Top 5 Myths About Captive Bred Clownfish

There is no question that breeding and successfully raising clownfish in captivity has been one of the major success stories of our industry. Clownfish have been bred now for over 20 years and they are still one of the most popular fish for the aquarium industry. However, their popularity has also come with some controversy. Unfortunately, there's been some misinformation spread about captive raised clownfish in our industry in general. So today we're going to go over five of the most common myths with captive raised clownfish and if you stick around we're going to show you one myth we dispelled in a single day.

The first myth we're going to dispel is that captive raised clownfish are not as active as wild caught clownfish. Unfortunately this myth is spread by a handful of aquarium stores who are trying to sell you wild caught fish over a captive raised fish. Don't be fooled, this is obviously a myth as tank-raised clownfish are usually quite the opposite. Since hatching from an egg these fish have been associated with being fed by humans and they become excited when they see people approaching an aquarium. Many aquarists actually become attached to their tank-raised clownfish as they are always happy to see them. Unlike wild caught clowns, tank-raised clowns are already used to being in an aquarium, they're used to being fed artificial diets and they're used to being around people so they'd show absolutely no shyness at all.

The second myth we're going to dispel is that tank-raised clownfish don't live very long in an aquarium. This is absolutely not true and some people have kept clownfish for over 20 years in their aquarium. In fact, hobbyists will actually have better success at keeping captive bred clownfish over wild-caught clownfish. Think about it, captive bred clownfish have been raised in an aquarium tank. They're already used to humans, they're already used to eating artificial diets and frozen foods and they've been acclimated to being around other fish. So overall, they are less stressed. Just like humans, less stress leads to a longer lifespan and if you keep your fish in a healthy environment, they're going to live a long time.

Myth number three: that captive bred clownfish will not breed with each other. This is absolutely not true and captive bred clownfish will absolutely breed with each other. Mother nature does not change how clownfish sexually mature in an aquarium and most captive bred clownfish are easy to breed in a home aquarium. You can even find bonded pairs available for purchase with a larger female and a smaller male at aquarium stores. And while breeding clownfish and having the female lay eggs may be easy, if you want to successfully hatch the eggs and rear the juveniles, you need to be well prepared. Luckily, there's a lot of information and videos on this subject especially on the feeding requirements. But many, many hobbyists have a great success breeding clownfish in their home aquarium and with the many colors they're available in now, some of them have actually named these designer clowns themselves.

Myth number four on our list is you cannot keep captive bred clownfish together in an aquarium. Clownfish are one of the most popular species to film in the wild especially when they're hosting inside in an anemone. When they have their small territory, they're always on the offensive or defensive and will often attack other fish that may be getting into their territory. Tank-raised clownfish are not nearly as aggressive as wild-caught clownfish. They've been raised with many other fish and without a host anemone, so they're often not nearly as territorial. They are much less likely to be aggressive towards other fish in an aquarium. And if you want to keep multiple clownfish or try and mix species, add them to the aquarium all at one time when they're younger fish. This allows them to familiarize themselves with the other fish in the aquarium and as they grow up together, they're usually very peaceful with each other.

Our last myth is also the most common myth about captive bred clownfish: that they will not host in an anemone in your aquarium. This myth is absolutely not true and we're going to show you why in just a minute. But before you get excited about keeping an anemone with your clownfish, you need to be prepared for what you're in store for. While captive raised clownfish will absolutely host in an anemone, they don't need one to survive. But having a clownfish hosting with an anemone in your aquarium is not what all aquarists think and will absolutely change the dynamics of your aquarium completely. Anemones are movers and they will often move around the aquarium until they find their spot. While moving around, they can also sting and damage other coral and invertebrates. Once a clownfish has hosted within an anemone or coral, they are often going to become a bit territorial and might become aggressive. This may change the entire dynamic of how your fish get along with each other and some anemones have very special needs in terms of light, water movement and feeding, so it's best to check with your aquarium store and cover any of these special requirements before purchasing an anemone.

This myth was really easy for us to dispel and here's a perfect example of why. After 24 hours of adding some captive bred clownfish to our reef tank, this Cinnamon Clown found it's home and hosted in a large polyp coral that we have. Right next to it, a Clarkii Clown hosted with our Elegance Coral. While the Cinnamon Clown is not aggressive towards any other fish, the Clarkii did become a bit territorial with its elegance towards the other clowns, except for the Cinnamon Clown. While this is a great dynamic to watch, we're also going to have to keep an eye on how these two interact with each other and with the other fish in their aquarium. Thanks so much for watching our video and we hope this dispels some of the myths often associated with captive bred clownfish. They are truly a spectacular fish to keep in your aquarium and we'd like to give a shout out to Oceans, Reefs and Aquariums. The ORA farm has made tremendous strides at aqua-culturing fish and coral, especially clownfish. If you're interested in more aquarium tips like we've gone over today, don't forget to click that subscribe button.