If you are new to the world of marine fishkeeping, then one of the best varieties to begin with is the clownfish. They are fairly easy to care for and they come in a wide choice of different patterns and colours, many of them being orange with white stripes, and several that are black with stripes. If you have seen the film Finding Nemo, he and his father Marlin were ocellaris clownfish, also called false clownfish and clown anemone fish, because they live in and around anemones on the bottom of the sea-bed.
Clownfish never stray very far from their anemones because they have a very close relationship. The anemones provide shelter for the fish and also food leftovers, while the clownfish bring the anemones food and also clean them of parasites in the wild.
At Marine World Aquatics we have a number of different clownfish for sale in the UK as well as anemones, such as the stunning carpet anemone in blue, and the multi-coloured mini maxi. All clownfish are hermaphrodites which means that they can change sex. It appears that they are all born male, but they are able to change to female. Once they have done that they cannot change back again. The female is the larger dominant fish.
Sociable Fish
Clownfish are very sociable and tend to live in groups, the head of which will be a female. The second largest fish in a group is male, and if the female dies the dominant male will change over to female to become the leader.
Clownfish are omnivores, meaning that they will eat both meat and plants. They can help to keep your aquarium clean because they will eat algae, and also worms and small crustaceans – crabs, lobsters, shrimp, and so on.
When mating, the male will clear a space on a rock near to the anemones and the female will lay anywhere between 100 and 1,000 eggs which the male will then fertilise. The female swims away, leaving the male to be “father” to the brood which will hatch about a week later. Keeping clownfish in your aquarium can be a lot of fun.
At Marine World Aquatics, we have additional ways to help keep your aquarium clean with our packages of creatures such as turbo snails, hermit crabs, sand-shifting starfish, nassarius snails, and more. Not only will they help to keep the environment in good order for your clownfish and anemones, but you will also save money when you opt for a package rather than buying the creatures separately.
