True percula lost his mate of 3 years tonight.

[lesleybird]

Hi, I was thinking of buying three more true percula clowns and putting them in my 190 gallon tank and letting them pair up themselves. Should this work if I get three more of different sizes to stick with the male who lost his wife tonight? I was looking at my tank with a flashlight at midnight in the dark and was shocked to see her laying on the bottom after having her so long. Water quality is fine, no growths or signs of disease. Think she may have died of old age as she was like 4 inches or so which is big for one of these. So should I just get one more for the lone male? Or three more? It would really be difficult to find a fish larger than him to be the female, so think that he will have to go with some smaller ones and change into a female. Would two pairs fight in a 190 gallon, 6 foot tank? Thanks, Lesley

 

[lesleybird]

I guess nobody knew the answer here......well, I was going to the store to get three but they only had one true percula clown that suited me. It was only half of the size of the male that I have at home. When I first put the little guy in the tank my much larger male went over and started chasing and nipping at it. I thought oh sh_ _ a mistake. Well after a couple of times of this behavior the little one started following the agressor around the tank and then they kind of made friends. My older clown was still swimming back and forth like he was looking for his old wife as he probably did not know where she was as she died in the night last night after dark. Happy to say that after a few hours the new and the old fish were swimming together side by side near the overflow. Don't think I will get another two as it may confuse matters for the pair. Lesley

 

[bigarn]

Sorry to hear about your loss but 2 things I'd like to point out .... I've never seen or heard of a Perc 4+ inches long and it wasn't old age that killed it, they can live 25 years or more in a healthy environment.

 

[lesleybird]

Originally Posted by bigarn
Sorry to hear about your loss but 2 things I'd like to point out .... I've never seen or heard of a Perc 4+ inches long and it wasn't old age that killed it, they can live 25 years or more in a healthy environment.

How do you know that it was not 20 years old when I got it? Yes, it was about 4 inches.

 

[bigarn]

I hope you don't think I was being rude because I didn't mean to be.

I'll take you at your word and stand corrected.