Calling all clownfish experts!

[Reefcowboy]

I have only kept one clownfish in my tanks, and have in my current tank a true perc clown. I found a nice black clown i wanted to add, but do not know the procedures to add it in order to avoid a "UFC" event in the tank.
My tank is an 80 gal, and i only have the clown and a chromis. The guy at my LFS recommended placing the new one in a breeder net " cage" letting them get used to each other before releasing it to the tank. The black one is smaller than the percula.
Thank for the input!

 

[tomtoothdoc]

i don't think you'll have a problem in that size tank, especially if the new clown is smaller. breeder net is not a bad idea but imo, unnecessary. however, i would recommend qt'ing the new fish.

 

[Reefcowboy]

i don't think you'll have a problem in that size tank, especially if the new clown is smaller. breeder net is not a bad idea but imo, unnecessary. however, i would recommend qt'ing the new fish.

Cool, how long should i keep the new one in the breeder for?

 

[jedimaster1138]

i don't think you'll have a problem in that size tank, especially if the new clown is smaller. breeder net is not a bad idea but imo, unnecessary. however, i would recommend qt'ing the new fish.

Agree with all this.

I had a pair of ocellaris for a year and change, they weren't spawning, but they were definitely "together". One was lost in February of this year. I added a smaller snowflake in April (thanks Pop Corals) and they were swimming together in about 15 seconds then best friends 15 minutes later. Now they are never apart.

Smaller is key. The idea is to not add a second which is the same size (or bigger) which could, in theory, be sexually mature...IE a female. Two breeding age/size females means MORTAL COMBAT.

I have no experience mixing ocellaris and perculas, but I know people do it a million times a day.

TLDR - you probably have nothing to worry about assuming the new guy is smaller than the existing one. Enjoy!

 

[Reefcowboy]

Thank you for the help guys!