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How many clowns? No, edit: adoption

Mark_C

Staff member
Officer Emeritus
NJRC Member
Moderator
OK, let me begin with this...

:beatdeadhorse5:

Now we can move on.


Here's the scoop.
I have 2 small percs in my xenia and mantis shrimp tank.
The tank is not very exciting in that there's just xenia and a mantis shrimp, which occasionally makes an appearance to glare at me in malice.

I also have a big 120 (tank) that I spent 3 hours cleaning today.
It has lots of things for fish to do. Mrs. Pacman, a small Starfishbucks, etc...
It also has a snowflake clown who hangs in one of the 3 nems in the tank.
That clown is slightly bigger than the larger of the 2 percs.

I was planning to move one of the percs over, obviously the smaller, but I feel that the remaining perc might off itself out of boredom.
I mean, all they really have to do is swim around together in terror that the mantis might decide to come out to play.
So, I'm debating on moving 2 over and monitoring the situation.

Anyone had any luck in keeping multiple for a decent amount of time?
If not, please feel free to point me to any one of the 2 bazillion threads recommending against this.

This, quite obviously, is one of those threads where I'm looking for some sort of skewed justification for doing something I shouldn't be doing.

Or, easier yet now that I think about it, after all that...
Anyone attending the meet that might want to adopt a healthy perc (look up a picture of a perc - it looks like that), let me know and I'll bring it along to the meet.
This one is much nicer than Madreefers, in that it is not actively seeking victims.
 
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How long has the 2 perc been together in that system? Would you say they're paired?

Personally I've wanted to do this but as you state, the threads out there point against it. Regarding experience, I have 2 separate buddies who have taken this dive to a similar degree. 1 has 2 separate pairs in the same tank. The other has 3. The key in both tanks is that 1 pair/1 fish hosted a nem before the others arrived. So if you have 1 clown hosting a nem, maybe adding the pair wouldn't cause too much disruption as long as they mind themselves and don't try to overthrow the other from his home. I'd also say it might be worth trying to get them to host a seperate nem and moving them in together with their own nem so each fam has it's own home and territory wouldn't be compromised. Obviously, you just need to figure what family of nem would be able to be added with your current species. There's obviously slightly more involved/nuke potential adding another nem etc etc. Might just be more simple to drop em in and see what happens if no one wants to buy the additional perc on its own.
 
I've seen quite a few tanks with 3 or more clowns, usually a pair somewhere with the white picket fence, nice view of the beach, pina colada, etc.., and another single just lurking in the somewhere else. I'm sure there was aggression in the beginning, but I think the 3rd wheel learned it's place is somewhere else. In a 120, I think the oddman out would be able to find a corner somewhere else to claim.

Of course, I'm a little biased, as I try to sway you in what may end up being a terrible idea.. but I think it could work.

20191020_204849.jpg
 

MadReefer

Staff member
NJRC Member
Moderator
OK, let me begin with this...

:beatdeadhorse5:

Now we can move on.


Here's the scoop.
I have 2 small percs in my xenia and mantis shrimp tank.
The tank is not very exciting in that there's just xenia and a mantis shrimp, which occasionally makes an appearance to glare at me in malice.

I also have a big 120 (tank) that I spent 3 hours cleaning today.
It has lots of things for fish to do. Mrs. Pacman, a small Starfishbucks, etc...
It also has a snowflake clown who hangs in one of the 3 nems in the tank.
That clown is slightly bigger than the larger of the 2 percs.

I was planning to move one of the percs over, obviously the smaller, but I feel that the remaining perc might off itself out of boredom.
I mean, all they really have to do is swim around together in terror that the mantis might decide to come out to play.
So, I'm debating on moving 2 over and monitoring the situation.

Anyone had any luck in keeping multiple for a decent amount of time?
If not, please feel free to point me to any one of the 2 bazillion threads recommending against this.

This, quite obviously, is one of those threads where I'm looking for some sort of skewed justification for doing something I shouldn't be doing.

Or, easier yet now that I think about it, after all that...
Anyone attending the meet that might want to adopt a healthy perc (look up a picture of a perc - it looks like that), let me know and I'll bring it along to the meet.
This one is much nicer than Madreefers, in that it is not actively seeking victims.

I think we should battle my clown against your mantis. Everyone can by and bet on who wins. LOL
 

Mark_C

Staff member
Officer Emeritus
NJRC Member
Moderator
Shifted them both over.
All looks good atm, we'll see what happens over the next week or two.

Edit: Dwarf Flame Angel, which has never had a problem with the initial clown, is now very aggressive towards all 3 clowns.
 
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Shifted them both over.
All looks good atm, we'll see what happens over the next week or two.

Edit: Dwarf Flame Angel, which has never had a problem with the initial clown, is now very aggressive towards all 3 clowns.
Actively seeking the clowns or being territorial to a specific spot?

On a positive note, Starfishbucks must be doing well with the new clients.
 
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