Wife wants a clown

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Fishfighter

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
May 8, 2012
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She wants a clown fish and I have three fish of wich two are at least semi agresive, lemon damsel, six line wrasse, tiger jawfish. I know the clowns use the anemone as a safe house so to speak so I want to add that at the same time. I would like two get a mated pair of clowns so I can actually get two of the same fish for once. How do I know a mated pair when I see them? Does any supplier guarantee a mated pair?
 
If you are worried about aggression, how about get a tomato clown, maroon clown, or sebae clown. they can be some tough cookies.

as far as pairing you can do this 1 of three ways. buy mated pair most expesive, buy two and hope they both arn't female the most dominate will become the female, buy one larger and 1 smaller and the larger one should turn female.

if you go on live aquarium they have mated pairs on their all the time right now the cheapest pair are Ocellaris Clownfish (Pair) for 80 and can go up to like $350 for a pair of snowflake clowns.
 
No way to know b4 I buy at lfs if both are female. What happens if I get one large one small and both are female? Couldn't that get ugly? I had a hard time finding a fish to get along with my damsel. I don't want any dead fish. Only lost one so far but I think that coral beauty was just totally stressed. Only life lost so far. Death seems like total failure
 
If u are worried your clown will get bullied get a gold strip maroon but honestly they can be really nasty towards everything else
 
keep in mind all clown fish start out as males and if you get a young juvenile small and get medium size one they will most likely both be males but the larger more aggressive one will turn female. if you got two tiny clowns it is highly unlikely like you should go play mega-millions that they would have both turned female already.
 
No guarantee that any clown will host an anemone. I would loom at your lfs, they may have a mated pair already hosting an anemone
 
I have bought 3 pairs of clowns. All juveniles. All 3 pairs have paired up with no problem. They were three different types, too. False perculas, b&w, and goldstripe maroons. I'd say if you buy two babies they will pair up.

As far as hosting, they will host what they want. And, from my experience, if it does host a nem it stresses the anemone out and it will move around, maybe killing your corals in the process.
 
If you want a pair do like everyone said and get a larger one and a smaller one. Personally I would get them at two different shops, buy the largest they have at one shop and the smallest they have at another and your nearly guaranteed to get a pair and getting them from different shops reduces the chances of them being related and causing inbreeding.
 
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