TankBud

Variety of Ocellaris clownfish

Mocha clownfish

Amphiprion ocellaris

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

Also known as Mocha Ocellaris Clownfish

SaltwaterFish

Mocha 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

The mocha clownfish sits between orange and black, with a coffee-brown body and the usual three bars. It is a hardy fish for the middle of a reef tank and a good choice for a first saltwater tank.

Did you know

The mocha clownfish comes from one cross, and a surprising share of the designer market descends from it. Breeders report that adding a Snowflake to that cross gives mochas and Black Ice in the same spawn. If you swap the orange parent for a DaVinci, you get the MochaVinci, which produced the Storm line.

Caring for the mocha clownfish

Keep a mocha clownfish singly or as a bonded pair in a tank of at least 20 gal (75 L). It is reef safe and stays in a small territory around its chosen host. It does not need a live anemone, and it will often adopt a coral, a powerhead or a patch of rock instead.

Hold the water at 75 to 82°F (24 to 28°C) with a pH of 8.1 to 8.4. A mocha clownfish accepts virtually all prepared, frozen and live foods.

The mocha clownfish is mostly peaceful and rarely bothers other species. It can be territorial toward other clownfish, though, and will usually harass a second clown that is not its mate. All clownfish are born male. The largest, most dominant fish in a group becomes the female, so she is the bigger fish of a pair.

Mocha clownfish are easy to breed, and their species is among the most widely captive-bred marine fish. That is why tank-raised stock is so hardy.

Good to know

The mocha clownfish's brown is the halfway point in melanin expression between its orange and Darwin parents. The trait blends instead of sorting into two clean types. Backcrossing a mocha to an orange ocellaris gives the lighter Sunset Mocha, which is three quarters ocellaris and one quarter Darwin black.

In the wild

The mocha clownfish is one of the first designer clownfish.

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

The mocha 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 mocha clownfish a different species from the Ocellaris clownfish?

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

How was the Mocha clownfish made?

By crossing an orange ocellaris to the black Darwin form of the same species, so both parents are Amphiprion ocellaris. Hobby records go back to at least 2003 and CORAL Magazine credits the German aquarist Wolfgang Mai. The brown is a captive result, not a wild population.

Will a Mocha clownfish get darker?

Yes. Color deepens with age, so a juvenile looks lighter and browner in the shop than after a year in your tank. Shade varies from fish to fish and some finish nearly black.

What size tank does a mocha clownfish need?

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

What does a mocha clownfish eat?

A mocha clownfish eats virtually all prepared, frozen and live foods.

How big does a mocha clownfish get?

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

How can you tell a male mocha clownfish from a female?

Males are the smaller fish of a pair. Mocha clownfish are all born male, and the largest, most dominant fish in a group becomes the female.

How does a mocha clownfish breed?

Mocha clownfish are easy to breed. Their species is among the most widely captive-bred marine fish, and tank-raised stock is hardy.

Related species