Australian Black Onyx Clowns

blitz99

blitz99

Member
the LFS i go to has a great deal on onyx clowns... 70 bucks buy one get one free... so thats 35 bucks per true onyx perc.... i have a false right now... is it worth it to send him back and get two of these guys? i mean, are they just the same in all other ways except for coloration?
 
thegrog

thegrog

Active Member
That is one hell of a deal!!!
I would definately get two of them at that price.
Yes, they are basically the same species just with different coloration. A "normal" perc will get along just fine with an onyx perc. But if you have 2 of them, and they breed, you are more likely to have onyx offspring. From my experience, it is the males coloration that is a bigger factor in the coloration of the offspring so if your perc now is the female, getting a male will likely produce onyx offspring.
 
blitz99

blitz99

Member
these are the true australian onyx clowns.... the one i have at home is a false perc... so i'm going to end up sending my fake nemo back to the store for credit and getting these 2 new guys...
 
viper_930

viper_930

Active Member
I haven't heard of black onyx percs coming from Australia. They might be black/white ocellaris. If they have orange on their fins, they are black onyx. If not, they are black/white ocellaris. Either way, it is a good deal at $35 per clown.
 
blitz99

blitz99

Member
they are true onyx.... i wish i could post a picture of them but seeing how they are at the store....
they are still pretty orange but are darkening up... a few are black from the 2nd to 3rd bar but still have a lot of orange on the fins.
 
blitz99

blitz99

Member
but back to my question... is it "worth it"??? like, are they more special than having some false percs?
 
viper_930

viper_930

Active Member
That is a very good deal, black onyx usually retail at $200 per pair. If given your opportunity, I'd grab a pair.
But more special? That would be up to you.
 
blitz99

blitz99

Member
dang, thats what i've heard... actually, around me the store that has them has had some phone calls from other stores trying to find who they got them from because of the price difference... of course, the store wont give up their info....
now, my quandry.... 2 clowns or a piece of coral this week.... it is my b-day so maybe i will splurge and get both??? we shall see.
what if a 70 dollar fish dies??? dang, i'd be bent.
 
nyyankeees

nyyankeees

Member
There's a site online that sells these and their false tank bred ones come from Austraila and their true ones come from Papua New Guinea. Both have orange on them then turn black according to their pics/ descriptions. I'd be 100% sure they are the true ones before you buy, I'd hate to see you get taken. If you want the site link post your e-mail.
 
kaotik

kaotik

Member
"The True Percula Clownfish is very similar to the Ocellaris Clownfish or False Percula Clownfish, A. ocellaris. The difference is in the number of dorsal spines (11 for A. ocellaris, and 10 or 9 for A. percula), the anterior part of the dorsal fins is taller in A. ocellaris, and A. ocellaris never have a thick black margin around the three white bars."
 
blitz99

blitz99

Member
here is a statement i found on a local reefer site... it's in regards to the origins of these fish i'm talkin about... he says australia is actually where teh true black percs come from... truth?
"I know of one place where you can get them and that's Darwin Australia. That's where the true black percula comes from. And they are black with white strips. And instead of the rounded snout they have more of a pointed snout. They changed my computer at work which lost my favorite list. So now I'm on the hunt once more."
 
blitz99

blitz99

Member
ok, now i may be confused if they are true black percs or true black onyx percs... i will find out thursday wheni treat myself to buying stuff...
 
riccio

riccio

Member
If you can get the percula with black filling in from the first to third bar that's a good deal, anything is just an overpriced percula. There are CB onyx available local to me for $70 each though.
The Australian Darwin clowns are a black variant ocellaris, as already mentioned. They are NOT A. percula. When small, these will be a brown color with a yellow/orange nose. They mature into fully black clowns with no yellow/orange at all.
059 is a Darwin black ocellaris usually mislabeled as a black percula (along with the black variant polymnus)...http://wish.wodonga.tafe.edu.au/~kwaldon/oce.htm
056/098 are the closest on this site to what's considered an "onyx" black percula..http://wish.wodonga.tafe.edu.au/~kwaldon/perc.htm
 
blitz99

blitz99

Member
RICCIO, according the the description of being brown while young and having yellow/orange lips... these guys i may get are not like that... they are orange and are starting to darken with black... but by no means are they remotely brown...
i'm calling the shop at noon to find out EXACTLY what they are....
 
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