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Variety of Ocellaris clownfish

Midnight Lightning clownfish

Amphiprion ocellaris

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

SaltwaterFish

Midnight Lightning clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris)

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

Midnight Lightning fish are near-black with thin white filigree. Sea & Reef says most carry a white head stripe with a jagged snowflake-like pattern plus a lightning bolt marking between the first and second dorsal fin. Some fish have no third stripe, and some carry a second bolt where the third stripe would be, so buy from a photo of the fish itself.

In the wild

Sea & Reef lists its Midnight Lightning as a Midnight crossed with a Phantom, both captive ocellaris lines. ORA describes the Midnight itself as a natural mutation discovered in its grow-out systems and selectively bred from there. Sea & Reef says early juveniles are brownish and develop deep black as they grow, with the face the last part to darken. Nothing in the wild resembles the pattern.

Good to know

The Midnight side of the cross is what breaks the bars up: ORA reports Midnight offspring ranging from completely stripeless to extreme misbars. What survives on a Midnight Lightning is a jagged, snowflake-like remnant of the head stripe and a bolt on the back rather than three intact bars. The change is in pattern and ground color, not in fin or body shape.

Did you know

The bolt sits in one specific place. Sea & Reef puts it between the first and second dorsal fin, and a fish missing its third stripe sometimes carries a second bolt in that spot instead.

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

Midnight Lightning 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 Midnight Lightning clownfish a different species from the Ocellaris clownfish?

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

What does the bolt on a Midnight Lightning clownfish look like?

A white bolt between the first and second dorsal fin on a near-black fish, usually with a jagged, snowflake-like remnant of the head stripe. Some fish have no third stripe, and some carry a second bolt where it would be, so buy from a photo of the fish itself.

Will a Midnight Lightning clownfish get darker?

Yes. Sea & Reef says early juveniles are brownish and develop deep black as they grow, with the face the last part to darken. The line is a Midnight crossed with a Phantom, both captive ocellaris lines.

What size tank does a Midnight Lightning clownfish need?

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

How big does a Midnight Lightning clownfish get?

An adult Midnight Lightning clownfish reaches about 3.1 in (8 cm).

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