Adults are white from nose to tail with an orange face and black fins, and there is no bar pattern left to grade. Juveniles ship before that finishes, so the fish you unpack looks paler and plainer than the adult photo. Expect to pay near the top of the percula range. ORA began releasing them in 2009, after years of work on the line.
In the wild
ORA developed the platinum by selectively breeding its Picasso clownfish over years until the white covered the whole fish. It has no counterpart in the ocean, and every one sold is captive bred. The foundation is the same 2004 pairing that started the Picasso line, a wild Solomon Islands male with an onyx female.
Good to know
ORA treats the platinum look as a mutation, and describes the gold nugget maroon as a mutation that behaves in a similar way. Whatever the mechanism, the finished fish shows none of the species' normal striping and reads as continuous white from head to tail. The black in the fins arrives with maturity, so age, not grade, explains a young fish's washed out look.
Did you know
A young platinum is not the finished fish. The black fins develop as it matures, and they set up a late contrast against the white body and orange face. That contrast is most of what people are paying for.
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.
Platinum 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.
Is a Platinum clownfish a different species from the Percula clownfish?
No. A Platinum clownfish is a variety of the Percula clownfish, Amphiprion percula, and it wants the same tank, water and food as the species.
How was the Platinum clownfish created?
ORA bred it from its Picasso line over years until the white covered the whole fish, and began releasing it in 2009. The foundation is the same 2004 pairing of a wild Solomon Islands male with an onyx female that started the Picassos. It has no counterpart in the ocean.
Why does a young Platinum clownfish look washed out?
It is not finished. Juveniles ship before the look completes, and the black fins develop as the fish matures, setting up the contrast against the white body and orange face that people are paying for.
What size tank does a Platinum clownfish need?
A Platinum clownfish needs at least 20 gal (75 L). It spends most of its time in the middle.
How big does a Platinum clownfish get?
An adult Platinum clownfish reaches about 3.1 in (8 cm).
3.1 in (8 cm)20 gal (75 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)
3.5 in (9 cm)30 gal (115 L)75–81°F (24–27°C)
3.9 in (10 cm)30 gal (115 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)
4.3 in (11 cm)26 gal (100 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)
4.7 in (12 cm)30 gal (115 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)
5.1 in (13 cm)40 gal (150 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)