Clown Pair

[x19]

I called my LFS of choice tonight to confirm they had Ocellaris clowns in stock before I make the drive out there tomorrow, and the owner informed me he had a beautiful mated pair in stock for $90. I don't have any plans on trying to raise a fry, so is there any benefit to the mated pair over getting two equal size fish and let them work through their gender issues for a whole lot less cash?

 

[Bifferwine]

There's no other benefit. Mated means that they are laying eggs. They are more expensive than two random fish because it can take years for a pair of clowns to pair up and start laying (it took my pair 4 years). If you don't care about the eggs, you can pay less and just buy two. Instead of buying two of the same size, you will have better luck buying different sized ones. That way their gender issues are already worked out for them. But even so, usually if you buy two of the same size at the same time, they'll figure things out.

 

[Jmck]

I bought a mated pair because I like the way they acted mated, instead of the fighting, but I payed 80 AUSD for my mated black clowns, which is about 70 US i think?

so it wasnt too bad.

 

[bjohanson1234]

+1 Biff

No point in paying over twice as much for fish if you arent looking at raising any.

 

[x19]

I bought a mated pair because I like the way they acted mated, instead of the fighting, but I payed 80 AUSD for my mated black clowns, which is about 70 US i think?

so it wasnt too bad.

Do they always lay eggs? I think I'd feel guilty with hundreds of little fish dying all the time.

 

[Jmck]

nah mine dont even lay eggs yet. But once they become laying, they do it every 14 days I believe. normally takes about a year or 2 to have them laying in a tank.

 

[Bifferwine]

If they are sold to you as "mated" they should have laid eggs already (i.e. they should HAVE MATED).

A male-female pair that is not laying eggs should not be sold as mated. It should just be sold as a pair.

If you paid for a mated pair that does not lay eggs, you were ripped off. It's not that they "haven't laid eggs yet." By definition, they needed to have been laying eggs (mating) to be called mated.

Of course, disruption, moving or stress can cause them to stop laying eggs for a while (mine stopped laying eggs for 4 months when I got new lights). But in order to be called a mated pair, they had to have laid eggs together before.

 

[Bifferwine]

Do they always lay eggs? I think I'd feel guilty with hundreds of little fish dying all the time.

Mine lay eggs every 10 days, like clockwork. They don't even look like little fish when they "hatch". I don't think you'd feel too guilty -- they do become food for everything else in the tank. That's why clowns lay hundreds (and sometimes even thousands) of eggs at one time, so frequently. Even in the wild, only a couple are expected to survive to adulthood. It's nature. ;)

 

[Jmck]

Well, there is a possibly I got it wrong and they were just pair. But they were a wild pair and im fairly sure were considered a mated pair, dont forget, they have only been in my tank for 2 months. So this is a contributing factor to that.

 

[x19]

So I went with the decision not to get the mated pair, even though he dropped the price to $75. Unfortunately he only had 1 other Ocellaris clown which I got for $19. Still a good looking fish. He's swimming pretty hard at the moment and constantly looking for an escape hole in the aquarium glass...but hopefully he'll adjust soon.

 

[x19]

After checkin out some videos of clowns swimming it looks like he's doing fine. Clowns are just erratic swimmers I guess :-)

 

[bjohanson1234]

Yes they are. The good thing is that you can get another clown in a few months for 20 bucks. Just get this one smaller than the one you currently have. They might fight for a few days or so, but they should get everything all figured out soon enough

 

[yote]

+1 Bj
Clowns are one of those fish that never did learn how to swim very well.