can you have 2 clowns

[jan]

i have a 70 gallon tank, currently i have 5 fish - a yellow tang, hippo tang, coral hog, and a clown ( think she is a pericula - she is redish orange with yellow stripes) and i just got a new one today, but i dont remember the name (she is light brown with large white spots all over) Anyway, I wanted to get an additional clown because I have 2 anemones, but the LFS said that 2 clowns will kill each other - is that true??? I have never heard that before

[Doug1]

Well that may be true, tho it needs qualifying. Clowns are males at birth and change sex later, if you have more than one the larger one will usually turn female, and may or may not accept a smaller male. Courtship is often rude and violent, if she doesn't like him he may not survive.
Mixing species is risky tho in a 70 you might get away with it, but it sounds like you are at the limit for fish. SW doesnt have the ability to support fish load like Fresh water does. The chemistry involved in waste processing can be more toxic the FW, water changes to dilute toxins are more costly, and then there is the territoriality issue that can be a major stressor

[jan]

Thank you for letting me know - i will definately stop adding fish to the tank. they all get along great, although the blue and yellow tang have tail fights - its funny. I am going to start building a reef as soon as i get sufficiant lighting to have more then my 2 anemones

[Phantom Phish]

What kind of lighting do you currently have? As you may already know, anemones actually need pretty intense lighting, similar to what corals need.

[salt creepette]

if your clown is reddish brown (not orange) with yellow stripes, you have a gold stripe maroon clown. if this is the case, do not add any more clownfish as maroons are the most aggressive of the clownfish.

If you want a mated pair of gold band maroons, if your current fish is big enough (at least three inches), you could get the smallest gold band you can find (around an inch and a half) and be sure there are LOTS of hiding places so he can get away if she (larger clowns are usually female by default) is aggressive towards him/it (small clowns are juveniles that will turn male in the presence of a larger female clown).

with clownfish of different species, they may kill each other. with clowns of the same species, one will establish dominance (maroons sometimes with death; perculas and ocellaris, usually not so). the dominant one is either already female or will become the female.

I hope this helps you to at least identify your current clownfish

[Imaexpat2]

With yellow stripe maroons I have had my best luck putting them together when very small. They still beat the living crap outta each other before they figured out who was where on the food chain. As bad as the 1 1/4 inchers were I wouldnt even attempt this with larger ones. Just a thought.....