Keeping a solitary clownfish

[finleyd]

I'm thinking of keeping a single clownfish in my tank, but I'm not sure if it's a good idea. I've got a pretty small setup, so I want to make the most of it with a variety of small fish. My main concern is whether having one clown would be better or worse than having two that can interact with each other.

I'm probably looking at the perc clown, just because I've always liked them. But I'm also thinking about just getting two other small fish that can swim around and not really interact with each other. Does that make sense?

Thanks

[nixora]

I had a similar experience when I first started out - lost one of my clowns and the other one just wasn't the same for months afterwards. I've since added a new male and the difference is night and day, she's totally different now. I'd definitely recommend keeping two clowns, they interact with each other and it just looks right in the tank.

[rileyon]

Get two, they just don't seem natural on their own. I've got 5 clowns at the moment, 2 pairs and a single that's lost its mate, and it's really noticeable. The single one spends ages staring at its reflection in the corner, whereas the pairs patrol their areas and bob in and out of anemones happily. It's just not the same with one, if you ask me.

[coral8]

Fourthed, I've seen it myself, pairs of clowns just seem more natural and it's pretty entertaining to watch them interact with each other.