Keeper Of the Peace?

If you've been following along here, you've seen that we very, (and we mean very) recently announced that we have not only aquacultured Peacekeeper Maroon Clownfish (Amphiprion biaculeatus) here at QM Labs, but that they are also now available to our retail partners in limited quantities. They're another great success story for QM Labs as we now offer our affiliates over 25 species that are aquacultured in house as well as hundreds more from our aquaculture partner facilities both domestically and around the globe!

Maroon Clowns have always been a showpiece fish because of their sheer size as they get twice as big as some of the Amphiprion species, and they show starkly different coloration than any other Clownfish. The advent of lighting clowns several years back now opened eyes up to a whole new possibility range with Maroons, and the Peacekeeper are now front and center popularity wise. They feature larger areas of pattern coverage across their body and face with irregular lines, spots and blotches of patterning; every single fish is as unique as a fingerprint. When the very first Peacekeepers were aquacultured overseas, it was pontified that they would be more peaceful than their wild caught brethren and this is not true, as of this stage in their aquaculture, they are just as pugnacious as the wild fish.

Peacekeeper Clowns can be kept in aquariums as small as 40 gallons, and like any other clownfish, they're not all that picky about décor, or water chemistry. They'll like a tank that has plenty of rockwork and will like some sand to push around a bit, but don't need it. When planning the rocks, it's more about the other fish in the aquarium than it is about the Maroon. Peacekeepers will get territorial as they get bigger, and you'll want the tank to be set up in a way where there are plenty of broken sight lines so other fish can have places to get out of the way. Filtration should be strong, and water quality should be good. Keep up the water changes and tank maintenance to keep your nitrates under 5ppm.

Like all clowns, Peacekeepers don't need an anemone to call home, but if you decide to keep one, you'll find that they are pretty adaptable as to which species they'll accept. The most natural pairing is a Bubble Tip Anemone and among those, the most popular is the Rose Bubble, but Amphiprion biaculeatus will almost always also accept Green Bubble Tips and Long Tentacle Anemones, and we've seen them occasionally accept Stichlodactyla Carpets as well. In lieu of anemones, we've seen them set up shop in Duncan Corals, Pumping Xenia, Toadstool Leathers and even inanimate items like powerheads and clay pots.

One of the most important aspects of keeping any Maroon Clownfish is what you choose to keep them with. They're aggressive and need to be kept with other fish that can stand up to this. Fish like Domino Damsels, Fiji Blue Devils, Dwarf Lionfish, Thalassoma Wrasses and Triggerfish all make great aquarium mates for them. Avoid docile / timid fish as they are sure to be bullied into hiding or worse. There's lots more options, but do some research on any fish you choose before adding them to a tank with Peacekeeper Clowns in it. You'll also probably want to add those fish when the lights are off and maybe rearrange some rock-scape at the same time.

The next most important aspect of keeping Peacekeepers in getting them a well-rounded diet. They need meaty food, but they also need a nutritionally well rounded, high protein diet and as such, they'll do much better, show better colors and remain healthier long term if a large portion of their diet is a high-quality pellet like Nutramar Complete, which we feed them here at Quality Marine. The diet is the single most important aspect of keeping them free of HLLE, which you'll occasionally see on older fish that haven't been fed this way. In house we feed them twice a day, and for variety we also mix in bunch of different frozen foods from Gamma, like Chopped Prawn, Chopped Mussel, Mysis and Bloodworm.

Maroon clowns of all sorts are amazing aquarium fish, they get bigger than other clowns, but not so big they can't be kept in moderate sized aquariums. They're hardy as all get out and they're gorgeous, and now they're even more so. If you are interested in having one of our first aquacultured Peacekeeper Clowns for your own aquarium, get to your Local Fish Store immediately and tell them you want a QM Labs Peacekeeper Clown today!