[Funboy]

Hiya all.

Up until this morning I had 2 percula clowns in my tank. A larger one and a medium size one.

This morning I introduced another percula clown from my quarntine tank into my main tank. I was obviously worried about how the other 2 clowns would react to this new smaller clown.

It's only been a few hours now, but the larger clown fish won't stop chasing the newer smaller one. Sometimes he stops when he backs the smaller one into corner near the top. And then the little one doesn't come out.

Did I make a mistake introducing a 3rd clown into the mix? Is there a better way of introducing fishes? Can I do anything to make life easier for the new little guy?

Any help is much appreciated.

 

[thefatman]

3 clowns is too many. you should not have more than one clown per tank, unless they are a mated pair. and with a mated pair, you shouldnt add a third.

naturally there are always exceptions to every rule, but it doesnt sound like yours are making the exception. i'dreturn the new one before it gets too stressed to survive.

 

[Buzz_Hog]

agreed....

The larger clown is the female if they are a pair.... If they are always close together, you could say they are a pair...

 

[Guest]

actually if you add more than 1 do it at the same time, if i remeber correctly if you buy 2 at one time and 1 is bigger than the other one will become a male......correct me if i am wrong, but none the less they all shoulda benn added at the same time.

 

[Buzz_Hog]

yeah.... if you get em young and introduce them together, chances are good one will turn to female and they will pair...

 

[grazzit]

I've read that reorganizing your tank when introducing territorial fish will help in the acceptance of the new fish. Basicly you reshuffle the deck and deal out new hands as compared to the new fish trying to take space that is already someone else's. This definitely won't assure that they will get along and I would honestly remove the other 2 clowns when you do this and reintroduce them all at the same time. Like I said this i no guarantee but it'll help

 

[Buzz_Hog]

Clowns just don't get along....

Only keep 1 pair and only one species in a tank...

 

[Buddha]

The only way to make integration as smooth as possible is to do this:

1) Place all fish out of tank and into another tank.
2) Rearrange all of your rockwork. (BAH)
3) Turn off lights.
4) Place all fish back into tank.
5) Leave lights off for 24 hours.

As you can see this is not something possible for a reef tank. I think you found to many nemo's. Do yourself a favor and trade him back in for a nice coral.

 

[MontanaRocknReefer]

Not a good idea introducing another clown! Ditto on what has been said so far!

 

[Yoshi-22]

i was lucky enough to have a cinnamon clown, maroon, 2 percs, they are fine, but that was me, i didnt add the second perc till after i had all the fish, ya there are little fighting, but they get by, but after you have 2 percs have fun. If you are going to get another clown, id suggest a maroon, but get it in a big size, look around until u find that special maroon, and it is a BIG size. thats my $.02

Brandon