ReefSafari Posted July 31, 2010 Share Posted July 31, 2010 So We got this Haddon's Carpet Anemone that was hosting a Clarki Clown, It was fairly small and REALLY loved its anemone. The tank mates have always been a Royal Gramma, 6-line Wrasse and a lone Blue/Green Chomis that will be moved soon since it gets chased by the Clarki (I am pretty sure it wants to feed the poor Chromis to the Anemone...) Anyway...I have purposely not purchased any other fish for several reasons, One I don't want to get too many fish, the other is I have heard that once you get a pair of Clowns they tend to get REALLY territorial...Also everyone says you have to put the 6-lines in last as they can pick on any new additions you add after them... Anyway, I have found a beautiful little Clarki that I would love to get, but I havn't for several reasons, I don't know what sex the one I have is, I have heard that they can change sex if you happen to get two females, ect...The Clarki I have now has grown pretty big, and the one I am looking at is MUCH smaller than it....My fear would be, one- I get it and it gets attacked by the bigger Clarki and or the 6-line, and Two- Maybe the Clarkis would hit it off and I would have a pair, but then they would turn and start attacking the 6-line and Royal Gramma.... I am setting up another tank and will be moving the 6-line and Royal Gramma and Chromi out of that tank and would like to get a mate for the one I have...I would love to have a pair of Clarki's and the Carpet in the tank...Any suggestions? Should I just go for it and see what happens? Any helpful advise from any experienced clown keepers? Every bone in my body wants to get this particular Clarki and have everyone just get along in a awsome utopian happy reef world...but my brain says...Dude your asking for trouble don't do it...lol(nutty) Any advice...what do you think would happen if I added a much smaller Clarki to this somewhat happy system? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReeFit Posted July 31, 2010 Share Posted July 31, 2010 i'm no expert, but clowns will usually pair up if they are the same species. if they decide to pair up as mates then the dominate one usually takes on the role as the female. I had a pair of clarki's and they never paired up as mates but they were the best buds ever and actually didn't get that aggressive at all. it really all depends on the fish and the size of the tank / territories. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReefSafari Posted July 31, 2010 Author Share Posted July 31, 2010 i'm no expert' date=' but clowns will usually pair up if they are the same species. if they decide to pair up as mates then the dominate one usually takes on the role as the female. I had a pair of clarki's and they never paired up as mates but they were the best buds ever and actually didn't get that aggressive at all. it really all depends on the fish and the size of the tank / territories.[/quote'] Thanks for the reply, None of our tanks are very big, >40 gallons.....I thought I was pushing it with 4 fish in a 40....The Clarki I have now is the largest fish in the tank, he leaves (almost submissive) the Royal Gramma and 6-line alone, its just the Chromi he chases every once and while...but can never catch it...Chromis are fast little buggers... But the Royal Gramma and 6-line and Chromi are going into a different 40g, I was just worried that with such a huge size difference in the clowns that the smaller one would get bullied, but a part of me is hoping they would hit it off and that size wouldn't matter and they would get along great and host the anemone together...that would be awsome... I am sure its only matter of time before I probably will have to get a larger tank for the Carpet, most people REALLY frown on keeping Carpets in smaller tanks...they say they get too big.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barelycuda Posted August 6, 2010 Share Posted August 6, 2010 Depending on how long you have had the single clarkii I would say that most likely it is a female. If you were to get a small juvenille most likely it should not have started to develop sexually and will turn into the male. I currently don't have any clarkii babies or I'd get you a juvenille that would most definately become the male. Most likely once a juvenille male is introduced the female should accept it and they theoretically would host the carpet together. If the female accepts the male I would say that there's a pretty good chance that she will defend him if the 6 line becomes aggressive and probably put the 6 line in it's place. Pretty much all clowns are protective of their anenome and will chase off pretty much any fish that they deem is to close to their home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barelycuda Posted August 6, 2010 Share Posted August 6, 2010 Clowns can also learn to get along with other clowns. I have a pair of ocellaris, 1 pair of nigripes, and a single pink skunk clown in my 75g tank in the living room. I know for sure that the ocellaris pair has a female as I had her by herself for almost 2 years and the nigripes are a pair. The nigripes is the alpha pair of the tank. Probably shortly the nigripes are moving out the the clownhouse with the other broodstock which will mean that I will probably have to find another pair as they are momma's favorites. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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