Type of Clowns?

[clownclown13]

I recently just had 1 of my percula clowns pass away. I got 2 clowns together about 3-4 months ago. The smaller (male) became sick, pale, and started to hide from the bigger clown. It became so pale and hardly ate. Could the 2 clowns have been different species, leading to the larger (female) one bullying the smaller one to death? Attached are pics of each. Could someone tell me if they are both true perculas?

From my research, I believe they are both true perculas, but not 100% sure. Maybe it could have been some type of disease? My water parameters were said to be perfect when tested at the local lfs. My temp was a little low, 75F, but I have raised it to 76.5F since.

 

[Tmar]

I am very new to saltwater tanks so have no idea, I just want to say I am so sorry for your loss

 

[Fishman007]

What size tank? And you should get some test kits. Its pretty hard to kill clowns.

 

[clownclown13]

It is a 10 gallon. I know thats pretty small for clowns but they were very small and I was going to upgrade when they got larger. Anyways, from the pics, can you tell if they were both true percs?

btw I do 15% water changes every 2 weeks and get my water tested every 2 weeks and each time, tests have come back with no problems.

 

[Jschier]

Sometimes it can be very tough to ID true Percs vs OC's. The only way I know is true Percs tend to have thicker black markings along the whites. Makes it hard with the many variations. I would say though that it would be better to do smaller water changes more often for a 10g. Sorry for your loss.

 

[clownclown13]

I have seen in other discussion boards that falses have an almost all-black eye, while trues have just a small black pupil with orange around it. If that is the case, I think they were both trues. Still curious as to why the larger one chased the smaller one around so much that the small one hid between rocks and eventually died.

 

[Fishman007]

Could be bad genetics, try buying from another store next time

 

[clownclown13]

If I were to buy another clown (I would obviously buy a smaller one than the one I have now), should I get a true or false/oscellaris clown? It would need to be compatible with the female clown I have now (please see pics).

 

[Phranque]

This is why it's not good to put them in a smaller size tank with the intent to rehome them when they get bigger. With the proper size tank (min 30g for a pair of clowns), if there is aggression, the one being picked on has some room to potentially get away & hide for a while, reducing it's stress level. In a smaller tank, the bully is always on top of the other one, especially at feeding time......