need some advice clown/anemone tank

[fish keeper 7]

Okay so i have this 20g hex with 3 fish in it and it really serves no real purpose but just housing fish i dont want to get rid of unles its for a good cause

I want to start a new project. get a few small clowns, maybe 2 naked and 2 snowflake or true percula. (ill have at least a 10-20g sump attached to it but ill do bi weekly water changes to the parameters stay consistent.

and i want to put a few BTA in there as well.

anyone have any advice on about how to go about doing this? rock structure? water flow? its 10 in high and 18 in across i believe.

i have limited funds so i wont be getting the best of everything. just enough to get by, and then a little more (id never use the bear minimum for a SW tank) so its pretty much a clown/anemone nano.

any tips would be great.

 

[JimmyR1rider]

Thats way too small of a tank for 4 clowns alone nevermind 4 clowns and an anemone.------If I read it right and the 20 hex is the new project tank that your gonna try to put the clowns and anemone in.

 

[russellbravo]

nems love crevices to plant their foot in.
and u might have a problem with 4 clowns.

there will be a showdown for the anemone.

 

[fish keeper 7]

i dont want just 1 anemone, i want multiple, and jimmy, 4 clowns, only problem would be water quality, do 10% 2x a week, or 20 ever week or other week, test every few days. and quality would be fine. im doing this no matter what.
i just want ideas on how to make it work, not reasons why it wouldnt.

like how much LR would you put in it and how much flow and where to direct that flow? like put a powerhead in the back, have it face one of the walls in the tank, direct it downward a little bit and have the flow like spiraling down the tank?

Lighting would be 2x 18w T5 HO blue 460 actnitics & 10k bulb.

 

[Killerdrgn]

No water quality is not the only problem. Don't forget fish, like people, will grow. And you already said you have 3 fish in there already.

 

[SevTT]

I wouldn't recommend housing more than two clownfish in such a small tank, even with multiple anemones. The first two to pair up and start laying eggs would likely kill the other two. Clownfish, once they claim a place as home, are aggressive little psychos.

 

[fish keeper 7]

the other fish wouldnt be in there anymore if i put the clowns and anemone in there. and i would put them all in at the same time. ive had clowns in there before and there wasnt a problem had them in there for a few weeks while i got my DT back in order early 2009. so pretend like im putting two clowns in there. i just want some advice on how much LR and lighting i should use and what kind of flow. i want like 2-3 RBTas. (i would get them when they are small and when they grow large i can either split them and move one piece, or just move it all together.)

 

[fcamargo6thave]

Hold on I thought that if you house 2 different species of clowns they will eventually fight till death? not sure but thats what i always thought i could be wrong.

 

[Reeftanker3295]

Snowflake/percula/naked clowns are similar and MAY get along but I think a 20 is way too small for an anemone tank... Get at least a 40-50 gallon for an anemone tank.

 

[fish keeper 7]

okay so i decided to do my idea in a 30g high cube instead of the 20g hex. just makes my life a little mor complicated due to fish placement now between my 3 tanks. as im going to keep my 46g bow a fowlr with maybe some LPS, the 20 hex a dominant LPS tank with a PC or t5 fixture the best i can find for the cheapest price. and do the 40g cube as the anemone clownfish tank and maybe an eleagance coral once my anemones have set themselves in a spot they like.

so any tips? its now a cube no longer a hex.

the filtration is 2 HOB one running carbon and 1 running w. some rubble in it and going to set up my in tank refugium. i also will get another 25 lbs of sand and make it a DSB.

any suggestions? will the HoB's(one is in the back and one is on the right side. and one maxijet 400 be enough flow?

 

[cthoughts1]

Hey fishkeeper good idea with the cube - you'll probably get a little more air surface to water space. Also you may actually be able to set up a fuge in the rock/rubble hob, just buy a light to put on top of it, PM me if you have any questions I have one set up in that manner. In terns of the live rock i'd recommend the more the better, obviously subject to your asthetic liking. The rock helps quite a bit with the filtration. I'd also consider a koralia 2 in there in addition to the other flow you already have.

Also my experience in trying to keep more than one clownfish pair in the tank wasn't too successful (and that was in a 75 gallon tank). Clowns are very territorial. I tried it many different ways (less aggressive first then more aggressive, and vice versa, etc) with different types of clowns (black clowns and orange, etc) and it never worked. Once I thought I figured it out, I had 2 pairs in there for about 3-4 months only to come home one day to find my orange clowns pushed into a little corner. After about a year and a half of trying I finally gave up and kept my favorite clown pair. PM me if you have any questions, I Hope I can save you a potential headache.

 

[ClosetFishGeek]

Having multiple Bubble tips will not be a problem in this tank, however they do get quite large. I would keep only one pair of clowns especially in this size tank. Now with this being said I have two pairs of clowns sharing over 20 bubble tips in a rather large area....probably equal to a 125 dedicated to anemones. This will give you an idea of the way I set my area up for anemones. http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/tank-threads/64544-here-we-go-again-500gallon-build-22.html check out post #218. They tend to like cracks and crevices in rocks to put there foot in to secure themself. The rockscape should have some high points as well as low points.(some of my bta's like being high and others like being lower). Trust me they will find a spot they like. With regards to flow I have 2 vortecs wide open in reef crest mode a foot away from the island. When ever I add an anemone I turn them completely down for a day(it gives them time to get a footing) My lighting is 250 watt radium with a 5 hour light period. Hope this helps you....

Thane

 

[SevTT]

the other fish wouldnt be in there anymore if i put the clowns and anemone in there. and i would put them all in at the same time. ive had clowns in there before and there wasnt a problem had them in there for a few weeks while i got my DT back in order early 2009. so pretend like im putting two clowns in there. i just want some advice on how much LR and lighting i should use and what kind of flow. i want like 2-3 RBTas. (i would get them when they are small and when they grow large i can either split them and move one piece, or just move it all together.)

I love how people ask for advice and then decide to ignore the piece of advice that most people are screaming. Why insult us by wasting our time?

First off, clownfish behavior, as with most fish, changes significantly as they reach breeding condition. If you just bought them, particularly if they were tank-raised, it's unlikely that they were quite of age yet.

Second, clownfish behavior, as with most fish, changes significantly when they establish a territory. When they host in an anemone, they're even more territorial. The clownfish you had together previously most likely hadn't fully settled in yet.

 

[NYreefNoob]

i just want ideas on how to make it work, not reasons why it wouldnt

so you just want someone to confirm what your doing will work ? as stated several times 4 clowns in there even at a 40g isnt much room, and if you do it make sure 3 are small and only 1 female, i have 4 in my 80g with 2 bta's and they still quarrel. clowns can become very nasty over their property. and lighting you would have needed more then what you planned to do, bta's need light. i run 2 mp 40's 8 bulb t5 over a 3x2x22" tank they like to stick their foot in a crevice and do move and will move

 

[fish keeper 7]

i was just so set on 4 pairs that i was hoping that wasnt what people were going to concentrate on when giving feedback but thanks guys im going to consider the 1 pair of clowns instead.

sevt- i put all of my clowns in at the same time so from what i saw when territories were established they were on different sides of the tank one pair having the large carpet anemone and the other having the small sebae anemone. one pair bullied the other pair out and they switched once. but tank was up for only 4-6 months then it crashed due to my absence. i could have been just lucky or i did not give them enough time. i dont know. i just was always lucky when it came to clowns and dwarf angels not fighting. i had more of a problem with my lemonpeel messing with my clown than i ever did with clowns of different species.

I love how people ask for advice and then decide to ignore the piece of advice that most people are screaming. Why insult us by wasting our time?

i did not insult anybody just i feel everyone sticks to the "book" and ive had experiences where things out of te normal happen everytime. if i happen to get the 2 pairs of clowns and putthem in the 20 or 30g with the anemones and it didnt work i have ample room to move a pair to one of two other tanks. its more of an enjoyable experiment i wanted peoples advice on. in which the end result is in my favor no matter what, i still have my pair of clowns and anemones just not int he same tank. sorry if anybody felt insulted though it was not my intention.

so you just want someone to confirm what your doing will work ?

no i want people to give me the advice needed in order to succeed. i just didnt want my first two responses to say it wouldnt work pretty much which is stubborn of me i know. but i just picture it being so amazing looking and always wanted a clown/anemone tank. just only 1 pair of clowns wasnt in the plan.

as for the lighting im still looking into it for something thats viable. maybe ill find a good deal on here.

once again sorry if anyone feels insulted .

 

[jaa1456]

If you have limited funds why go for snowflakes? They are on the expensive side. Go with something cheaper and use the money to buy better equipment

 

[fish keeper 7]

Snowflakes are going to be given to me as a gift most likely. if not snowflakes than true percula and naked clowns. maybe black ocellaris instead of the perculas for diversity. i might sell my 30g high and get a 40g breeder instead. or something of the sort.

 

[adamt]

i dont want just 1 anemone, i want multiple, and jimmy, 4 clowns, only problem would be water quality, do 10% 2x a week, or 20 ever week or other week, test every few days. and quality would be fine. im doing this no matter what.
i just want ideas on how to make it work, not reasons why it wouldnt.

like how much LR would you put in it and how much flow and where to direct that flow? like put a powerhead in the back, have it face one of the walls in the tank, direct it downward a little bit and have the flow like spiraling down the tank?

Lighting would be 2x 18w T5 HO blue 460 actnitics & 10k bulb.

sounds like you got it all figured out... i personally wouldnt put so many fish in a tank that size (a pair would prolly do nicely though) but i dont like tanks that look crowded with fish, whether it could handle the bio load or not I've always found that fish behave much differently when theyre packed in together, and i enjoy watching them behave as naturally as they possibly can. Why not just get a pair of really nice clowns and see if you cant get them to spawn, itll cut down on the bio load and prolly make for a more entertaining viewing experience any way. When your dealing with such a small volume of water you dont have much room for error and a tank packed with anenomes and fish is gonna produce alot of waste and be very succeptable to changes in water quality. If you have your heart set on getting 4 clowns make sure you get them at the same time and that one at least one is noticably large than the rest. I think youll be better off with one female and three males vying for her attention than with two pairs each trying to set up their own territory. Other than that, just stay on top of your water changes (maybe see if you can find someone with a healthy large reef tank and use a few gallons of their water when you do your changes)

 

[adamt]

just some food for thought... anenomes have no biological clock. They will regenerate cells indefinately, and have the potential to live hundreds if not thousands of years. Something to think about before you stick a bunch of them in a 20 or 30 gallon tank with 4 fish even though most of the people who responded to you correctly pointed out that its not a good idea. But hey a lfs near me has a ritteri, two occilarus, a box fish, a watchman goby, and a firefish in a 8 gallon bio cube so wth do i know lol.