How bad are maroon clownfish?

[Zoafreak]

i believe the biting is because clowns are freaken hidden geniuses and know that hands mean food so they attack your hands.

 

and yes that 6" clown had a nasty bite...

[LarryMoeCurly]

Everytime I see a pic of a maroon, it makes me want one really badly.

 

Let me put it this way, If I was at an LFS right now and they had a nice looking, healthy, small maroon clown, I would buy it.

 

Also, as I said earlier, I really like the Idea of one large fish instead of a few small fish in the tank.

Edited May 18, 2011 by LarryMoeCurly

[Zoafreak]

then go for it! You should have a tank that you like...

[LarryMoeCurly]

I want a tank that I like, but I also want it to be a suitable habitat for the inhabitants. I'm trying to be a responsible reef-keeper by getting all of the info before jumping in. With that being said, there really isn't anything thats been said here that has really deterred me. The main issue is tank size, followed by agression (which is actually a minor issue for me.)

Edited May 18, 2011 by LarryMoeCurly

[Builder Anthony]

MIne used to attack the magnet glass cleaner i have.I mean it would hit it so hard i thought it would hurt itself.So i would have to then scrape it realy realy fast so it couldnt cacth it and hurt itself.Its a real hardy fish though.The fanning i liked because it would stir up the sand bed.It was like cleaning out a nest if you ask me because mine awalys did it around its hang out spot.20 gallons a little small for two of them though because they grow about a 1/2 inch a year.They are real hardy fish.It will be the boss of the tank they really arent to scared of anything.But neon gobys are fine with it.Mine payed no attention to them.

[fewskillz]

Just to be clear:

 

Some say get a maroon and nothing else.

the safe bet if you're going to get a maroon

 

Some say get a maroon and some other fish.

Pobably fine if they're tough tank mates. I wouldn't go more than 3 fish total though. Anything tough enough to withstand a maroon is going to be at least a medium sized fish itself.

 

Some say get a pair of maroons.

A second maroon is another fish, and a tough one at that. You probably wouldn't get away with a 3rd fish in that small of tank with a pair of maroons though, and as the maroons get larger that becomes a pretty full tank quicker if there is a 3rd tankmate to consider.

 

Some say don't get any maroons.

To a complete noob this is my answer, but you're doing your research and know the downsides to maroons.

 

That help narrow down the answers?

[danthenewreefman]

i have a maroon and an ocellaris in a 75g.

 

maroons aren't bad if they have enough room...

 

and the presence of larger fish seems to reduce their attitude problem.

 

they probably would go death match on a similarly sized fish if it couldn't get out of its hosting area.

 

My girl probably claims a 15-20g section, so I don't think a 20 or 30g tank would be impossible but probably difficult. I'd say a 40g min personally after seeing them firsthand.

[ednangel]

Mine is very beautiful and aggressive alike, killed a very little maroon I tried to introduce and almost killed an acan colony. It would bite a corner of the acan turn it upside down and toss it around. Bites my arm every time I do some maintenance and chase my tools around.

[danthenewreefman]

Mine is very beautiful and aggressive alike, killed a very little maroon I tried to introduce and almost killed an acan colony. It would bite a corner of the acan turn it upside down and toss it around. Bites my arm every time I do some maintenance and chase my tools around.

 

i got one better --

 

I sat a frag rack full of frags a little too close to my maroons open brain ---

 

 

she broke all SPS branches off of the plugs and carried the frag rack to the top of my rock work in 40x current.

[LarryMoeCurly]

I really appreciate all of the help.

 

Fewskillz, your response is especially helpful.

 

I may go fish shopping sometime in the next couple weeks, I'll let you know how it goes.

[LarryMoeCurly]

I just read that the gold stripe variety usually doesn't grow as large as the normal white stripe variety. This would work out well because I like the gold stripes better anyway.

[fewskillz]

I just read that the gold stripe variety usually doesn't grow as large as the normal white stripe variety. This would work out well because I like the gold stripes better anyway.

I've noticed that. The only massive ones I've ever seen are white striped. My GSM is at least 4 years old now and she's not quite 4" long.

[LarryMoeCurly]

Ok, liveaquaria finally has gsm's in stock. I am thinking of ordering a small gsm and a sixline wrasse. With shipping that is like $70 or so. That is about what i would pay if I got the fish at my LFS which is an hour away, and they would have to special order them anyway.

 

I am thinking that, as some have said here, the three agressive fish (damsel, gsm, six-line) will sort of balance each other out. There a plenty of hiding places in the rocks, so hopefully that will mitigate any agression. I really have no idea how the damsel is going to react to another fish, she has been alone for 3+ years.

 

Thoughts??? Feel free to talk me out of it.

[LarryMoeCurly]

I realize I am basically re-asking my quesiton in the first post. I want to be reasonably sure that my damsel will get along with the new additions.

 

What say you?

[LarryMoeCurly]

also thinking of ordering a bulb anemone since I'm already paying $35 for shipping, anyone keep one under par38s succesfully?

[Fishmaster13]

Honestly, i think your basically gonna have to go with what your gut tells you to, because everyone has different experience with these fish. Personally, I've had one for eight years (he was my first fish). At the time I didn't realize how agressive they could be, and I almost had to get rid of him, but then he just toned down. I have no idea why. Hes in a 75 gal non reef with plenty of live rock and cover. Because of him I can only have 4 fish in that tank though, because otherwise he will pick out a fish and start bullying it (which always seems to be the angelfish, and I luv the angelfish ). He might be alright in a twenty but I'd recommend a different clown. NEVER put them in a reef tank he rearranges everything and will kill all of your corals. I started a reef tank just for him and then realized what would happen and let a mated pair of snowflake clowns host his anemone instead. They are a much better choice and get along with all the fish in that tank, including the delicate ones like mandarins. So ya. I kinda gave u mixed answers but I hope I helped

[jamescon85]

i was in the same boat as you, maroons are by far my favourite clown, i love the colour, the size and their fins are just a bit longer. I did loads of research and decided to go for it. I bought it fairly big, fairly 4 inches, i just have the one clown and no anemone as i read that clowns are more likely to be aggressive if they have an anemone to defend. He was the first fish i added and i have since added a green chromis, royal gramma, firefish and a mandarin. Not had any aggression from any of them. I have a 34g tank. Hes not attacked any corals or clean up crew. The one i had was also in the fish store for at least a month in a tank on its own so i was pretty worried about it been aggressive. I would say deffo go for it! i wouldnt add a damsel though, the first fish i had was a yellow tailed damsel and it literally attacked any fish i added to the tank. Good luck!

[Deleted User 8]

If you are really that into it we would not be having this discussion. I call BS!

 

Get the fish already.

 

Buzz

Oh, wait. OLD thread. It's early yet. Only one cup of coffee. It's all Fishmaster13 and jamescon85's fault.

 

Wonder if he ever got the fish?

[Esage]

I had one in a 75 and she did get get large and aggressive. The deal breaker for me was that she continuously fanned the sand bed to the point that large areas of the tank were down to the glass and piled on corals in other areas. Plus the water was always cloudy because of this.

Mine does the same thing. She will also attack any new coral I place by her part of the tank.

[reefernanoman]

Mine does the same thing. She will also attack any new coral I place by her part of the tank.

I also have a love/hate relationship with my huge female Maroon Clown since 2006, many moves and two states! She always tries to rearrange everything in my tank, blows my sand all around, bites me, killed my tuxedo sea urchin, almost killed my Royal Gramma (which I had to give away), throws any new frag around, but my wife loves her. I love and hate her at the same time. Very hardy fish indeed.

[Esage]

I also have a love/hate relationship with my huge female Maroon Clown since 2006, many moves and two states! She always tries to rearrange everything in my tank, blows my sand all around, bites me, killed my tuxedo sea urchin, almost killed my Royal Gramma (which I had to give away), throws any new frag around, but my wife loves her. I love and hate her at the same time. Very hardy fish indeed.

Mines also been through a bunch of moves. They defintily are a hardy fish. Every time I think about getting rid of her I can't bring myself to do it since she's been through so much.

[reefernanoman]

Mines also been through a bunch of moves. They defintily are a hardy fish. Every time I think about getting rid of her I can't bring myself to do it since she's been through so much.

The only time she has been close to death is when I wouldn't do a WC for a month and I could see her breathing fast! That was years ago, since now I do a 3G WC every week. There she goes again knocking over my candy cane colony!

[Braden8558]

Hello,

 

I have a 29 biocube with a maroon clownfish, six line wrasse, and a yellow watchman goby. I used to have 2 maroons but one mysteriously died and I never found it, could have been my condy anemone or the maroon. I will say that they are definitely aggressive. My female always tries to bite me when I put my hand in the tank. I will try to chase her away but she doesn't really care and will continue trying to get your hand out of the tank. This can be pretty annoying! I have recently decided to just net her every time I'm working in the tank. It's not a big deal because they are clowns and fairly easy to catch. My maroon and six line get along very well though. And my maroon doesn't seem to bother by watchman goby much either. I would say that you can put one in your 20 long if you are smart. Don't expect to keep it in there for the rest of its life though. Realize that it will grow bigger and will require a tank upgrade or a new home. Maybe you could do some tank mates with it. It is always a risk though with maroons. Some seem to be extremely aggressive while others are more passive. I would recommend putting an anenome in the tank though. While clownfish don't need anemones to survive. I find it very important. They live in them in the wild so I feel like not giving a clownfish an anemone is not very smart. Maybe a six line wrasse would work with the maroon in the 20 long. You could try a six line, a maroon, and a watchman goby or some type of damsel or dottyback. I would stray away from easy going passive fish like firefish that may get picked on or killed. You want something that can defend itself and is semi aggressive or aggressive. Mine hosts BTAs and my pink tipped condy anemone. I wouldn't recommend a pair in that size tank. Could it be done...probably. Is it worth the risk and problems...maybe not. Good luck with the setup!

 

I will say that they do limit your stocking quite a bit. I was contemplating getting rid of my maroon so I could widen my tank variety. I couldn't do it though. The personality and appearance of the fish is stunning, and I believe that they are very beautiful fish as well.

 

Braden

[reefernanoman]

The only way I was able to pair up my extremely aggressive female Maroon CF with ANY small male without her trying to kill him was with an anemone present in the tank, otherwise, it would have been impossible(at least in my case). I just wanted to mention my experience in this matter.

[JmeJ]

I have a growing Maroon Clownfish and it shares a tank with a blue/green chromis without issue. However........he really likes to rearrange my gorgonians (not glued down yet, finding a "happy" spot), meaning he literally grabs a branch of the gorgo in his mouth and moves it to opposite end of tank, and he will try to bury any sand coral near his "pad". cozies up behind the coral and shakes his ass until a sandstorm buries the coral.

He is still very young, 2 yrs at most and about 2'long and eats pellets and mysis, some flake food if he has the motivation to go the the water surface. His yellow is really starting to show in his stripes now too which is interesting cuz i have never had a fish from such a young age (1/2 yr old or so) grow in front of my eyes so its a rewarding fish for me. Active, eats well, has survived a plethora of "learning curves" from the hobby such as but not limited to, Temp. fluctuations. heater went awol and started cooking tank, tank move, tank transfers, tank too cold (forgot to plug heater back in, doh!), got a dottyback that attacked everything that moved, including his reflection in the glass! beat up my maroon pretty good, but he healed nicely and only has one damaged fin which seems to be healing up as well.

 

Overall, i say get one. One in a 20g should be okay, they tend to stay near a spot they call home most of time anyway.

 

Happy Maroon finding!