Dueling Perculas

[DevonM]

Hello All,

I am struggling with an issue at the moment and I wanted to get a few other perspectives on it. I have two clownfish, a true percula and a black and white false percula. The black and white false percula paired up (or at least hung out) with a true percula for the past for 6 months but the true percula passed away . So, now the two remaining clowns (one b&w false and a true) are fighting over 1 of 2 bubble tip anemones. I would like to get another black and white false percula and another true percula in hopes that each would pair up correspondingly and hopefully take an anemone each (right now they just go back and forth between anemones).

My questions are:

1) Do you think it's a good idea to try and get them paired up with their own kind?

2) Will true perculas pair up even if one is a misbar and the other is not?

3) Any general thoughts on the issue?

4) Was this a good place for this post?

[charlie]

Devon, I moved this post over to Lee's forum, since Lee is our resident fish expert. You are definitely more liable to get a good answer here.

[leebca]

Thanks for posting.

1) Generally a good idea if you want a pair that look alike.
2) Yes.
3) Hard to say. What size tank are we talking about? What else is in the tank? Anemonefishes are peculiar. They don't do what we want them to do, so nothing is for sure, no matter what your intentions are.
4) Now it is.

[DevonM]

Hello Lee,

My tank is roughly 280 gallons. I have the following fish in it:

True Percula (juvenile I think, 1.75")
Black & White False Percula (adult I think, 2.25")
Zebra Eel
Scooter Blenny
Red Flasher Wrasse
Six Line Wrasse
Neon Goby
Pajama Cardinalfish - 4
Green Chromis - 6
Blackcap Basslet
Lyretail Hawkfish
Scopas Tang
Powder Blue Tang

A couple inverts:

Bubble anemones (2) which have long tentacles right now oddly.
Sebae anemone
Various shrimp, crabs, corals, etc.

Everyone seems to be fine with each other, just the clowns have had issues lately. I do like the thought of having a pair or two pairs of clownfish. I think I like the thought of possibly having some babies down the line. But that might not be a likely scenario (baby clowns).

Thanks for your advice,

Devon

[Seige]

Nice tank.

[leebca]

Your tank looks very nice.

Multiple breeding pairs in the same tank is going to be difficult. The landscaping would have to change for sure. Most mated pairs will try to claim a very large space for themselves. However, the openness of your landscaping allows one fish to easily see the other from a distance, reminding them (constantly) there are invaders nearby.

If they fight over where they host, they won't get beyond their aggression towards each other for sure. As they get older and more acclimated to the space, they will become more assertive and then finally aggressive.

Even if you changed the landscaping there would be no guarantee that the mated pair, ready for spawning, won't go crazy on the other Anemonefishes and maybe a few of the others.

[DevonM]

Makes perfect sense! I read an earlier post regarding perculas that you commented on. My black and white percula is starting to look kind of rough around the edges but has begun to do the "quiver" in submission I think. If the two of them start to get along I won't push the mated pair aspect. I suppose in the long run it's better to get two clowns that have already paired up.

Are there any other anemonefishes that the clowns won't have an issue with?

I had an anemone crab at one time that lived in/under the Sebae anemone and the anemone was huge. The anemone crab died after awhile and the Sebae hasn't been the same since. It used to be 10" across and now it probably only gets 6" across. I just love it when the anemones are out soaking up the rays!

[leebca]

Anemonefishes = Clownfishes = Damsels. A specific kind of Damselfish that hosts in an anemone is called an Anemonefish or for slang, Clownfish.

So there are no Anemonefishes that a mated pair will likely get along with.

[DevonM]

Do you think trying to introduce another anemone crab would be a good idea for the Sebae, maybe keep it happier/healthier? I didn't think about it then but when the last anemone crab died it could have been caused by the clowns...

[leebca]

The choice of putting in a crab or not is strictly your own. A crab does not make a fish happy or sad by its absence. It also doesn't help keep a captive fish healthy.

[DevonM]

Thanks for your knowledge!