Black Ice Longfin Clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris)

The Black Ice Longfin Clownfish is a designer Amphiprion ocellaris that stacks two of the best traits in the hobby onto one fish. The Black Ice side comes from crossing a Snowflake Ocellaris with a Black Ocellaris, which gives you the Snowflake's wide, irregular, hand-painted white bars sitting on a body that deepens toward black as the fish matures. The Longfin side adds the flowing, extended fins that turn every trip across the tank into a slow motion event. It is captive bred, so it eats prepared food from day one, and it is as hardy and beginner friendly as any clownfish. Browse the rest of our saltwater livestock and supplies to build the tank around it.

Care Guide

• Tank size: 20 gallons or larger for one or a pair. Clownfish claim a small territory and stay in it, so height and rockwork matter more than swimming length.
• Water parameters: 74 to 80°F, pH 8.1 to 8.4, salinity 1.020 to 1.026. Captive bred clowns are among the most forgiving marine fish you can start with.
• Flow: keep it moderate. Those long fins are beautiful but they are not efficient, and a longfin clown pushed around by a strong powerhead spends its day fighting the current instead of swimming.
• Feeding: omnivore, and an eager one. A quality marine pellet like PE Saltwater Pellets plus frozen PE Mysis a few times a week covers everything they need.
• Anemone: optional, and genuinely not required. If you do want the classic picture, an Entacmaea quadricolor bubble tip like our Snowflake Bulb Anemone or Green Bulb Anemone is the host they take to most readily in captivity. Wait until the tank is well established first.
• Lid: recommended. Clowns are not notorious jumpers, but a startled fish and an open rim is a bad combination.

Specifications

Compatibility

Peaceful with everything except other clownfish, and fully reef safe with corals, clams, and inverts including the Scarlet Skunk Cleaner Shrimp. Reliable tank mates include the Royal Gramma, Blue Green Chromis, Banggai Cardinal, Tailspot Blenny, and the Engineer Goby.

The longfin caveat. Those trailing fins are a target. Skip anything with a reputation for nipping, and think twice about fast, pushy fish that will beat a longfin to every meal. A Flame Hawkfish is fine, a determined fin nipper is not.

Adding more clowns. One clownfish per tank, or a pair, and that is the whole rule. Two clowns of different species will usually fight, and adding a second clown to an established adult only works if the newcomer is clearly smaller. If you want to explore other looks, we also carry the classic Ocellaris, the Black Ocellaris, the Wyoming White, and the Orange Skunk Clownfish.

Recommended Foods & Supplies

• PE Saltwater Pellets 2mm daily staple
• Piscine Energetics PE Mysis
• SFBB Mysis Shrimp Cube
• Xtreme Marine Krill Flakes
• Hikari Marine-S

FAQ

What exactly makes it a Black Ice?
It is the offspring of a Snowflake Ocellaris and a Black Ocellaris. The Snowflake parent contributes the wide, irregular white bars that bleed into each other, and the Black parent contributes the dark body. Cross the two and you get white patterning over deepening black, which is where the name comes from.

Will it get darker than the photo?
Almost certainly. Black Ice clowns darken with age, and a young fish that looks brown and orange today will keep pushing toward black over the following months. Bar patterns are also unique to each fish, so treat the photo as representative of the strain rather than a portrait of the exact fish in the tank.

Do I need an anemone?
No. Captive bred clowns have never seen one and are perfectly happy hosting a rock, a torch coral, a powerhead, or nothing at all. Anemones need mature, stable tanks and strong light, so treat one as a later upgrade rather than a starter purchase.

Can I buy a pair?
Yes, while both are here. Clownfish are protandrous, meaning every one starts out male and the dominant fish of a pair transitions to female, so two young fish introduced together will sort themselves out on their own. Buying both at once is far easier than trying to add a second one later.