percula clown question?

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prow

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May 7, 2005
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137
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so. cal
hello everyone. i have this False percula clown (Amphiprion ocellaris) in my 20gal nano. i have had him for about a year now. he is not that much bigger than the day i bought him. right now he is about 1 1/4" got a good measurement on him. he is eatting very good, swimming around being a normal clown. anyone know why he is staying so small? if i move him to my 150gal will he grow or stay small?
 
He might be staying small because there isn't another clown with him. I'll see if Elmo18 can pop in on this thread. He knows alot about clownfish...
 
Hi prow. There are a couple things to consider first on clownfish growth. Do you know if this is a wild clownfish or a captive-bred/tank-raised specimen? Either way, diet is definitely an issue here. When you say the fish is eating "very good", what are you specifically feeding? And all of same food, everyday, each day? I'm going to paraphrase something from Dr. Shimek that goes along something like this: If fish or other animals get food in their environment, they will live. If they are given more food than what is used, they will grow. If given the above, and a nice environment, they will reproduce. I tend to believe that, somehow.

Another possible reason is 'stunted-growth', in particular, if the clownfish is captive-bred. In particular, the clownfish's early life has consequences later down the road (sort of like us humans....). For example, ammonia neutralizers, when used in the growout/fry tank instead of doing water changes, will stunt growth of clownfishes. Joyce Wilkerson mentions this exact same thing in her CLownfishes book (a great read).

- Elmo :)
 
i used to have 2 wild false percs, i never noticed the little one getting bigger until the female died, now hes gettting quite big, so may be its all about who's around him :)
 
hmm your clownfish would be getting bigger to take the place of the female... because the females are always larger than the males in pairs and usually when they are solitary they become females...

-Josh
 
Elmo - thanks for the great info. I've learned alot about clownfish from your posts. :)

Gabriela - as Josh posted, your once male clownfish will grow into a female. Once she gets a little bigger in size, you can add a small clownfish to hopefully become her mate.
 
me too learning a lot, thanks great info. never knew there was so much info on a clown.not sure if he is tank bread or not. i feed him a mix many kinds. i am going to move him the bigger tank and hope he stays small. just love this little guy. i wish they all were this size full grown. i would get a 8 of them, they would make an awsome group. thanks again everyone.
 
Thanks Nikki, i already bought another baby false perc :D (i couldn't resist), he's very cute and smart :) .
the baby ocellaris (manchitas) is tank raised and it seems to be getting along with my other clown (nemo), but i was wondering, nemo is wild raised and the other one is tank raised, would they ever become partners? even though they came from different places.
i also noticed that manchitas is more like yellowish color and nemo is more dark orange, would manchitas get darker as he gets older?
I don't know if i'm making any sence, but i was just really curious and i'm sorry prow if taking a little bit over here. :oops:
 
dont be sorry we are all learning here. and your still talking about clowns anyway.
i think they will pair up. but i also bet my clown is cuter than yours.hehehe
 
spongebob lover said:
i was wondering, nemo is wild raised and the other one is tank raised, would they ever become partners?
Click to expand...

Hi Gabriela ;) This commonly happens. So, yes, your pair will eventually bond, no matter whether one is tank-raised or wild. Wild-caught clownfishes often times (sadly...) one of the two of a pair of clowns will die from shipping. In this case, many just get a regular tank-raised specimen to go with the lone wild fish.

spongebob lover said:
i also noticed that manchitas is more like yellowish color and nemo is more dark orange, would manchitas get darker as he gets older?
I don't know if i'm making any sence, but i was just really curious and i'm sorry prow if taking a little bit over here. :oops:
Click to expand...

Different colorings on same species of clownfishes are due to food, geographic variations (of the same species), and possibly lighting (although at this point, i'm guessing... :lol: ). Clowns stay their color in the wild because they use those pigments. Reddish pigments make the maroon clown reddish. I am not saying you can feed your ocellaris with foods containing red pigments and expect it to change colors to that of a maroon clown.

There are geographic differences between species. One really obvious difference are the REd and Black clownfish (A. melanopus). Fijian/Tonga varieties differ in color with respect to the same species found in Indonesia/Philippines/Malaysia, one having a strikingly dark blackish patch on its sides, where as the other lack this.

The same goes for the ocellaris. There are 'tangerine' ocellaris variety, such as your nemo, which exhibit a brighter bold orange, where as your tank-raised variety may be more yellowish-orange. Having a pair of the 'tangerine' ones will, in all likelihood....lead to 'tangerine' ocellaris babies.

- Elmo
 
Thank you so much Elmo, i gotta say that what you said its really interesting and now i can finally relax because i thought they were never gonna pair up :) .
Now about their color, man the only thing i can say is that nemo makes me drool everytime it moves, she's such a gorgeous fish hehe :) , so prow there's nothing like my nemo lol just joking, i believe clowns are the most beautiful fishes :) .
 
spongebob lover said:
i also noticed that manchitas is more like yellowish color and nemo is more dark orange, would manchitas get darker as he gets older?
Click to expand...

I bought a second ocellaris clown (Rosalita) a couple months ago. When I brought it home from the LFS, it was a yellowish orange color. I think it has gotten quite a suntan, because it is now a dark orange like my other clown (Bozo the Clownfish). I think that Elmo is correct and it is either lighting, quality of food, or possibly a mix of both.

Jamie
 
NaH2O said:
He might be staying small because there isn't another clown with him. I'll see if Elmo18 can pop in on this thread. He knows alot about clownfish...
Click to expand...
:?: :?: :?: and do tank raised clowns take to anemone's quickly ..? like most wild ones...? cw. i have heard from LFS... most tank raised seem more often dont....? sorta like ... " whats a clown with-out a home... " :?:
 
Last edited:
cwrenge said:
:?: :?: :?: and do tank raised clowns take to anemone's quickly ..? like most wild ones...? cw. i have heard from LFS... most tank raised seem more often dont....? sorta like ... " whats a clown with-out a home... " :?:
Click to expand...

From what I have been told, tank raised oscellaris are not very likely to host in an anenome. I am still going to try though...
 
This might sound silly, however, it would be worth a shot. There was a local reefer at a club meeting that did this, and it worked. Take a picture of a big clownfish and put it on the tank....I can't remember, but I think it has to be on the other side of where the anemone is. His clowns went into the anemone after that - I want to say it took a few days, but it worked. Not much in the way of "linkable" information, but like I said, it would be worth a shot.
 
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