Question about Ocellaris...

Just curious, but I have an orange Ocellaris in my tank now (29g). I am planning to upgrade the tank in a month or so to a 40B, and was wondering if adding a black ocellaris would work? I've never read anything saying either way, has anyone had any luck or problems with it?

 

A new oc (being black won't matter) might work if you get a small juvie, as the established clown is most undoubtedly already female. That said, you can expect a lot of violent aggression for a while as the female establishes dominance over the new arrival.

 

Yeah, I was thinking if I was going to try it, a good time would be when moving to the new tank. That way I could hopefully remove some of the territorial dominance, but I know there is still the bullying that will occur.

So would you think getting a black occ. that is smaller than the current one and giving them about a week to see how they work out? If they are still fighting after that, would that be a good sign that they need to be separated, or should I give it longer?

 

Your best option, if it's feasible, would be to set up the 40 and introduce the juvie first and allow him a couple days to adjust to his new surroundings. While the female will still establish dominance over the male (that's just their nature), at least she will be the "new kid in town".

Other than that, just keep a close eye on them. Aside from the domination, as long as the male is content to stay close and the female allows it, they should be fine.

 

Sounds good. I'm actually doing this in a move, but I do have the luxury of leaving the current tank setup at the old place for a while until the new one is all established. With that said, looks like I'll add the CUC then get the new black Occ, leave it for a week or so, then move the rest of the stock from the old tank and see how it goes.