Right now I have 1 tank raised clownfish in my 12g DX. Hes been in there about 2-3 months. I was looking to get another clownfish but kinda of wanted to get a black one. Is there anything I need to be worried about or watch out for when doing this or should I not do it at all? I asked my LFS if I could add another TR and he said it would be fine. Just wondering about the black.....

your clownfish is probabley a female(from being alone for so long) so get a small B&W when your picking also you should be fine with stcking though i think this will be you last addition to the tank.

I disagree with fishie. It is possible that your fish is a female, but I would say it's unlikely. Can you tell us the size of the clown currently and maybe even share a picture? Provided it isn't a female, I would get a fish of similar size. If it has sexually matured to a female state, you will not be able to add a fish.

So if you've got a single clown who's already a female, you can't add a smaller clown to become the male?

You can still add one, but a mature female is going to be pretty rough on a new tank mate. If she's a tank raised fish you've got a better chance than with a wild caught. Just monitor the new addition very closely for a few days and be prepared to separate the two and possibly return the new guy.

I just added a clown to one that had been in my tank for over a month. They immediately began swimming together and doing a funky little clown dance as soon as it was free swimming in the tank. The one I added was marginally bigger than the prior. It's been 3 days since the addition and no problems at all. They seem to like each other.


I would doubt that your fish that's been there is a sexually mature female, especially after only 2-3 months. It would depend on how big it was beforehand. But if it was a juvenile when you bought it, you're most likely going to be fine. To avoid fighting I'd add a b&w that is either larger or smaller, not sure it matters which.

There are some very knowledgable people on clownfish in this forum.

I agree with warehouse, it dosent matter bigger or smaller. I was just suggesting smaller because there are very few large clowns only little tiny ones.

This is what I was referring to. A mature female can be extremely aggressive and the extent to which she handles the newbie is difficult to predict.

It does too matter if you're adding in a larger clown than the one you already have. The size isn't what's important but the size is a good indicator as to the fish's sex, the sex is what's important.

If the existing clown has already turned female and you add in a larger fish (which has likely turned female) then they will never get along and the larger female is going to kill the smaller one.

Please don't make blanket statements without at least explaining what you mean. In the case of the OP with the clown only being solitary for a month or two your statement is probably ok, but taken out of context of this thread it could be very misleading! DON'T CONFUSE THE NOOBS!!!

Not fussing, just a heads up!

^^^ right ^^^

I would also confirm what species of clownfish you have now. If I remember correctly the black clowns are all A. Ocellaris. To minimize the chances of aggression you will want to add another of the same species.

As long as it's a A. Percula or A. Ocellaris they'll be fine. Sure, it'd be nicer to have two of the same species, but true percs and false percs get mixed all the time with no ill-effects. It's when you start crossing genus that things get hairy!