Clownfish tank mates this is an exciting topic. I want to explain what makes a good tank mate for the clownfish species. The clownfish is one of the most popular saltwater fish.
We will look at the best tank mates the best clownfish tank mates as well as what makes the perfect tank mate for this beautiful fish.
Before we can identify some mates we need to look at the clownfish and find out what makes it tick so here goes.
For those that want to know the best tankmates ill leave them here but read on as ill go in-depth later in the article Cheers.
Table of Contents
Selection Of The Best Clownfish Tankmates
Clownfish tank mates to start yellow tang with some Banggai cardinalfish. How about some live rock a hermit crab and Amphiprion ocellaris not forgetting Host anemone and Red coris wrasse?
Now this has to be a community tank so a smaller tank of 20-gallon tank is not a good idea we need a larger tank. Carrying on in no particular order Pygmy Angelfish, mandarin dragonet, royal gramma, court jester goby. These are some good mates for our clownfish we’ve scoured the Indian oceans and found life for the bottom of the tank and included smaller fish for our large tank.
Here are a few more Neon Goby, Fire Dartfish, Flame Hawkfish, Premnas Biaculeatus, Pajama Cardinalfish, Tailspot Blenny, Blue Reef Chromis, Chromis Damselfish oh, and maybe a Bubble tip anemone. This is an excellent list of tank mates with the most common names more on some of them later.
What About Bad Tank Mates For Clownfish
Tank mates to avoid in no particular order lionfish, snowflake eels, and Panther groupers, In fact, all Groupers, Ribbon eels Tube Anemones and Condylacis Anemones can be problematic. Also, be careful with other species of clownfish they don’t always vibe.
A Synopsis Of The Clownfish
The common clownfish is a peaceful fish some might say skittish/shy but very territorial. There is a distinct bright orange in color with white stripes and black outlines between the sides. Clownfish are from the coral reefs
in the Pacific oceans and their natural habitat is the warm waters of sheltered reefs and lagoons in and around sea anemones. They are marine fish so you will need a reef tank.
We all know clownfish are popular and became even more so after the smash hit 2003 film Finding Nemo and the follow-up Finding Dory but what other interesting facts are there about clownfish?
Getting To Know Clownfish
The first thing to note is they are able to breed year-round there’s no particular season. The eggs can be hatched at anytime once hatched the male looks after and guards them.
Anemones Poison
Nobody knows precisely how but clownfish are able to withstand the anemone’s poison. They also have a symbiotic relationship with these anemones. The anemones protect clownfish with their poisonous tentacles and the clownfish eat any pests of the anemones cleaning them.
There Are 30 Species Of Clownfish
Clownfish are hardy fish fairly small fish but there are indeed 30 different species of clownfish including Tomato clownfish Ocellaris clownfish Maroon clownfish and even the Percula clownfish. These are the most common species.
Clownfish Are All Born Male
This is a misconception let’s explain all are born with both sexual organs and the male will be more dominant and usually develop first. Giving the impression they are all born male although they can still become female first. They can also change sex if needed while still immature.
A group usually consists of a male and female and a few younger fish. If the female dies one of the younger fish will take her place by becoming female. The same can be said for the male if he dies one of the others will step up and become male. Strange but true.
Clownfish Diet
Clownfish will eat any small invertebrates, Algae as well as clean the anemones, and eat whatever is left behind. Mainly algae and vegetation but some shrimp and worms and even fish eggs will be eaten.
Now we know more about the common clownfish. they are shy but will protect their home they are warm-water tropical marine fish that need a reef tank. They like some brine shrimp blood red fire shrimp so a varied diet. Plenty of hiding places no aggressive fish oh with tropical waters. Water temperature of 24-27Cor 75-81F PH levels of 8-8.5and a tank at least 30 gallons 120 liters.
Let’s find some great tank mates that make a good choice for home aquarium reef setups.
Bottom-Dwelling Fish For Our Clownfish
Pygmy Angelfish
Starting off our saltwater tank for clownfish we have the Pygmy Angelfish hailing from the western Pacific Ocean. This fish is a species of Chromis viridis, Chromis cyaneus. Perfect for clownfish growing between 4-6 inches with an incredibly peaceful temperament.
The Pygmy Angelfish eats algae sponges and other organisms of live rocks.
Other Angelfish that are bigger are usually unsuitable for clownfish so stick with the pygmy.
Basslets Royal Gramma
Basslets are another great match smaller in size reaching 4-6 inches with a unique appearance with a purple head and top half and a yellow tail and bottom half. This fish also has unique dark spots on its dorsal fin.
Basslets are carnivores and live in caves yes they are cave dwellers. Although territorial clownfish don’t stay in caves there are no issues.
Anemones
Bubble-tip anemones are perfect for our clownfish with their long finger-like tentacles that have bubble-like tips to each tentacle. These anemones are very colorful less aggressive and in fact the most common of anemones They also act as a great host meaning the clownfish will usually accept them and feed off them. They happen to be very low maintenance and easy to keep in our main tank.
Hermit Crab
Everybody needs a hermit crab, especially in the saltwater aquarium hobby. They are extremely sociable despite the name able to adapt to all water conditions even shallow waters. Although smaller in size they have a big personality. The main reason for keeping them is they are eating machines and love cleaning as they eat all waste bacteria and algae. Fun fact Hermit crabs change and share their shells with each other.
Blood Red Fire Shrimp
Another great choice is the blood-red fire shrimp. Smaller size around 2 inches with long white antennae this particular shrimp is peaceful and fairly shy hides during the day and comes out later. The fire shrimp loves cleaning even getting fish to come over and clean them too. Why you ask? Well, this little guy eats everything from dead skin bacteria dirt, and waste even algae.
That’s your bottom feeders you should add some live rock too now on to some more fish.
Some More Great Clownfish Tank Mates
Okay, let’s look at some fish tank mates for our clownfish. Maybe a few larger fish obviously bright colors mainly from the Pacific region or southeast Asia. Before cracking on I want to clarify clownfish should be kept in groups. Also, these should be even groups starting at four (4.)
There should be two a pair of clownfish that are adults that have reached sexual maturity and two a pair that are younger and have not developed this aids in the clownfish family environment. Anyway onwards with some more tropical fish magic.
Mandarin Dragonet
There are many varieties of this fish the common name for them is Mandarinfish. They come in some amazing colors with white spots and all kinds of bright strips. Mandarinfish are peaceful and only aggressive towards their own species they live in caves made from live rocks.
Mandarinfishneed to feed on copepods that live on live rocks. This has been problematic for hobbyists as they deplete the copepods from these rocks rapidly and end up starving to death. So if you decide to keep these fish make sure to continually replenish new live rocks or teach retrain the fish to eat some frozen Mysis shrimp.
Court Jester Goby
These fish are also unique fairly small but long-looking fish they are known as Rainford gobies or old gobies. Super peaceful but seems to be loners unless you can find a mated pair.
They need plenty of live rock and living sand substrate to feed from. So a well-established tank is a must for these guys. An awesome tank mate for our clownfish but may be hard to keep with other fish that feed on the live rock like theMandarinfish. As you would be replacing too many rocks.
Neon Goby
The neon goby is found in the Caribbean and looks like an eel. A fairly long-looking fish this fish is black or brownish with a neon blue stripe running down its body hence the name neon goby. The neon goby is considered part of the clean-up crew and lives of algae and other tiny organisms. They can be seen cleaning any juicy bacteria of other fish. Overly friendly fish unless protecting their eggs. A great addition to a clownfish tank.
Fire Dartfish
What about this little wonder The fire dartfish is scientifically known as Nemateleotris Magnifica or to us more commonly known as fire goby fire dartfish as well as fire red goby.
These fish are originally from the Indian and Pacific reefs. Specific members of these fish will usually have a yellow head that merges with a white body with a firey red tail. Adults tend to either live alone or in pairs but younger fish group together in small schools.
They also eat lots of small organisms living on rocks and buried in the sandy substrates. They need feeding twice a day for similar reasons as above they tend to be picky and once they’ve eaten the rocks they will starve themselves, they are also known to be jumpers so be warned.
Flame Hawkfish
The flame hawkfish hails from Fiji, Australia, and the Cook Islands in and around the west South Pacific Ocean. Grows bigger than some of the others at nearly 4 inches and is an incredible firey red with a stripe down its back that looks like a mohawk. This fish may not do well with smaller bottom dwellers but will be fine with clownfish.
The hawkfish gets its name by sitting on rocks and waiting for prey to pass by then swooping down to kill said prey. Will eat small crab snails shrimp and other small bottom feeders.
Another fun fact is they are very personable with us humans and they can live longer than most fish at some 10 years.
Premnas Biaculeatus
This fish is more commonly known as the spine-cheeked anemonefish and also the maroon clownfish. They reside in the Indo-Pacific western Indonesia and Taiwan. Premnas Biaculeatus are pretty big once fully grown and can get to around 7 inches.
These fish are color-dependent on their sex. As males are orange-red and females are darker maroon or brown in color the stripes are thinner on females and have been known to completely disappear on older females.
Females are also bigger than males.
Fun fact time these fish are protandry meaning if the head-breeding female dies the primary breeding male changes sex and becomes the breeding female.
Pajama Cardinalfish
Known as the polka dot cardinalfish or the spotted cardinalfishit hailsfrom the Indo-Pacific and Western Pacific. From Java Fiji and around Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. These fish are fairly small around 3 inches and have a silver body with colors and patterns and spots of rainbow all over. Their faces are green with a tint of yellow.
They are known to be one of the most sociable marine and saltwater fish so perfect for clownfish. It’s harder to tell the sexes in these fish until mating season as then you will see the males gather the eggs in their mouth until they hatch yep these fish are mouthbrooders.
Tailspot Blenny
The tailspot blenny gets its name because it has a great spot on its tailhence the name tailspot. They are only 2 inches in size and fairly docile they have very unique eyes. Another fish from the western Pacific this time from the Philippines and Indonesia. Known for having a blue-green hue on their face and an orange body with a large black spot on their tails. They also have huge eyes and a big mouth for their size.
Blue Reef Chromis
This is a small fish that does need to be kept in a school of around 6 fish. They love darting just above the reef and will need areas to dart between. They are from the Damselfish family but are very social they come from the lagoons and reefs of Madagascar the Philippines and Hawaii. These fish are a deep blue in color with a black outline that goes around its entire body including fins and tail.
Chromis Damselfish
Otherwise known as the green Chromis. this fish has become one of the most popular in the hobby although, from the family of Damselfish, this green Chromis just like the blue is extremely friendly and very social which is unusual for Damsilfish.
Known for their incredible shades of green and hailing from the lagoons and reefs of the Indo-Pacific similar to the Blue Chomis. They grow to be around 6 inches slightly bigger than some Chromis and have a distinctive forked tail they are also schooling fish and need to be kept in groups.
Wrapping Up Our Clownfish Tank Mates
Having read this article you now have all you need to keep your clownfish. We have a great selection of clownfish tank mates here for your aquariums with a minimum tank size of 30 gallons as these fish need room. The water quality for all these fish is the same as the parameters are similar and the specific gravity or salinity is the same the average salt levels should be between 1.020-1.026.
I hope you enjoyed the read and have found some tank mates for your clownfish please feel free to continue reading the site and hopefully find more valuable posts.
