Three clownfish in one tank?

[louti]

So, I've always been under the impression that you could not have 3 clownfish in a tank because two would pair up and pick on the third one. However, I was recently told that you could do this with occellaris or percula clowns. I still don't see it working, but what do you guys think?

 

[blademaster]

i had 3 occellaris and they paired up and killed the other one

 

[jtt]

dont wanna be a negative nancy, but yeah, one will die. theres a 2% chance that it COULD be possible for a very short time if you had a big enough tank, but one will eventually be killed. Although in a little bit theres gonna be people who chime in that ARE in that 2% who kept 3 clowns for a short time successfully and brag about it, but they keep out the fact that after it was a success for a month, one mysteriously died.

 

[shrimpy brains]

So, my question is,: Is it worth the risk, so you can have 1 extra clownfish in your tank???

 

[louti]

Yeah, just to clarify, I wouldn't put three clowns together or recommend it. I kinda got in an argument over it and just wanted some other opinions. So far, looks like I was right.

 

[btldreef]

Originally Posted by JTT
http:///forum/post/3189354
dont wanna be a negative nancy, but yeah, one will die. theres a 2% chance that it COULD be possible for a very short time if you had a big enough tank, but one will eventually be killed. Although in a little bit theres gonna be people who chime in that ARE in that 2% who kept 3 clowns for a short time successfully and brag about it, but they keep out the fact that after it was a success for a month, one mysteriously died.
+1

 

[srfisher17]

Originally Posted by JTT
http:///forum/post/3189354
dont wanna be a negative nancy, but yeah, one will die. theres a 2% chance that it COULD be possible for a very short time if you had a big enough tank, but one will eventually be killed. Although in a little bit theres gonna be people who chime in that ARE in that 2% who kept 3 clowns for a short time successfully and brag about it, but they keep out the fact that after it was a success for a month, one mysteriously died.
Yeah, its amazing how many things work.......for a while. I once kept a huge Volitan lion with a YT damsel for a few months--it took that long for the lion to catch the little monster, who had found a safe nighttime niche to hide in. So its OK to keep V.Lions with damsels, isn't it? (In all seriousness, its fine with me; but I'm not a damsel fan.

 

[fretfreak13]

You could do four though, right? Just wondering. lol

 

[contraband629]

I tried the 3 clownfish thing for about 10 seconds. It started getting crazy in the tank. I've seen two pairs of clowns in a 400 gallon tank before. They were on opposite ends of the tank and each pair with their own anems. I think this only worked because the tank was so big.

 

[btldreef]

Originally Posted by Fretfreak13
http:///forum/post/3189655
You could do four though, right? Just wondering. lol
I've seen 4 work okay in a tank that was 125 gallons or so. I guess if they have enough room?

I don't know if I'd ever risk it though.

 

[rlablan]

There is a tank being baby sat at my LFS and it's been there for like 3 or 4 weeks now.
I got to looking at this fish and it was all very mature fish that have been together for about 8 years now (I was told).
The tank mates were 1 blue tang, 1 foxface rabbitfish, 3 true percula clowns, and 1 sixlie wrasse.
I dunno how they did it, but I watched them swimming and it was like they were all schooling and very happy together.
I wouldn't recommend this, but it seemed to be working. all fish looked healthy, and very mature. Not even any nips in the tail or anything...
I wonder if it has to do if they are all related, like from the same clutch or something?

 

[tank a holic]

were all 3 clowns the same size or was 1 larger and the obvious female?
and were any of them big enough to be 8 years old?

 

[halamaya]

Amazing how many things in this hobby is; yeah its possibe but not likely to work. My problem is everything looks good should be working but one coral is mysteriously dieing.

I have an ocellaris and a B/W clown and they would not know what to do with anothe rclown in there. She already doesn't really like him

.

 

[rlablan]

My mom has a pair of clowns. 1 is B/w and the other is a

[hr]
clown. They seem to like each other now, but I warned her that it make not work that way forever...
Hopefully it will be okay.
You always hear these stories, it's always like "well, a friend, of a friend, of a friend, had..."
It's like saltwater wives tales... you wonder if this stuff could be possible when the masses say "no".

 

[rlablan]

Yes, all of the fish looked quite old. Every single one of them. Each of these percs was 3+ inches and I didn't see that 1 was noticeably bigger. They all had that "mature" looking orange that the older percs get... kind of paler looking... and the black on them fades a little... I dunno if that makes sense but every older,mature clown I've seen has looked like this.
I guess the owner had them all in a FO tank forever and is upgrading and doing some build so they are living at the LFS until after the new year.
Maybe next time I am in, I will try to get a pic of the clowns together.

 

[louti]

Thanks for all the responses. I guess in this hobby, there are almost always exceptions to the rules. But, I think the only responsible thing is to follow the rules and not attempt things that will likely not end well for the fish. I mean, for every guy out there that got away with 3 clowns, there are many guys who killed a clownfish attempting it unsuccessfully.

 

[rlablan]

Originally Posted by louti
http:///forum/post/3190000
Thanks for all the responses. I guess in this hobby, there are almost always exceptions to the rules. But, I think the only responsible thing is to follow the rules and not attempt things that will likely not end well for the fish. I mean, for every guy out there that got away with 3 clowns, there are many guys who killed a clownfish attempting it unsuccessfully.
+1000 This is what I say too. I think that it is sad when people know the "rules of thumb" and ask for opinions and people say no and then they do it anyway. It's good to experiment but not with a little fishies life.

 

[srfisher17]

Originally Posted by rlablan
http:///forum/post/3190002
+1000 This is what I say too. I think that it is sad when people know the "rules of thumb" and ask for opinions and people say no and then they do it anyway. It's good to experiment but not with a little fishies life.
Yeah; and most of those questions start out "has anyone ever...". Of course some. somewhere has (usually with limited success) and the person asking will have just the answer, and justification they're looking for

 

[rlablan]

you hit it right on the head.
I love when people ask "can I do this?"
and everyone says "NO WAY!" and then that one guy says "Well.... I saw, 1 time..." and then that person is like thanks...
I just think to myself... Why ask if you were gonna do it anyway... lol Just do it, and don't bother everyone, and then get mad when you don't get the answer you want. haha People are silly sometimes.