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Graceful Ocellaris Clown

By Florence Cortez

September 15, 2001

I would like to tell a story about a short episode regarding the life of two still existing little graceful clownfish. Here goes ……

Three weeks ago I brought home two Ocellaris Clownfish. It cost $21 including tax. This low price tag signifies their youthful existence, meaning to say they may be called babies or adolescent, I don't know for sure. Adults would have cost more. They are about the same size, roughly over an inch, and are tank raised according to the intended legend nearby.

Brown algae covered all the walls of my tank, its substrate, PVCS, etc. One can see nothing beyond the glass walls, or any grain of sand or gravel. That is how prolific the brown algae were. Any viewer would think that nothing could survive in that tank. During the first couple of weeks of the transfer, they ignored the brown algae. They have great appetite for live brine shrimp, which is all they are fed with since my acquisition thereof. Tank condition did not bother them at all, ever.

Let me introduce you to my babies. They were baptized Brownie and Rosie. Brownie is yellowish brown, while Rosie is pinkish. Hence, such names.

Here are my interesting observations after one week:

Brownie would twitch, tremble, and charge by swimming with its perpendicular body position towards Rosie, pectoral fins flapping fast. However, it doesn't bite Rosie.
Rosie remained calm, not being afraid at all.
They are routinely swimming along side each other.
They used to sleep in different quarters, but not last night. Even though they didn't sleep right next to each other, they are within 2 inches apart.
Rosie sleeps inside a PVC pipe. Last night Brownie was hanging out above it. Rosie extended its head outside the PVC pipe, looked up at Brownie, speedily flapping is pectoral fins then swim towards Brownie with open mouth as though threatening to bite. As it got close to Brownie, it calmed down.
For over a week they had been biting on the walls of the tank and eating the brown algae. In the beginning they bit once in a while. But now they are doing it more often. One can see through the glass walls again. They have partially cleared of brown algae. The PVC, the sand and the gravel are now visible.
Two days ago, they were not eating brine shrimp a lot. They would be in a frenzy chasing after them, would gulp some down their gills. But, at times they would also spit them out. This is the usual behavior for most fishes when the stomachs become full. I suspect that they must not be hungry because they had been eating the brown algae.
Today I fed them rotifers instead of brine shrimp. Again, they were in a frenzy chasing after them, much more bewildered than they were with brine shrimp, as though there was a stampede of sort. So much fun to watch!!
Brownie and Rosie swim and breath like any other healthy clownfishes. They are very graceful.

Researching through articles regarding clownfishes I learned the quite a bit. The following are those lessons that sounds familiar to Brownie and Rosie:

Anemone fishes in the wild do not eat prey that they cannot swallow whole. They feed on zooplankton and algae instead.
Not all anemone fishes display size differences between genders.
During adolescent, 2 clownfish would exhibit open-mouth attack, twitching and fleeing, body trembling and tilting. This is commonly described as "bickering." This is how they vie for dominance. After several months, the male, female gender would be established.

End of the story for now …………. shall come back when partnership takes place.

Reference: Scott Michael, Aquarium Fish Magazine, June 2001
Joyce D. Wilkerson, Clownfishes