Mixing Clowns?

[Chad and Jen May]

I have a mated pair of Tomato clowns in my 180g DT and I have 2 juvenile Ocellaris Clowns that have outgrown my Biocube8. Ive been researching the web on housing different clowns in one tank and what Ive read is that they need plenty of tank room as to occupy their own space. Is a 180 big enough to house 2 pair? Ive pretty much decided that its a no-go on having both pair in my tank, but just want someone to verify thats its not possible... I hate to give up my baby O's, Ive had them since they were tiny. I guess Im hoping there is some way to safely introduce them into the 180 without totally irking the Tomatoes.

I have two RBTA's in the 180 and the Tomatoes have each claimed one. I have one small RBTA in the Bio8 that one Oclown hosts and would move that over to the opposite side of 180.

The Tomato clowns are large, the male is 3" and the female is 4". The two O's are about 2" long each.

If its not possible, I will have to sell them OR get a larger Nano

[Juiceman]

I did not succeed but that was in a 90. I would think you should be fine in a 180 though. I'm about to get a 200 and i'm going to put another pair in.

[teg]

It depends on the aggressiveness of the pair towards other clown fish. I have a mated pair of Os. Clown with 1 Gold stripe. The female of the Os. pair is larger than the gold stripe. There are times when the Os. pair lives 6" away from the GS clown. I had a 220 before and a 120 now, from what I have seen, in the 220 they were living further apart but had more fights, now in the 120 they lived closer but no fights. Os. clown is known to be nonaggressive and in my case she was also the largest clown in the tank, while the GS is more aggressive but smaller. If it was the other away around where the GS clown is larger and the Os. pair is smaller, the story might be different. I have 6 clowns, 5 Os. and 1 GS, all living in a 120 peacefully. So it is not impossible to have different species living in same tank. I think the most important thing to look at is the size of the two species and their aggressiveness. Tomato clowns is known for their aggressiveness, so it might not work mixing them with Os. clowns.

PS, when I added the 3 Os. clown offspring of the mated Os. pair into the same tank when they were still Juvi. I did see the large female Os. grab one of her offspring and drag it across the tank to her carpet anemone, I had to tap on her so she would release the juvi. offspring. When the offsprings got bigger this was no longer a problem and now one of them even joined his/her parents sometimes in the carpet anemone. So size matters!!!

Edited November 8, 2011 by teg

[Aaarrrggg]

I wouldn't risk it personally, tomatoes are notorious meanies.

[Woods]

I think putting Osc and Percs together are easier than other kinds of clowns. And size definitely matters. I will some day add a Gold Stripe Maroon to my tank of Osc and Percs, but it will be the smallest of all my clowns and the last one to be added. From what I have researched, Tomatoes are more aggressive and less tolerant so I would say it is much riskier, especially if they are paired up and not just an individual.

[mhart032]

aaarrrg is rite, tomato clowns are very mean fish so are maroon may they be "gold or white striped". they bully smaller fish. but in a 180g if you keep them on each side i wouldnt see and issue. clowns dont go to far from there hosting spot. unless they are underfed. ive seen smaller under 90g tanks have tomatos and OCs the tomato wasnt paired with anything though. im not to sure if that matters.

[Chad and Jen May]

Ive def noticed a bit more aggression from the male Tomato since my pair started spawning. He kicks my Foxface's booty if he comes too close to his anemone......and the foxface has about 3" on the tomato. Comical to watch the foxface dart and "tuck his tail" when hes getting charged...

I guess Im going to either trade the O's in at RCA or sell them here. Haven't decided yet but will soon.

[Timfish]

I think you're better off trading them in. Different species can be housed together but it is very definitely a chancy proposition as the fish mature and start breeding. But for someone who is willing to commit to setting up a tank specifically for clowns here's what one person I met a few years ago did to set up a 55 gal. with 5 different species: each species got thier own anemonie, dividers were used to keep the fish physically separated (for months) until they were very well established, when the dividers were removed he watched the fish very closely for several weeks and a couple of times had to reinsert the dividers. I would point out it took almost a year for this process so it's not a straight forward process and there wasn't much else in the tank.

[FragsandMore]

Tomatoes are mean, for sure. I have a pair of pink skunks, a single black occellaris, and one clarkii in a 210 gallon tank with no problem, but these three species are nowhere near as belligerent as a tomato! I would either keep the tomatoes alone, or try with another pair of tomatoes to help the combativeness in the tank.