Snowflake Clowns

[Pinkfish]

What do you all think about snowflake clowns compared to other clowns ??

The other half wants to buy me a Pair for Christmas with a host anenome.
She loves them, I like them too, but am just concerned as they are so expensive as a pair.

And are they really rare ?

I know I have tooooo many fish in my tank .... but I havent lost anymore fish yet been over a week now I think. Newbie syndrome plus bad advice from LFS :( (lost 3 fish, 2 clowns and a firefish)

Still have - 1 Yellow Tang, 1 Salfin, 1 Regal, 1 Firefish, 1 Fairy Wrasse, 1 Strawberry Gramma, 2 Yellowhead Jawfish, ´4 Chromis ...think thats all.
Ohhh and a scooter blennie (thats what the guy in the shop told me it was, i think its a Stellate/Starry Dragnet)

1 Leather Mush, A cluster of Hairy Mush, Cluster of Other Mushroms, Some zoas growing from a piece of live rock, Large finger coral, and a large 3inch Umbrella Mush, Pulsing Xenia (which has doubled in size) Candy Coral, Hammer Head Coral + my Fav .. a large Pineapple Coral.

30 Hermit Crabs 32 Snails and 2 Conchs (Cheers James ... all doing well and solving my Algae problem)

... My tanks only 1month and 2 weeks old :O

Mike

[Tetley]

Hello Mike,

IIRC Snowflake's are bred by TMC, not found in nature. So yes rare as limited stock. They are very expensive IMO (but I can see the attraction).

Also, I still think your current stock is very heavy, so adding more fish is not a good idea, you may find yourself facing the same suituation as before.

Maybe, if you found a home for 2 of your big fish (Regal and Sailfin) and let the tank settle for a month, then adding your clowns would not upset the balance.

The most important thing is DO NOT OVERLOAD your tank with fish, you will be asking for trouble, it is hard I know trying to say NO to "lets have one more fish", I suspect we all do that, but we have to think of our current stock and thier needs.

HTH

Ian

[thereefshop]

I was at T.M.C looking at a pair on friday and I.M.O. they are over rated:rolleyes: They look like something is wrong with them lol They cost me the earth at trade prices.

[Tangman]

Hi Mike. Do take this as a warning, if you add any more fish in the next few months you risk crashing your system and losing ALL your fish. Please take advice from those that have answered you and let your system catch up, if not you will have a big problem. On the question of Snowflake Clowns my advice is to leave them where they are as they are over rated and over priced, also your tank is far to young to support an Anenome of any kind as they need very good mature water with low nutrients and correct lighting to survive. As FJ has said you have stocked to quickly and need to let it settle down for a few months. HTH. Eric

[Harrison]

Hi Mike,

Please DO NOT add an anemone to your tank YOU WILL KILL IT! Your tank does not have the parameters, stability or equipment to support such a sensitive creature. If your buying tank bred clowns they host anything from bubble corals to Zoanthids (mine host a hammer coral, but in the past have hosted Zoanthids and a leather) as the closest they’ll have come to anemone unless they hosting one in the shop will probably have been a flower pot.

I personally feel you’re already at stocking capacity if not overstocked for a tank of your size you have the same number of fish as myself, it took me 18 months to achieve this it looks like it’s take you 18 days. Most of the fish you have in tank can live for over 10 years in the wild please do not think a week is a success.

As for the clowns IIRC it’s a genetic defect probably brought on by deliberate inbreeding. Not worth it in my opinion and judging buy the fact that one of my LFS has had a pair in for over a year most other peoples as well.

Cheers

Matthew

[moorish]

hi mike,please dont add an anemone to your tank for a least 6months because they need stable water conditions.i have 5 anemones in my tank and when i added the first one it had matured for over 12 months. reguarding the snowflake clowns i think the breeders of these clowns only allow limited numbers of them to dealers to keep the price high.iwould not pay the silly prices they are asking for these clowns they are not worth it.derek

[SteveS]

What do you all think about snowflake clowns compared to other clowns ??

Mike

hi mike, in answer to your question, i dont really rate them, as said looks like theres something wrong with them! ive seen these in an lfs for nearly 200quid for the pair. i much prefer percs, clarkiis, tomato even my own blue stripe clowns over the snowflakes.

as for the host, please dont buy a nem, imo a tank needs to be at least 18/24 months and stable for these to live. tank bred clowns have never seen a nem and dont need one to host, all will live around zoas, leathers, xenia etc. my pair of wild blue stripes host a torch coral.

slow down a bit mate, and try and reduce some of that livestock before its to late

steve

[berns]

ok we all love the the 2 clowns in a nem picture, thats why half of us get into marines, so if you want that then by all means go for that BUT give your tank some time to settle/mature cause thats the way to success, trying a nem to early can have a disasterous effect on your tank/livestock and your own interest in keeping marines.

so now you got something to look forward to when everything is stable and mature for your center piece attraction:D

removing the 2 big fish is good advice as these will course you lots of trouble in the near future plus once they gone you'll have room for a few more smaller fish and the future clowns:D

regarding clowns going into a nem, well most do eventually even the tank bred ones that have never seen a nem before but then you dont have to worry about the will they/wont they if you purchase a wild pair clowns or buy from someone selling theirs that use a nem;)

oh and snowflake clowns might look different but at that price you gotta be a bit of a snowflake yourself to buy them:p

good luck

[Tangman]

oh and snowflake clowns might look different but at that price you gotta be a bit of a snowflake yourself to buy them.


I like that bit Berns. :) made me smile. No offence Mike. Eric

[Reefer]

Mature your tank for 18months before adding an anenomae.
Leave your skimmer on.
Not having a fish die for a week is not a proud boast.
Slow down, stop getting excited.