Tank Raised Clowns

[krisfl]

Does anyone know how to tell the diffrence between tank raised or wild clowns? Since I do not have an anemone at this time I want to make sure I have a tank raised one (that was suggested). I have a bio-cube 8 with LR. The LFS said tank raised are not as bright and do not have as much black on them as wild ones.

 

[poniegirl]

Well, I'm afraid some LFS are not very bright either!
No clown fish has to have an anemone to be a healthy fish. They do love anemone, and it is an amazing relationship to observe, but some clown fish never host one and some choose other things to host, like feather dusters!
I had an anemone for my tomato clown and she loved it, I gave the anemone away and now the clown loves the rocks she "owns and hosts". I think they just are very possession oriented fish!
Any clown that you buy will be fine without the anemone.
Have a look in the ClownFish and Anemone board...also the Nano Tank board.

 

[xdave]

"Not as bright and do not have as much black on them" the store that said this has a poor breeder source. BangGuy breeds Percs that are the most vividly colored I've seen.

 

[ice4ice]

Tank-raised Clowns are much hardier & easier to feed than wild caught Clowns. Colors have nothing to do with the difference.

 

[reefkprz]

colors are all a breeding thing. the only visible difference between tank raised and wild caught is..... none. as stated above no clown needs an anemone to survive, in fact tank raised are actually less likly to host in an anemone. my tank raised clown wont go near my anemone but hosts instead on a powerhead, or feather duster.
I agree with ponie in saying your LFS isn't too bright. thats definatly one of the dumber things I have heard when describing a tank raised clown. they are heartier, used to tank life, great eaters, and their colors are as good if not better than wild caught, due to good breeding programs. if his are poorly colored and dumb it sounds like his breeder is inbreeding the heck out of his clowns, and overall showing that idiots should not be allowed to breed (or breed anything)

 

[payton 350]

Originally Posted by KrisFL
Does anyone know how to tell the diffrence between tank raised or wild clowns? Since I do not have an anemone at this time I want to make sure I have a tank raised one (that was suggested). I have a bio-cube 8 with LR. The LFS said tank raised are not as bright and do not have as much black on them as wild ones.

Your LFS is not at all incorrect. There are differences in the two...Tankbred are more hardy, less likely to host an anemone, according to the "drs F & s " tank bred ocellaris often have non-symetrical stripes as compared to their wild counterparts".
You also need to take into consideration whether we are talking about true percs, or false percs, and ocellaris clowns...
As too finding out which are tank bred or wild , just ask them, or usually when you see 30 little clowns in a tank together it is more than likely they were tank raised.
As to hosting and anemones , there is never a guarantee it will host and they will host anything if they have that need to host. Tank bred or wild.

 

[viper_930]

Originally Posted by Payton 350
usually when you see 30 little clowns in a tank together it is more than likely they were tank raised.
I would disagree with this. How would you know they're tank raised or not based on the amount in the tank?
The store should know if their own clowns are captive bred. The wholesale prices for captive bred clowns is more than the cost for wild caughts of the same species. And plus the fish store's bill should say whether or not they're captive bred or not. Just ask them and they'll tell you, if they're honest about it. If they don't know then the clowns are wild caught.

 

[ice4ice]

false percs = ocellaris clown. Same fish.

 

[xdave]

Heres my scientific formula for telling them apart. If the tank is marked "tank bred" they are tank bred, if it isn't, they are either wild, or under priced.