2 clowns in a ten gallon?

[spoondigity]

I have done some searches on this site and read several posts concerning what can be placed in a 10 gallon FOWLR aquarium with a protein skimmer. From what I have read, it is possible to have 2 clowns in a ten but most of the information was incidental to posts of different subjects. I would like to get a better idea from as many people as possible. Is it safe to keep 2 ocellaris tank raised clowns in a ten gallon with a skimmer? The two people I spoke to at the fish store thought so and they seem to be honest but I just don't know. They even went so far as to say it would be better to have 2 because they have been raised in a school all of their lives, and that they will be more secure with one other of their kind that they were raised with. What do you guys/girls think?

[yrureefing]

Yes it is ok to have two clowns in 10g.

[NaNO ReeFiN]

I second that, two clowns in a 10 would be okay.

[spoondigity]

Thanks for the replies. I had the gut feeling from what I read that it would be ok with reasonable care of the tank, but I just wanted to have a few more opinions.

 

You guys rock!

[BustytheSnowMaam]

I have 2 ocellaris in my 10 with no skimmer (I'm anti-skimmer for a nano) and they do just fine. Get two juveniles, they will peck at each other at first until they decide who is the female alpha clown- but do get a pair because it is fun to watch them interact.

 

Tasha

[spoondigity]

Tashayar, what are you feeding yours? I just got some and they are about an inch long each or slightly less. They seemed to go for live brine shrimp when the brine are small enough but I don't want to have to keep live brine shrimp continually. The LFS I bought them from said frozen mysid, frozen brine shrimp and other meaty mixes work and they sold me some. Now neither fish seems to go for the frozen stuff and I am slightly concerned. They will mouth it, spit it back out like they want to make it smaller, but then just turn around and ignore it. I read somewhere that some clowns are herbivores. Should I be offereing something else? Maybe some pellets from Hikary (spelling)?

 

Thanks,

 

Andy

[MKramer]

Clowns are most definitely not herbivores. They are omnivores, and while some plant matter is good for them, their primary food source should be meaty.

 

The best frozen food in my opinion is Formula One. It's got shrimp, clam, krill, and other high-nutrition protien sources, plus several forms of seaweed, including spirulina, if I remember correctly. Spirulina is especially good for improving coloration. The food is also in pretty small pieces if you break it apart in a glass before adding it to the tank.

 

My clowns love it. Now that I've made it the regular frozen food, they only get half-excited when I put in mysis shrimp or bloodwords instead.

 

However, it's not unheard of for clowns to be picky and reject frozen food. You can either continue to use just the frozen food, until they're so hungry it's eat-or-die. And hopefully they'll eat. Or you can try alternating between it and a food they will like. Like live shrimp. Or possibly even flake, as flake is very soft and easy to eat, if that's what their problem with frozen food is.

 

My clowns will gladly eat just about anything, right out of my hands. Hopefully someday yours will be as not-picky as mine.

[BustytheSnowMaam]

Andy,

 

First, in my experience, it is normal for them to spit food out when you first get them. If they are eating the brine, that's good, but give it time.

 

The second thing I've noticed is that if the frozen food is old (has been in the freezer awhile), my clowns reject it. They will eat the same stuff if it is freshly frozen. Maybe the stuff they sold you is old, or was thawed out and refrozen. I don't have an LFS close by, so I buy frozen raw table shrimp, saltwater fish, etc. at the grocery store and grate it up little by little (a pinch twice a week) with a fine cheese grater.

 

I also feed mine Ocean Nutrition Brine Shrimp Plus Flake, and spirulina flakes. I got the Ocean Nutrition food from Premium Aquatics (www.premiumaquatics.com) because they said it's what they feed their clowns. Formula One, as Matt suggests, is supposed to be good stuff too.

 

When I feed the flake food, rather than dropping it on top, I take a tiny pinch in my fingers and release it down into the water. The clowns find it much easier to eat this way, and it gives my hermits some fallout to munch on.

 

I feed mine every other day, but on the day I feed, I feed twice that day. The reason for this is that clowns are plankton feeders who need to eat small amounts frequently.

 

Hope this helps. Post a pic of your new little guys if you can.

Tasha

[spoondigity]

Ok, thanks for the feedback everyone. I will check what they sold me, it may be Formula 1, but if not I will get some. They swim right up to my fingers and grab the food as I let it go so they don't seem too bashful about hand feeding, it is just the follow through they have trouble with. My cleaner shrimp goes balistic as soon as he sees my finger tips enter the water. He goes into acrobatics of swimming upside down around the surface of the tank until he lands on my fingers. Then he proceeds to pluck any tiny bits of food out that I have pinched. If I can borrow my friends digital camera at some point I will post some pics. I also soak my frozen food in ZOE vitamins as recommended by my LFS. I might try feeding some without that soaking to see if it bothers them.

 

Thanks again,

 

Andy