The most beautiful Tomato Clown I ever saw

[Chihuahua6]

I just purchased an almost pair of Tomato Clownfish at a LFS today, exactly what I was looking for. I was going to try and pair them myself and then I spotted these two in a tank together. They have been together at the store for about 1 1/2 weeks and never fought but aren't exactly a couple either.

They are now in my 30 gal cube. She chases him away here and there but not in an overly aggressive way and doesn't hurt him. She is close to three inches and he's around two inches.

Her colors are absolutely stunning and my horrible blurry photos were the best that I could do but do not do her justice. She's black with a bright orange face and yellow fins. Tomorrow evening I am picking up a large rose bta from a local reefer. Right now she is being hosted by a cave in the rockwork.

Edited to add that I can't get my photos from Photobucket to upload from my phone. Can someone do it for me? My username is AmandaChihuahua. Thanks.

[k.tran]

[2Addicted]

here you go. The female is a cinnamon clownfish not a tomato.

[Chihuahua6]

Thank you so much for posting my horrible pics : ) I couldn't get her to stay still enough to keep it from blurring. I had thought about her being a cinnamon but thought the redness made her more likely a tomato. Is that why her tail and fins are yellow? I need to study more pictures I guess but I just love her colors.

[Winwood]

Yup, cinnamon = melanopus, tomato = frenatus. Beautiful specimen by the way!

[2Addicted]

Originally Posted by Chihuahua6

Thank you so much for posting my horrible pics : ) I couldn't get her to stay still enough to keep it from blurring. I had thought about her being a cinnamon but thought the redness made her more likely a tomato. Is that why her tail and fins are yellow? I need to study more pictures I guess but I just love her colors.

She is nice. I have a barless melanopus. She is pretty much like your female but without the white stripe. Her colors are very bright.

[Chihuahua6]

Barless? That's interesting. I never knew these fish were so pretty. I thought they were just a duller orange than the tomatoes but my female is actually brighter and the contrasting yellow fins are just stunning. Had I known I would be looking for a pair of cinnamons. I'm glad they're an odd pair anyway. It's kind of neat having both types together.

Ok so here's a question. If they ended up spawning would the fry be normal? Would they survive? Would they be sterile?

[phender]

Originally Posted by Chihuahua6

Barless? That's interesting. I never knew these fish were so pretty. I thought they were just a duller orange than the tomatoes but my female is actually brighter and the contrasting yellow fins are just stunning. Had I known I would be looking for a pair of cinnamons. I'm glad they're an odd pair anyway. It's kind of neat having both types together.

Ok so here's a question. If they ended up spawning would the fry be normal? Would they survive? Would they be sterile?

You are very lucky. The yellow on most melanopus is not nearly that bright. There is only one location where the colors are like that (I forget where)

If you mean by "normal" that they have all their right parts in the right places, then yes. Yes they will survive (if you learn how to raise them) and no they won't be sterile. The problem for me is that you have an extraordinary melanopus. By breeding it to a tomato clown (frenatus) you are only going to dull down the babies. Why not make an effort to find another melanopus with at least some decent color and breed some extraordinary melanopus babies?

[gregmoeck]

nice, im bored with my percula pair. I might get a pair of tomatoes or a pair of maroons next

[Chihuahua6]

Phender now you have me thinking. I wasn't looking to breed at this time, just wanted a pair for my little anemone tank. Knowing myself however, I will probably try raising clown babies in the near future. When I'm ready I will take your advice and find the prettiest little male that I can find : )

[James404]

Amanda may I ask what LFS you got them from? Beautiful cinnamon for sure.

[criccio]

Are you thinking Coral Sea Phil?

[goat585]

She is a coral sea melanopus, I have a young pair. ORA is raising them and has them on their website

[Chihuahua6]

Originally Posted by James404

Amanda may I ask what LFS you got them from? Beautiful cinnamon for sure.

Aqua Hut in Coram. I didn't see any others like her. I think she was the only cinnamon actually.

That's great that ORA has them. I'm going to check it out.

[velvetelvis]

Originally Posted by phender

You are very lucky. The yellow on most melanopus is not nearly that bright. There is only one location where the colors are like that (I forget where)

If you mean by "normal" that they have all their right parts in the right places, then yes. Yes they will survive (if you learn how to raise them) and no they won't be sterile. The problem for me is that you have an extraordinary melanopus. By breeding it to a tomato clown (frenatus) you are only going to dull down the babies. Why not make an effort to find another melanopus with at least some decent color and breed some extraordinary melanopus babies?

Unless you're planning to raise up the fry (if they produce any), I don't really see any reason to break up a bonded pair. I would just enjoy them.

[Gary Majchrzak]

but I would seek out another CS melanopus for that special fish. Very nice!