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

Mocha sits between orange and black, a coffee-brown body with the usual three bars. Color deepens with age, so a juvenile looks lighter and browner in a shop than it will after a year in your tank. Shade varies from fish to fish along that range, and some finish nearly black.

In the wild

The Mocha is one of the first designer clownfish, with hobby records going back to at least 2003 and CORAL Magazine crediting the German aquarist Wolfgang Mai. It comes from crossing an orange ocellaris to the black Darwin form of the same species, so both parents are Amphiprion ocellaris. The brown intermediate is a captive result and not a wild population.

Good to know

Brown is the halfway point in melanin expression between the orange and Darwin parents, and the trait blends instead of sorting into two clean types. Backcrossing a Mocha to an orange ocellaris gives the lighter Sunset Mocha, a fish that is three quarters ocellaris and one quarter Darwin black. Bring a Snowflake into the same orange-and-black cross and breeders report one spawn giving both Mochas and Black Ice.

Did you know

A surprising share of the designer market descends from this one cross. Bring in a Snowflake and you get Black Ice; swap the orange parent for a DaVinci and you get the MochaVinci that produced the Storm line.

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

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.

How big does a Mocha clownfish get?

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

Related species