Adding a group of clowns to an established couple

[Ardeus]

I just got a 107 gallon cube to replace a smaller tank where I have a dozen of BTA's and a couple of clowns that breed regularly. There's also a bicolor blenny and a diamond goby.

I also got a glass structure to create a suspended rock structure:



I need a couple of advises:

- what's the lowest number of clowns to make this work;

The fact that there's already an established couple make the new ones less aggressive and therefore allow me to introduce a smaller number, lets say 6?

 

[davocean]

Usually a successful harem is achieved by getting young clowns all from the same clutch, anything else can be risky.

 

[tmac18]

I wanta see your tank build. Sounds fun.

 

[Ardeus]

The tank is still in the car, I'm going to set it up next weekend.

I will let the tank settle for a week or 2 and only then order the fish.

When you start with a group of young fish, they have to decide who's going to be the female and male. In my case, I will be bypassing that and I hope there will be less aggression.

That being said, I think 6 is too risky. It will be too easy for a single fish to be picked at, either by the new group or the couple.

9 or 11 new fish will be safer.

 

[Trex]

Personally I wouldn't -- spawning clowns are very aggressive.

What species of clowns?

 

[Ardeus]

Ocellaris. The couple has been well mannered toward the other 2 fish. The blenny is even allowed to stay right next to the clown eggs.

I am counting on the fact that the newcomers are very young. I decided to give it a try with 11 new fish in about a week or so.

 

[Ardeus]

I tried the glass shelf. I couldn't make it work. I kept thinking there should be cakes and not corals there.

subir imagen

I took the shelf out and I tried to create a layout that kept my clown couple in the centre. This way they can make sure that their dominance covers the whole tank and that no other female will appear.

subefotos

 

[Ardeus]

 

[Ardeus]

I placed the order for the 11 clowns and it's going to be 7 regular ocellaris and 4 Darwin. All of them are captive bred.

I want to avoid overcrowding the tank with so many fish that I won't be able to know each of them.

On the other hand, I don't want to have a number so small that it will make it easy for them to focus their aggression on a single fish.

I am also curious to see the relationship between the 2 variants.

I am hoping my adult couple doesn't resume laying eggs before the new group arrives, early next week.

 

[ReefPrincess423]

I'm curious @Ardeus how'd this work out for u?

 

[Ardeus]

I ended up purchasing the clowns at a store in Spain yesterday (I live near the border) instead of ordering them online, so it's a slightly different group from what I planned:

- 6 regular orange;
- 4 black (I hope they will turn black)
- 1 black ice

The store only had 6 orange, 4 supposedly black and a few black ice and platinum.

I generally don't like these new strains, but I thought it would also be interesting to see if the odd ball would be treated different by the others.

I can tell you whole thing didn't start well...

I have been filming the process and expect to upload it in less than 24 hours.

 

[ReefPrincess423]

@Ardeus how many did u end up with in the end

 

[Ardeus]

 

[Shaddow_wolf169]

Awesome please post a video tomorrow

 

[Ardeus]

Here it is

 

[ash9965]

Beautiful tank I hope it continues to go smooth . Have you had any algae Issue with so much direct light from the windows ?

 

[Shaddow_wolf169]

Following

 

[Ardeus]

The tank has been by the window for 10 days now and there's some algae on the glass. I clean it every other day.

The sand is mostly clean thanks to the diamond goby. There are a few small areas where he doesn't go between the anemones.

It's not been running smoothly, unfortunately.

The 4 Darwins are gone or sick, all with swimming bladder problems. At this point I wish I never did this.

 

[Shaddow_wolf169]

How r they doing?

 

[Ardeus]

No more Darwin clowns.

The other 7 are ok, but I suspect there may be something wrong with the tank, maybe it's going through some mini cycle because of the new rock or increased feeding.

I will update when there's more news.