Clown question????

I have 3 false percula clowns in my 155. I got three to start the cycling. It seems that 2 of them have paired up! But now chase away the third to the point he hides behind the overflow all the time execpt for feeding time.
My question is should I bring the third back to the LFS, or get another so they can pair up. The tank is pretty big, so I thought I could keep two pairs. Or would they just fight. Any thoughts on this?
Thanks.

 

It is likely you will have only one pair of clowns in your tank. The rest, if there are any, will remain unsexed juveniles. If one of the pair dies, the male would probably become a female, one of the juvis would become male and the rest would just keep their station in the family unit. I have a feeling things will mellow out with the pair and the odd man out. Ocellaris clowns have no problem living in family units. Maroons, on the other hand...............

 

Family units. Hmm. Then I should get another one or two then? If it just takes some time for things to mellow out, I don't want the "third man out" to stress out and die. I figure they would be used to each other as they were introduced into the tank at the same time and came from the same tank at the LFS.

 

I wouldn't get anymore for now. Let the fighting subside if you decide to keep it. Three fish in a freshly cycling tank is pushing it as is. It may be easier on the system if you removed the juvenile and took it back for store credit. Then, when all is well and the tank is good to go, you can add one or two more if you want to look after a family unit. There is a ranking in juveniles as well. So if you picked up two more, they will stuggle to be next in line before they mellow out. Now, if you decide this, just make sure that you pick from a tankful of ocellaris. If there are one of two in a tank by themselves, they may have sexed. Clownfish can go from Juvi to either male or female. Males can change into female. However, males cannot go back to unsexed juvi and Females are stuck female no matter what happens. So if you get your specimens from a tankful, you have a greater chance of succeeding in your quest for unsexed clowns.

Dime to a dollar when the time comes, you will have made up your mind on other fish anyway. In a 55g, you can only hold maybe 15 inches of fish before the oxygen saturation begins to dip down to the danger level.