceful species, can still sometimes get nasty towards others, especially with two females in there.

 

[Grins]

:iagree:

 

[CrazyForWater]

Does it matter if in my pair I have one black and white and in the other one normal color?

 

[Grins]

Sometimes that will work. Never a guarantee.

 

[Batmanjay28]

I would stick to one pair. YOur tank is to small and the they would be fighting all the time...

 

[7faces]

ive read that clowns in a group will have 1 male 1 female and the rest genderless. if something happens to the male, the female becomes male, and one of the genderless will become female..
what would happen in a case like this where pairs were already sexed?
i dont mean would they fight, but would cross species try to transgender?

 

[pooh1989]

I've always read no more than 2 per tank, unless it's a hugh tank and they can have different sides of the tank. But I'm new and usually go with the majority of what I've read.

~~Ange

 

[<3Oscar]

If we are talking same species and they are 'ungendered', you can keep more than two in a tank. The most dominate will be female (and the biggest), then next dominate will be the male, and the others will remain genderless unless something happens to the female. If they are already paired, meaning more than one female would be present, i wouldn't reccommend it as the females will be very territorial and fight.

 

[<3Oscar]

ive read that clowns in a group will have 1 male 1 female and the rest genderless. if something happens to the male, the female becomes male, and one of the genderless will become female..
what would happen in a case like this where pairs were already sexed?
i dont mean would they fight, but would cross species try to transgender?

They can go male to female, but once one is female it can't go back. I've read about different clown species pairing up (i.e. true percs with false percs) but I don't know how likely that is.