Adding clowns to clowns? help!

[Goofyjas]

Ok I have a few questions, I have 4 clowns, normal nemos. I also have an eibl, coral beauty , 3 purple firefish, 3 pearly(yellowhead) jawfish, and a blue tang. I was in my LFS the other day and I saw a maroon clown, or a little darker with a gole stripe, a gold stripe marron clown they called it. now he is a little smalle rthen my 4 clowns now, is that bad to add? or shoul dhe be larger then my clowns and i should add a pair or just leave it?

I have all 4 about the same size one is starting to get a little bigger btu I wanted to do it before it was to long. I have a 110 tank so plenty of room, just wanting to know if I can add 1 or 2 gold stripe to the tank and not have a problem.

I just want to add maybe them and 2 mandarins and I am done with the tank besides some corals and stuff.

TIA
Looking forward to hearing if it is a good idea, bad idea and if people have done it before.

thanks!
-GJ

[neon_hybrid]

To the best of my knowledge, tomato clowns are very teritorial, especially if you have carpet coral... and you can not have more than one of them in a tank unless the tank is huge. If you add it to you tank, more than likely, it will end up fighting with the other clowns....

[electrikat]

gold striped maroon clownfish are very aggressive. They also are slightly different than normal clowns in that you usually have to buy a known mated pair. They will be extremely territorial and may consider the whole tank their territory. I have heard of mixing clowns but never a maroon. Very chancy IMO. Check them out at www.drsfostersmith.com.

[electrikat]

or www.liveaquaria.com

[Goofyjas]

Well he is alot smaller then any of the 4 clowns I have, and I put him in and so far the clowms are like not really interested, I will see in the morning what happens.

I dont have anenomes, not a fan really :|

they live in my toads and green hairy mushrooms.

I used to have a tank and when I put my gold stripe in with the other 3 they were fine, but the first 4 have been in there for some time. I will post pics of them tomorrow if i can

thanks for your help!

[RocketSeason]

so you have 14 fish in a 110. many of whom get aggressive twoard their own kind?

First, me thinks your way overstocked. Carefully check all of your parameters and watch for spikes.

second, I would reccommend that you research any and all future purchases so that you know exactlly what your getting into before you do it. the key to success in this hobby is research and above all, paitence.

third, a gold stripe Maroon clown will get to be 6 inches long. so it will very soon dominate your tank. Plus, they dislike other clowns.

here is a little more info on the fish: http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...cfm?pCatId=107

[RocketSeason]

also, mandrins do not do well in tanks that have not been aged for a year and do not have at least 120 lbs of Live Rock per fish. Mandins need to eat copopods living in the rocks to survive.

for two mandrins, you would need to have about 240 lbs of live rock in a tank that is at least a year old and is full of a large copopod population. a fuge for raising copopods is also a must.

98% of all Mandrins die of starvation in the home aquarium.

I don't mean to sound like a jerk, I am just trying to help.

resaearch, research, research.

[Jonathan G.]

yea im pretty sure you might want to leave the maroon out of your tank as they are pretty aggressive towards all clowns and are territorial.[

[Edmonton Eskimo]

sounds like he already added it. Why ask for help and then totally ignore the good advice given? Oh well it's your money you are wasting.

[electrikat]

And by the way I noticed you said one of your clowns was getting bigger. That is going to be the female. Now you will have 3 males and a female. None of the others will turn female unless the female dies. Then the biggest male will morph to a female. You will never have two pair from 4 that were always together.

[Goofyjas]

Yea I did add it, the LFS said he would give him to me when I picked up a few corals, so I took it, he is fine as of right now he is swimming with the other 4 and no problems. We will see what happens. If he gets bigger it isnt a problem, I have a 90 gallon tank that I started up this weekend that he will most likely go in when it is ready, if it becomes a problem before that he will go in my refugium.

Why would you say that 14 fish is overstocked? just asking because I have heard I could put more in my tank.. my LFS says I could put alot more in actually, though I am fine with what I have besides the 2 mandarins.. I would be interested to know, like I said I only heard I could do more

also, mandrins do not do well in tanks that have not been aged for a year and do not have at least 120 lbs of Live Rock per fish. Mandins need to eat copopods living in the rocks to survive.

for two mandrins, you would need to have about 240 lbs of live rock in a tank that is at least a year old and is full of a large copopod population. a fuge for raising copopods is also a must.

My 110 has been set up for about 3 years, so no problems. I have plenty of LR in the tank. I have a fuge that hosts, sorry for not having time to count, thousands of pods, I went and bought a pod breeding kit which was one of the best things I bought from www.IPSF.com works GREAT if anyone is interested they have a 9 for 99 it is a great deal. The main reason I wanted the tank was because of the mandrain, so I am waiting until everything is right for him and i will be putting them in.

so you have 14 fish in a 110. many of whom get aggressive twoard their own kind?

First, me thinks your way overstocked. Carefully check all of your parameters and watch for spikes.

The tank has been fine for years and I havent had any problems with the fish that I do have. (besides the tang I bought last week that I posted about to get help)

I don't mean to sound like a jerk, I am just trying to help.

resaearch, research, research.

You arent sounding like one, you are helping which i appreciate. I know things need to be looked at and alot of research needs to be done, I do thank you for your help. 8)
I am interested where you do research? I look online and ask of course the LFS but they dont always have my best interest on hand so it is good to know good places to do research.

electrikat I was going to ask that about the clowns, I notices that theone gettingbiger then the rest was probably a female, I have seen her and one of the smaller fish ( one who has taken host to my toadstool) her and him ( I guess?) were doing the shakes in the corner in this spot on the rock.. does that mean anything or? Just wondering about that Thanks! You also said I wouldnt get 2 pair, they will stay 1f and 3m? and is that a bad thing? just wondering. thanks!

sounds like he already added it. Why ask for help and then totally ignore the good advice given? Oh well it's your money you are wasting

I wasnt going to add it, I asked for help, I was looking for opinions, the LFS and a few friends who have been in the business ( own a store and breeds rays) said hit or miss, so I wasnt going to buy it but when I was given the fish I thought he would do well in my fuge if not any other palce or my 90 when it was ready. Not being mean but I do understand people ask for help which I did and when I was given the fish I figured I could put him in and see what happens, if it didnt work out i would move him..so I am not ignoring peoples advice.

Thanks everyone for your help, looking forward to hearing what you have to say about some of the questions I have asked.

thanks!

[electrikat]

I meant that some people buy multiple clowns because they think they can have several pairs from them and will have multiple pairs in the tank. That is not the case unless you buy them at different times and they are already mated.

[AkainePSP]

Clownfish can give themselves sex changes???

[HoopsGuru]

Originally Posted by electrikat

And by the way I noticed you said one of your clowns was getting bigger. That is going to be the female. Now you will have 3 males and a female. None of the others will turn female unless the female dies. Then the biggest male will morph to a female. You will never have two pair from 4 that were always together.

Actually, one will become male and the other two will likely stay juveniles...there is only one dominant female and male in the group. Fact for the day, I was just reviewing Joyce Wilkerson's book again.

Akaine...yes clownfish can do sex changes, sort of. There is a dominant pair as mentioned above. If the female dies, the male turns into a female (but cannot change back) and then one of the juveniles turns into a male. This is fairly common among sw fish and improves the odds for the survival of the species.

[afilter]

As one who owns and loves my pair of maroons I say be careful. As the maroon grow it will likey become very agressive and teritorial. Mine had no problem taking out a large domino damsel. The 90g is probably a good idea.

The shaking you noticed could be a sign of aggression or a pair forming. If one of the is the largets one and they start to hang out together than you most likely have a pair. You need to be careful here as well as they inturn could become agressive to the others.

HTH,

[Tangaloo]

I do know someone who has mixed marron clowns and percula clowns but they both had their own anenomes on opposite sides of the tank. What out cause clowns generally do not get along at all. I wish you luck though