In general Clown fish do not require an elaborate system to maintain good health so a clown fish aquarium is relatively easy to keep. Following the huge success of the movie Finding Nemo, clown fish have become famous and they are now very popular to keep. The scientific name for the common clown fish is Amphiprion ocellaris.
Clown fish can grow up to 3.75 inches (9cm) and they are native to Indonesia, SE Asia, Japan, and Australia. They live on algae, live and flake foods, and in the wild they use anemones as hosts. In an aquarium anemones can be quite difficult to keep and clown fish can be kept without them with no detrimental effects. The large majority of common clown fish are bred in captivity.
Clown fish are colourful and interesting to watch, and they make excellent aquarium fish. They are quite hardy little fish and they can thrive in a shoal with other clown fish or as part of a community tank.
Once they are familiar with their environment clown fish are fairly resistant to disease but they find moving quite traumatic so they should be treated with a lot of care if you have to move one. They are unlikely to survive of you move from the wild to an aquarium so buy ones that have been bred in captivity.
As mentioned already, clown fish use anemones as hosts in the wild, and the image of a clown fish peaking out of the colourful tentacles of an anemone is a well-known one now. Clown fish and anemones enjoy a close symbiotic relationship. The fish bring food to the anemones and in return the anemones provide shelter and safety from predators within their tentacles.
An anemones tentacles sting but clown fish are protected from the stings with a coating of slime. Although clown fish can happily survive in an aquarium without anemones, if you can keep one it is fascinating to watch the relationship that develops between them.
If you do choose to try and keep an anemone suitable for a clown fish make sure that is was bred in captivity and not taken from the wild, as reefs are depleting. It’s also important to be aware that the wrong kind of anemone could be dangerous to your clown fish, as they only live in certain species, such as Entacmaea, Heteractis and Stiochodactyla anemones.
Unfortunately these are all quite difficult to keep so you could consider having a Xenia as an alternative to an anemone, as clown fish can adapt and live in these hosts instead, and they are much easier to keep in an aquarium.
If you intend to breed clown fish in your aquarium make sure there is plenty of room and some places to hide, as when they are spawning clown fish can become very territorial.
Clown fish are generally lively and fun to watch. They are intelligent, curious creatures and they are usually happy in community tanks with other relatively peaceful fish, such as angelfish and anthias. As long as you look after them and keep up good basic maintenance, a clown fish aquarium is fairly easy to keep and it will provide a lot of pleasure to observe.