TankBud

Variety of Ocellaris clownfish

Black Storm clownfish

Amphiprion ocellaris

One of 17 varieties of Amphiprion ocellaris · See all varieties →

SaltwaterFish

Black Storm clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris)
Biota · Used with permission

Varieties · Amphiprion ocellaris

See all 17 →

Care at a glance

Temperature
75–82°F
24–28°C
pH
8.1–8.4
Adult size
3.1 in
8 cm
Minimum tank
20 gal
75 L
Temperament
Mostly peaceful
Social behavior
Social
Swim level
Middle
Difficulty
Beginner
Breeding
Easy
Rarity
Very common
Reef safe
Reef safe
Family
Pomacentridae

Overview

A Black Storm is black and white with a fully white face and dark eyes. ORA says the face always stays white while the black patterning can take any number of forms. Body marbling comes out different on every fish, so shops photograph individuals rather than working to a set standard. ORA and Sea & Reef both produce fish under the name.

In the wild

Sea & Reef in Maine traces the line to late 2014, when a DaVinci crossed to a jet-black ocellaris produced its MochaVinci strain. One of those offspring turned jet black very early and carried an exaggerated white pattern with straighter lines. Paired to a black ocellaris, it gave the first Storm spawn in the Maine winter of 2015.

Good to know

ORA pairs a Black Storm male to a Black Snowflake female and gets black ocellaris, Black Storms and Snow Storms out of the same nest, and it describes the Snow Storm as the Snowflake and Storm mutations combined. That treats Storm as its own trait rather than a version of the Snowflake pattern. Sea & Reef says juveniles are dark brown and turn jet black at roughly one and a quarter to one and three quarter inches.

Did you know

The whole Storm family traces to one mutant fish. Its white was straighter than its MochaVinci siblings and it turned jet black far earlier, so it was paired to a black ocellaris rather than sold.

Symbiotic relationships

Clownfish and their host anemones

A clownfish lives inside an anemone that stings and eats other fish its size. Its mucus coat keeps the anemone's stinging cells from firing, and a new fish builds that protection up over hours of brief touches. The fish gets a refuge no predator will follow it into and a nest site at the anemone's base. The anemone gets a guard that drives off the butterflyfish that would graze its tentacles, a steady supply of nitrogen from the fish's waste, and water movement at night, when the fish fans its fins among the tentacles and the anemone takes up more oxygen. Only ten anemone species host clownfish in the wild, and each clownfish species uses its own short list of them.

Captive-bred clownfish have never seen an anemone and do not need one; they settle for a coral, a powerhead or a corner of the tank. If you want the pairing, the anemone is the harder animal by far and goes in first, into a mature tank with strong light and stable water, at the tank size its own profile lists. The bubble tip anemone is the hardy host, and the one most clownfish accept in captivity even when it is not a natural host, so a clownfish profile lists it as the usual tank host where that is the case. The sebae, magnificent and carpet anemones are marked difficult, and the carpets eat fish. Expect a paired clownfish to defend its anemone against everything else in the tank.

Every symbiotic relationship in the catalog

Weekly picks

Tank mates

Black Storm clownfish is a mostly peaceful, social species that keeps to the middle. These picks share a community profile with it, are safe together in both directions, and overlap on water type, temperature and pH.

Check the full mix in the stocking calculator

Common questions

Is a Black Storm clownfish a different species from the Ocellaris clownfish?

No. A Black Storm clownfish is a variety of the Ocellaris clownfish, Amphiprion ocellaris, and it wants the same tank, water and food as the species.

Where did the Black Storm clownfish come from?

One mutant fish. Sea & Reef traces the line to late 2014, when a DaVinci crossed to a jet-black ocellaris produced its MochaVinci strain, and one offspring turned jet black very early with a straighter white pattern. Paired to a black ocellaris, it gave the first Storm spawn in the Maine winter of 2015.

Do Black Storm clownfish always have a white face?

Yes. ORA says the face stays white while the body marbling can take any number of forms, so shops photograph individual fish. Sea & Reef says juveniles are dark brown and turn jet black at roughly one and a quarter to one and three quarter inches.

What size tank does a Black Storm clownfish need?

A Black Storm clownfish needs at least 20 gal (75 L). It spends most of its time in the middle.

How big does a Black Storm clownfish get?

An adult Black Storm clownfish reaches about 3.1 in (8 cm).

Related species