mating a pair of small clowns in a 10ga

zanemoseley

zanemoseley

Active Member
ok here's the deal I've got a 10gallon tank that now houses a piranah and I'm gonna give him away and turn the 10gal into a quarantine tank but I'm not getting my 75 till christmas so can I buy a pair of very small true perc. clowns now and mate them to get them ready for the 75gal. I'm guessing that they will be fine with the size since the LFS has a mated pair for $125 in a 5-6 gallon holding tank for the last few months, do I just buy the two smallest percs I can find and put them in together at once? Also I've got a penguin 170 running on the tank which has a biowheel, can I just keep that one or do I have to buy a new one? The tanks also got 20watt NO and a good 50w heater
 
F

fishkid1000

Guest
The chances of any clownfish breeding in a 10 gallon tank is slim to none. The smallest tank i have heard of them mating in is a 55 gallon.
 
zanemoseley

zanemoseley

Active Member

Originally posted by fishkid1000
The chances of any clownfish breeding in a 10 gallon tank is slim to none. The smallest tank i have heard of them mating in is a 55 gallon.
no I'm just looking for them to pair up in the 10gal, they will be put in the 75 gal, I'm not looking for them to actually breed, the pair that are in the 5 gal tank at the LFS are about 1 1/2" apiece which is about twice the size I wanna start out with and they seem reasonably happy so I figure two 3/4" or so clowns should be ok in a 10, what do you guys think
 
overanalyzer

overanalyzer

Active Member
Yeah that would be fine - I have a pair in a 20 tall and they have been in their since January and still have not paired up. You can do a lot of things to make them comfortable without spending a lot of money.
key would be a lid or top - since they will chase and you don't want them carpet surfing.
I would also say that I have seen them breeding in a store 10 gallon tank and had them spawn in a 5 gallon tank .... but hte smaller hte tank the better your filtration has to be if they breed.
 
javatech

javatech

Member
mine lay eegs every three weeks in my 29gal tank one of these days illl pull them out and raise them
 
zanemoseley

zanemoseley

Active Member
so I should get the smallest percs. I can find for a better chance of them pairing? My 10gal has a lighthood already. I was shocked to see the pair at the LFS is $125, that seems about $50 high to me. Should I just go with PVC segments and no sand/rock since its also a quarantine tank?
 
overanalyzer

overanalyzer

Active Member
Zane,
Yes - go with PVC segments - also you can make fake anemone's for it out of plastic zip ties bundled togehter @ one end.
Smallest - yes - gives you the best chance of producing a mated pair.
cost: got mine from SWF.com - nice sized - a little larger than expected but still a heck of a lot cheaper than 125. Could be they are known spawners from the wild - which leads me to my next suggestion - tank raised clowns over wild caught - pay the extra money for them!!
 
overanalyzer

overanalyzer

Active Member
personally I'd buy a fresh one but a lot of people just run without it .... just be sure to clean it regularly
 
overanalyzer

overanalyzer

Active Member
well if the smaller one looks consistenly hen-pecked, harrassed, over worked and under appreciated then they have paired off. If the smaller one looks like he gets out once in a while, has some freedom but really wants the larger one to pay him more attention then they are in the "just friends" state.
HTH :D :eek: :D :D :D
 
zanemoseley

zanemoseley

Active Member
should I get a powerhead to suppliment the 170GPH return of the penguin filter? if so how large a maxijet should I get
 
zanemoseley

zanemoseley

Active Member
also would it be ok to have 40 scarlet hermits and the 2 clownfish in the 10 tanks and just feed the hermits algae sheets, I was thinking about doing that because I want free shipping and the hermits are the only thing I can think about getting for my 75 that I'd need, I may just have to crack and get the fish from the LFS, also there's only gonna be a painted bottom and PVC pieces
 
zanemoseley

zanemoseley

Active Member
so could I get the hermits and put them in the tank with the clowns for about 4 months so I could get free shipping
 
overanalyzer

overanalyzer

Active Member
i wouldn't do it because they would not have anything natural to hide on .... or pick food off of ..... I would see about doing a group order with people in your area
 
overanalyzer

overanalyzer

Active Member
how many GPH is your biowheel?? If you have no LR and no LS and just a couple of clowns I would think not .... as longas there are no dead areas -
 
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