# Clown Fish Purchase - Pairing



## bigfishy (Dec 6, 2010)

Hiyea!

As of now I have an empty 17g tank. It's done it's cycle and i've got purpler algae growing. Peppermint shrimp and Emerald crab have done well for two weeks. Yesterday i brought a sample of water to the fish store and the water is good. Only thing was the Calcium was a tad high. 520-ish. They said a water change should do the trick. Fish store guy didn't like Oceanic salt mix I use.

Anyways, I'm adding my first fish and I was thinking of a baby Black and White Ocellaris Clownfish. 

Two questions ... 

1. If you only have one clown fish, would the clown fish stay a male?
2. Would it be best to add two baby clown fish at the same time or just stay with the one? I'd like to only have one, but if two are better cause of pairing then I'll get two. Remember I have a small tank.

Thanks


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## Mattcot (Nov 10, 2010)

I am about to get a pair of tank bred Ocellaris Clownfish and i only have a 13G tank.
when you get your fish post sum pic's.
is am getting so excited. :-D


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## bigfishy (Dec 6, 2010)

I ended up not buying any fish yesterday. All my stats to my tank are good, except my calcium. For some reason it's high (around 550). That's bad! So, I decided to get that under control before I get fishes. I have a Peppermint shrimp and he's doing great, but I also have a Emerald Crab and he's not doing so hot. I've got to get the tank under control before I add any fish.


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## njudson (May 21, 2009)

If you are using Oceanic salt mix and have a young tank that isn't using much calcium yet it makes sense you have Ca 500+. Personally I would not worry about this. Feel free to start stocking. I doubt your Ca will start to drop until you have lots of coralline algae and corals growing.

I know many people who use Oceanic salt because it mixes up with high Calcium and they don't need to dose quite as much.


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## bigfishy (Dec 6, 2010)

When I do add coral, will the high level of Ca affect them? The water levels are perfect except for the high Ca.


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## iamtommy714 (Dec 18, 2010)

i have about 6 corals in my 20g tank and ran into the same problem about 2 weeks ago. i did a 5g water change and it dropped to about 450 which is where i like to keep it at.

i want to get a pair of clown fishes too but im reading on the quarantining process. =/ boo. lol


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## Pasfur (Mar 29, 2008)

bigfishy said:


> When I do add coral, will the high level of Ca affect them? The water levels are perfect except for the high Ca.


550ppm is high for sure. It shouldn't cause any problems, assuming you don't accidentally increase the pH, in which case the calcium could precipitate out of solution. So, as long as Calcium is high, I would avoid adding any buffers or pH additives, and don't use Kalkwasser.


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