Saltwater Fish
Black Clowns.
Black ocellaris clownfish — the 'Darwin' form in deep black with crisp white bands. Every bit as hardy and personable as the orange clown; beginner-friendly, reef-safe, and happy to host in an anemone or soft coral.
In-store purchase only. Live fish, coral, and invertebrates are sold at our Erie store only. They cannot be bought online, and we do not ship live animals under any circumstances.
Live fish are priced per supplier batch — prices may vary. Call to confirm current pricing.
- Condition
- new
- Fulfillment
- Local pickup — Erie, PA
Live animals are sold in store only — we do not ship fish, coral, or invertebrates. Every animal is acclimated and health-checked in-house before it reaches the sales floor. This is a species we carry — it's most likely in the tanks around delivery days, but live stock changes daily. Please call (814) 456-9445 to confirm availability before you drive in.
Care at a glance
What to know before you take one home.
- Care level
- Beginner
- Temperament
- Semi aggressive
- Adult size
- 3"
- Min tank size
- 20 gallons
- Diet
- Omnivore
- Scientific name
- Amphiprion ocellaris
Good tank mates
Black ocellaris clownfish are peaceful enough for most reef communities and pair well with gobies, firefish, cardinalfish, dwarf angels, and similar calm marine fish. Keep only a single clownfish or a bonded pair per tank, since two unbonded clowns or a second pair will often fight, and avoid large aggressive predators or eels that may eat them. They are reef-safe and leave corals and most invertebrates alone.
Good to know
This black-and-white form is a captive-bred color variant of the same species as the common orange ocellaris, sometimes called the black ocellaris or darwin clownfish for the wild population it traces back to.
Stock and individual temperament vary — call (814) 456-9445 for pairing advice before you buy.
Good tankmates
Plays well with.
Species we’d keep in the same tank, with why each pairing works. Stock and individual temperament vary — call (814) 456-9445 to confirm before you buy.
New to stocking a tank? Read our guide on which fish live together.
Firefish Goby
Amphiprion ocellaris is one of the most docile clownfish species and poses no meaningful threat to firefish. Aggression in this species is entirely intraspecific (firefish vs. firefish); toward dissimilar tankmates like clownfish, firefish are passive and will simply retreat rather than escalate. The two occupy different water-column niches — clownfish near host anemone or rockwork, firefish hovering mid-column near the substrate entrance of their burrow — so territorial overlap is minimal.
Royal Gramma
Royal Grammas are territorial around a single chosen cave, and that defense is directed at fish with similar purple-yellow coloration or those that physically intrude on the cave. Clownfish share neither trait. Multiple authoritative sources confirm direct compatibility with clownfish; both species ignore each other in practice. Adequate rockwork (30+ gal tank) eliminates even theoretical stress.
Banggai Cardinalfish
A slow-moving, mid-water fish with no meaningful aggression toward dissimilar species. Reef2Reef community reports and published care guides confirm clownfish and Banggai cardinals peacefully coexist. The only documented aggression concern is male-vs-male intraspecific rivalry, which does not involve clownfish. Both species are reef-safe with identical salinity and temperature parameters.
Green Chromis
Interspecies behavior toward clownfish is reliably peaceful — chromis school in open water and ignore benthic or anemone-associated fish entirely. All documented aggression is intraspecific (dominance hierarchies within the school) and does not involve clownfish. Reef-safe, no fin-nipping toward clownfish, and water-parameter requirements overlap exactly with A. ocellaris.
Yellow Clown Goby
Tiny, docile fish that perches on coral branches well apart from clownfish territory near anemones or rockwork. The genus is broadly peaceful toward other fish species — intraspecific aggression (goby vs. goby) is the only documented concern. A single Reef2Reef report of aggression involves G. citrinus (citron goby), a notably more assertive species; the yellow and green Gobiodon species commonly sold are consistently described as non-aggressive community fish compatible with clownfish.
- T
Tail Spot Blenny
Occupies a completely different ecological niche — rock-grazing on algae and detritus — with no competitive overlap with clownfish territory or diet. Confirmed peaceful toward community reef fish including clownfish. Occasional coral polyp nipping is a reef-safety footnote tied to underfeeding, not relevant to fish-to-fish compatibility with clownfish.
Visit the store
660 East 14th Street,
Erie, PA.
Mon–Fri 12–6 · Sat 11–4 · Sun closed. Call ahead on livestock — what's on the floor rotates.