Amphiprionidae (Clownfish) Workshop

Reef Aquarium & Tank Building Forum

Help Support Reef Aquarium & Tank Building Forum:

Status
Not open for further replies.
spongebob lover said:
i know this is asking for to much but is there any ways you could get us some pictures? please.

HI Gabby. Photos of which? The differences between the two genus? Or something else :)

- Ilham
 
Ahhhhh.... thus the reason that the prmanas are so much more aggressive than the amphiprion. They're not used to sharing!
 
spongebob lover said:
the differences between the two genus dood
Definitely :) Sorry, I just got back home and still frazzled..lol

Bony cheek-spine of the genus Premnas:

cheekspine.jpg


The other 27 species of clownfishes do NOT have that feature, and thus belong to the genus Amphiprion

Best,

Ilham
 
Can you mix species? Say 2 Ocellaris and 2 Percullas or Clarkii?

My wife and I talked about it today. We want to buy 2 more. I wouldn't mind a Clarkii or Tomato. But I would be just as happy with Ocellaris. I will just have to set up another Tank...Now where did I put that other 29g...hmmm
 
This might be the wrong place to put this. But, this is a clown thread. My clowns seem to have taken to my Peppermint shrimps tenicles. they sit right beside the spot that the shrimp has found a home and go through the tenticles as if it were an anemone. Well moving against them in the same characteristic as in an anemone. Is this normal?
 
Your clowns might be waiting for your shrimp to give them a good cleaning, mine used to do that...but I could be wrong and I quess I'll shut up and leave this to Elmo...lol

jake
 
I will answer those questions at a later time Detri. And it is quite possible that the fish was just expecting a cleaning from the shrimp. The peppermint and the cleaner shrimp are from the same genus Lysmata.

- Ilham
 
SECTION 2: Sexing of Clownfish (Gender Determination)

SEXING OF CLOWNFISH (GENDER DETERMINATION)

Many questions from hobbyists and others interested in purchasing or have purchased clownfishes arise within this topic. These questions range from

  • Do I have a male or female clownfish?
  • I have a pair, but which one is male and which one is female?
  • If my clown is small, is it a juvenile/baby clown?
  • and so on....

To better understand the situation, and possibly arise at a precise answer--to whether one clownfish is a male or female, we need to talk about social hierarchy of clownfishes. First, clownfishes lack the X and Y chromosomes that humans have, which trigger/tells the hypothalamus to create the perfect blend of hormones (which then determines our sex). The hypothalamus is just basically located near the base of the human brain. So in humans, this occurs within the body. Since clownfishes lack this ability, they rely on their surroundings--their social environment determines their hormonal mix.

Clownfishes are either one of the possible three: adolescents, males, or females. Clownfishes less than 8-12 months of age are usually adolescents, as they have not developed any social ranking within the group. An adolescent turns to a male when another adolescent clownfish is present along with another adolescent clownfish. This does NOT happen overnight. Two adolescents will bicker and pick fights. One eventually will win and the other will eventually give up. The dominant clown will turn to a male first, which occurs anywhere from 3-6 months. The second clownfish will then turn male, and eventually the dominant clownfish will turn to a female. While this can be confusing, the route the clownfishes go through are:

adolescent--->male--->female

and that route being a 'one-way' street--that is, once a clownfish turns to a male, it cannot become a sexless adolescent. In the same situation, once a clownfish becomes a female, it cannot turn back to a male. This phenomenon is referred to as: protandrous hermaphroditism.

To clarify things a little more, we can use the analogy of Peter Pan. Adolescents within a social hierarchy of clownfishes will always stay adolescents and do not change to males when there is an adult Female and Male pair within the environment. However, if one or two of the adult pair dies, then one of the adolescents will quickly turn to a male and replace the lost adult clownfish. If the adult female dies, the adult male then changes to a female, while an adolescent changes to a male.

In the next post, we will look at physical differences between males and females.

- Ilham

(post 3)
 
Misplaced some photos I was going to put up (memory card..). Look for updates soon.

If anyone has questions, please ask. This is the basics, but it is important for later parts (i.e. for pairing purposes, breeding purposes, etc).

Best,

Ilham
 
does a single clownfish remain sexless or does it turn female? also what happens if you introduce another female into the mix. will she be accepted?
 
loohunter said:
does a single clownfish remain sexless or does it turn female?

A single clownfish will eventually turn to a female. It is a matter of time. If you get an adolescent clownfish (tank-raised or wild) and you leave it in a tank without another clownfish tankmate, it will turn to a male. In as early as about 2-4 months, the male will turn to a female. This varies, not only from species to species, but is individually specific. Some will go turn to a female faster than others.

Chances are, if you have a lone clownfish in a tank for say 2 years or more, it is a female.

loohunter said:
also what happens if you introduce another female into the mix. will she be accepted?

The general answer is no. This will ensue endless chasing, fighting, jumping, leaping, whatever you want to call it ;) Tank size will need to be taken into account as well. If you have a fairly large tank (i.e. 120 gallons or more), it is possible to have more than one female of one species, however, they will not be seen by one another, but in opposite areas, and their own territories. In the wild, clownfishes seldom venture out more than a yard away from their anemone, so our tanks are great for keeping clownfishes. I'm not sure why anyone would want to place another female of the same species in the same tank, but it could happen accidentally as well--that is if you place a clownfish you thought was a 'male' into a tank with a female clown.

Let me know if that didn't clear up your questions :) How are those GSM's doing?

Best,

Ilham
 
Thanks Alot That Is Something I Wondered For A While Things Are Great. We Want Another Pair Of Gsm's When They Are Available For Another Tank
 
yeah i was wondering too because of my lonely Clown fish.
just one question, let's say you have a female and you add 4 more clowns because you wanna have a clown fish school :p
would they all pair up and leave one of them as a juvenile?
would they all fight for the female? or what would happen ?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Latest posts

Back
Top