When the average person thinks of a saltwater fish I bet the image that most often comes to mind is that of a clownfish snuggling happily with their host anemone. Clownfish are easily bred and the aquarist probably more often runs into captive rasied specimens than wild these days. Whenever possible the farm raised ones should be bought as they are hardier and used to conditions in captivity.

Maroon clowns grow to be one of the largest and often the most agressive of all the clownfish. Many people report that their maroons bite and even draw blood when the owner reaches into the tank to perform maintenance of some kind. They are often seen hosting in bubble tip anemones in the wild but in captivity that may associate themselves with other anemones. As well all know in this hobby, nothing is set in stone. The same species of fish can vary as much in personality as humans.

Clownfish start their lives as neither male nor female. In the group they live in the largest clownfish becomes a female while the next largest becomes male. The rest in the group keep themselves neutral until a spot opens up. In the home aquarium, clowns should be kept in pairs at most and never mix different kinds unless the tank is extraordinarily large and even then it's not recommended. They can be bought in mated pairs but sometimes the aquarist can get themselves a mated pair by keeping one clown for a little while and then adding another, much larger clown. Adding the smaller first and allowing it time to establish itself will give the smaller guy the home advantage when a larger clown is added.

Many times a new aquarist thinks that to keep a clownfish they must keep an anemone for the clown to host in. This is not the case. The clown will not miss not having an anemone at all, especially if it's a captive raised clown. This is not to say captive raised clowns will not take to one. Just because they are bred in captivity you can't remove instinct that easily.

Maroon clowns like most others will accept a great variety of food and have always accepted anything I've offered in terms of marine fare. They get along with most other fish that can't eat them and usually only go after tankmates when they venture too close to the clowns anemone or territory.