Clown question

I have 3 clown fish in my 55 gallon tank. Two of them are very similar looking; small soft and light orange. The 3rd is a larger looking very vivid dark orange. I was wondering what species of clown these are? Percale or ocellaris, etc. 1 of the light orange ones seems to be getting picked on and is doing his little seizure dance to submit to the other fish.

Also wondering about compatibility issues. I was very new to the hobby when I picked these fish up. I'm around 5 months in now, tank levels are all looking good, FOWLR.

Help!

 

Most of the time only 2 clowns will work together.With 3 clowns 1 will be the odd man out and might get harassed.If it is the same one always taking the lashing I would remove it from the tank.I'm not saying you can't have 3 clowns or no one has ever done it but in most cases it just doesn't work out that way.Oh and based on color alone is not really an accurate way to tell the difference.Good luck.

 

Welcome to 3reef,

As stated already, you may have issues keeping 3 clown fish in a 55 gallons as they reach majority.

An image is really the only way to access the type of clown fish. The coloration and outline striping boarding the white strips and number of spikes on dorsal fin can be of assistance.

This link may help you narrow it down as well.

Clownfish for Sale: Clownfish Species for the Home Aquarium

 

Yeah, without any kind of picture it's hard to ID your clowns. The only real way to distinguish between a percula and ocellaris clown is their number of dorsal spines. Percs have 9-10 while Occs. have 11 I believe. Your very dark orange one could be a maroon possibly or just another perc/occ that's darkened up. As far as compatibility, only two clowns of the same species would be my recommendation in your tank. When they get bigger you will have fights breaking out between the two that pair and the odd one out.