Comments on perc behavior...

[swordfish]

I have hqad my two new tank-raised true percs in my 7 bow for about a week now. Their behavior is much different from the blue devil damsel they replaced. Despite what I was told about them being parkers who rarely leave their chosen hosted item, these guys seem to be swimming around a lot. At times they do chill by the Rio 50 I have in there, but a lot of the time they are on the go. They also have not found or adopted for themselves any particular nook or cranny to hide out in and have a more secure feeling if they wished, they stay out in the open a lot.

 

My damsel was sort of subtle about hanging by the access hole in the front of the tank if he was hungy, but the clowns beg like dogs when they're hungry. That's okay though, at least I know right when to feed them and when they're going to eat best. They are also known to run into each other, not for lack of space, but just for lack of having looked out. They have little aversion to swimming through and even occasionally directly against the current of the 50 power head. The damsel used to stay pretty well out of the way of the direct current coming from it. The clowns treat it like their own personal surfing machine. They also show little or no fear of the net when I use it to sift the sand during cleaning, they seem remarkably nonchalant about it.

 

Some people have told me the 7 bow is a tad too small for clowns just from a fish-inches-per-gallon perspective, but if you have, say, a blenny and a clown-or a blenny and a wrasse in a 7 tank, how is that any different? These guys are about the same size as the damsel so I see no problem with having two in there. Others have certainly doen just fine with that kind of space and bio load with two fish. Water parameters are still quite acceptable. None the less, they *are* two fish in a 7 gallon tank, so I am planning to have a ten gallon reef set up which they can take up residence in in the coming months as I both get the money together and they undoubtedly grow a tad. They're right about at 1.75 inches now. Tank raised, FWIW, and I decided to get a couple long before I saw, you know, *that* movie. I insisted on a pair because I think they're happier that way. These are fish that, in the wild, will mate and stake out an anenome with just one other clown, and they do not always take well to having a third clown in the tank if they are captive. They were so meant to pair up that one of them, if need be, will change sex after they're paired just so they can mate. Much like lovebirds, some fish are just meant to have partners. I was not going to deny a clown that.

 

Later...