Ocellaris Clownfish
Common Names: Ocellaris Clownfish, Anemone Fish, Nemo, Orange Anemone Fish, Clown Anemonefish
Scientific Name: Amphiprion ocellaris
Family: Pomacentridae
Maximum Size: 4 inches
Life expectancy: 6 years
Minimum Tank Size: 30 gallons
Temperature Range: 72 - 78 °F
pH Range: 8.1 - 8.4
SG: 1.020 - 1.025
Water hardness: 8 - 12
Temperament: Peaceful
Origin: South Asia
Aquarium Setup:
The best suited tank setup for the Ocallaris Clownfish is a marine tank with lots of coral, rocks and plants. They like lots of places to hide, so caves and crevices will be appreciated by these little beauties!
Diet:
Clownfish aren’t picky about their diets and will eat almost anything. But, they need meaty foods such as bloodworms, brine shrimp, mussels and white fish.
High quality flake food is also acceptable and frozen or dried foods can be used. They do best when fed in several small meals throughout the day instead of a once daily feeding.
Tank Mates/Community:
This peaceful fish can be kept with a wide variety of other fish, which is one of the reasons it’s so popular. The community can include Gobies, Parrotfish, Puffers, Tangs, Dragonets, Hawkfish and Squirrelfish as well as many other species.
It can also be safely kept with live rocks, live corals and invertebrates. Lionfish, Eels, Triggers and Groupers are some of the fish that should be avoided in the Ocellaris Clownfish community.
Some Clownfish may not tolerate their own species very well. But, usually if they’re added to the tank at the same time they will get along fine together! The generally do better in small groups of 5-7 if kept in a large tank.
Behavior:
Ocellaris Clownfish are very curious little fish and will often be seen exploring the aquarium. They are mainly bottom swimmers, but will swim anywhere in the tank. While generally very peaceful, they will fight with other clown species when mixed together.
Color:
The Clownfishes body is a bright or dark orange and detailed with three white bands that run vertically around their bodies. The white is often trimmed in a narrow line of black, which makes an excellent contrast.
The white bands at each end of the fish are fairly straight edged, while the middle band sort of curves toward the fishes head in the center. All but the dorsal fin is accented with a black edge.
Breeding:
The best way to plan for breeding is to keep a group of juveniles together until they pair off. The pair may literally spend hours cleaning a chosen rock or other surface on which to lay the eggs.
Sex can usually be determined by size, the female is larger than the male and will become even larger right before spawning. The male will attract his chosen female by dancing around in front of her, extending his fins and biting!
Once the female deposits the eggs on the chosen spot, the male will swim over them and fertilize them. There will be hundreds of eggs with each spawning and the male will guard them.
The male will also hover over them and fan them with his fins and mouth. He will even separate out any dead eggs to prevent the growth of fungi and algae.
The eggs will look like a vivid orange patch, the color is from the egg vellum which will darken as the embryos grow and consume it. The day before hatching, the eggs will become a silver color and you will be able to see the fry.
Ocellaris Clown fry hatch during the night and will need to be removed from the tank immediately to help ensure survival. They will either be eaten or may even get sucked into the tank filters.
Unless you’re going to stay up all night and watch for the eggs to hatch, it’s actually best to move the rock to another tank. This can be done once the eggs have turned the silvery color. But, for best results the second small tank should contain water from the original tank.
At no time should the rock be taken out of the water, place the rock into a container under the water. Then place the container on the bottom of the second tank before removing the rock.
The eggs will take approximately 8-10 days to hatch and after the first spawning the pair will spawn again about every 18-20 days. If you’ve moved the eggs on the rock to a different tank, return it as soon as they hatch so the pair can reuse the same rock.
The fry can feed off of the yolk sacs for around 12 hours, then you can use rotifers for feedings. After the fry are five days old, artemia can be added to the rotifer and dry food can be given at one month of age.
Interesting Notes:
In their natural habitat, Ocellaris Clownfish will have a special relationship with a chosen anemone! The anemone will protect the fish and the fish will ward off butterfly fish that eat anemones! The Clownfish may also keep the anemone free of parasites and debris!
While many aquarists will claim that a Ocellaris must be tanked with an anemone, they can do fine without one. Farm breeders don’t include anemones in the tanks, but Clownfish caught in the wild may require an anemone to thrive.
Although, their life expectancy is around six years, one hobbyist managed to keep his pair alive for 27 years! The proper care of your fish can extend their life for many years!
