The Tomato Clownfish, also known as the Bridled Clownfish or Red Clownfish, is found throughout the Pacific, almost always in association with an anemone such as Bubbletip Sea Anemone (Entacmaea quadricolor). The Tomato Clownfish has a wider distribution than the Fire Clown, which is usually restricted to the Indo-Pacific reefs. It has also been known to use coral as a host in the absence of an anemone.
The Tomato Clownfish is a bright orange-red with one white vertical stripe behind the eyes. It can attain a length in the wild of 5 inches, but it usually reaches a maximum of 3.5 inches in an aquarium.
The very hardy Tomato Clownfish can be housed with most fish that will not eat it and is a good choice for tank-cycling. It should not be housed with any shy or passive feeding fish, as the Tomato Clownfish tends to be somewhat territorial and aggressive with conspecifics and as it gets older.
As with all clownfish, most are born as males, and the dominant male will change to a female.
An aggressive eater, the Tomato Clownfish will consume most meaty foods and herbivore preparations.
Approximate Purchase Size: Small: 3/4" to 1-1/4"; Medium: 1-1/4" to 2-1/2"; Large: 2-1/2" to 4"
Testimonial By:
Testimonial:
Gabriel M Stockton, CA
I have my Tomato Clown in with 3 Chromis and she does a great job of chasing them just enough to make them school without hurting anyone. She loves to patrol her turf back and forth both through and over the rockwork. Very fun to watch her do her thing.
I have had this fish in my 55 gallon aquarium for a day now. It is a two inch male and he is doing great. His tankmates are a Pearlscale Butterflyfish, a Blue Damsel, a Yellowtail Damsel, a Cleaner Shrimp, a snail, and a red Fiddler Crab. He has shown no sign of agression. No sign of sickness - he's very healthy. I highly recommend the Tomato Clownfish.
I purchased two Tomato Clowns and they are the life of the tank. They both move through the tank and are very friendly. My whole tank consists of Clowns and they are very good fish for a beginner!
I started my tank out with a Tomato Clown and a Yellow Tang. They are both very hardy and get along very well. The Tomato Clown took no time at all to acclimate and was exploring the tank immediately while the Yellow Tang hid for a while until the Clown would coax him out to play.
We have a mated pair of Tomato Clowns in a 70 gallon tank that lay eggs every few weeks. They are very active but are aggressively territorial around their anenome. Beware: after being introduced to the tank, they did kill off our yellow goby, two of our chromis, and all four of our cardinals.
I've had problems in the past with clowns developing a type of marine ich. The specimen I received from LiveAquaria had no such problems. It was in the best of shape and health and shipped beautifully. It was quite clear to me that this fish had been checked out extensively before shipping and the result was a wonderful addition to my tank.
On my top list of favorite clownfish. I have one which I would guess at saying is a male. He has grown into quite a beautiful specimen. He is not too aggressive, but has some attitude to make it a great fish that you'll learn to love. Great fish for first timers in my opinon.
