Saltwater Aquarium Advice

Seeing as my marine aquarium passion is based on the marine life itself, I thought it was time I started to do some posts on popular marine pets!

The Clownfish has got to be the most popular marine aquarium inhabitant worldwide, mostly thanks to the Disney movie “Finding Nemo”.  Other than this they are cute and pretty easy to care for and require little space. The Clownfish is a type of Damselfish, they are very colorful with coloring that ranges from yellow,maroon and even black to shades of orange. The most common coloration found is a bright orange intermingled with white stripes or patches (such as Nemo!).

Clownfish and anemonefish are from the subfamily Amphiprioninae in the family Pomacentridae. There are about twenty eight species in total, one in the genus Premnas while the remaining are in the genus Amphiprion. They are native to the Indian and Pacific oceans.

The one thing that characterises all species is the symbiotic relationship they have with their host anemones. It is currently thought than when these fish are embryos lying on the reef surface, they become “addicted” to the scent of a particular anemone then when they hatch they go to settle in that anemone and spend their entire lives defending it from other fish and are always close to it, retreating inside the deadly (to other fish!) tentacles when danger lurks.

It is thought that the Clownfish are resistant to the Anemones stinging cells because of the mucus their bodies secrete, another theory is resistance to the potent poison has come from many years of co-evolution with the Anemone’s. The Clownfish chase off would-be anemone-munchers, feed off undigested food particles and dead tentacles which otherwise could rot and damage the invertebrate and fertilise the anemone with their droppings. In return the anemone provides life-long shelter and protection. The Clownfish generally forms a partnership with the anemone species Heteractis magnifica, Stichodactyla gigantean and S. mertensii.

Another little known Clownfish fact is that they are all born as males and can change sex if required in their social group. The social group consists of 1 breeding pair and immature or non sexually active males. If something happens to the breeding female the dominant male will change sex and replace her!

The hardy Clownfish require little space in the aquarium environment, if their host anemone is present they may rarely venture more than a few inches from it for their entire lives (which can be for a number of years). If their preferred host species is not available Clownfish will commonly settle in soft corals or large polyped stony corals, the problem with this is that the coral may sometimes die and the Clownfishs’ skin may become irritated by the coral as the clownfish is constantly swimming around its host.

The Clownfish is one of the first marine fish to be successfully captive bred, which is awesome as it takes pressure of the reef environment to constantly supply Clownfish to home aquarists. You should always seek out captive bred Clownfish for this reason, additionally captive bred fish are a lot less stressed out, are used to humans and aquarium food and are more resistant to disease. Clownfish are social creatures and are best kept in pairs although a few species (like the Maroon Clownfish for example) can be aggressive to each other. They should be kept in aquariums 40 litres or more.

Basically Clownfish are hardy, fun and interesting fish to keep and will require minimal effort from their owners. If you can get a host anemone for them as they will be most happy, although these anemones can be hard to care for. Clownfish are peaceful but can be territorial (especially with their hosts) I advise you not to mix species as this can lead to a lot of fights.

To learn more expert tips about keeping thriving marine aquariums full of happy healthy marine life check out my best selling ebook “Ultimate Secrets To Saltwater Aquarium Fish and Invertebrates”