Building the perfect Clown/Anemone setup

[Oberst Hajj]

I'm still reading through all the clown/anemone threads here and on other sites, but thought I'd start a discussion as well.

If you were going to build a clown/anemone tank from scratch, how would you do it? What equipment/lights/systems would you get and in what order would you add them? Besides the clown fish, what other stock would you get to help balance and maintain the tank?

We are most likely go to have a 72"x24"x24" tank, so keep that in mind please for this discussion.

Keith

 

[RandysReef]

Contact MarvinsReef here on the forum. He has a gorgeous clown and anemone tank. Has been on reef spotlight on here.

Here is a link to his build thread.

 

[Oberst Hajj]

Thanks Randy, I've been reading that long thread.

 

[Trex]

Myself, I would go with 3-4 (( for that sized tank mentioned )) S. haddonis, of different color morphs and a pair of black A. polymnus (( saddlebacks ))

 

[Oberst Hajj]

Trex, do you mean 3-4 individual clowns, or 3-4 pairs plus the pair of saddlebacks?

 

[Oberst Hajj]

Also, I've been reading how nems and power heads do not mix. This has me thinking a closed loop system might be a better way to go.

 

[Trex]

Trex, do you mean 3-4 individual clowns, or 3-4 pairs plus the pair of saddlebacks?

Meant 3-4 anemones, and only a pair of clowns --- I am not a fan of having more than a pair per tank, it isn't fun watching the odd ball(s) being attacked.


All 3 of my tanks -- each has an anemone -- have powerheads (( MP10s )), just make sure that the intakes are covered.

 

[Albie23]

I like the different clown idea. I know they say you can't mix clowns. But have seen it done. I would love to do orange and yellow clown tank.

 

[RandysReef]

Cant wait to see the tank! Keep this thread updated! Following along.

 

[.Marshall]

We are most likely go to have a 72"x24"x24" tank, so keep that in mind please for this discussion.

Meant 3-4 anemones, and only a pair of clowns --- I am not a fan of having more than a pair per tank, it isn't fun watching the odd ball(s) being attacked.

I think he will be fine with more than 1 pair of clownfish in a 6 foot tank..

I think 3-4 pairs would be okay with the right aquascape to break up tank territories.

 

[Trex]

Just going off of my own experiences with clowns -- mated pairs are very aggressive. IMO/E, 3 or 4 pairs would only work in the short term, and would be a disaster in a year or 2 when a mate pair forms.

 

[MarvinsReef]

will be following this thread to see what you come up with. pretty good size tank too. 1smile1

 

[Theclutziestspazzofaninja]

Just going off of my own experiences with clowns -- mated pairs are very aggressive. IMO/E, 3 or 4 pairs would only work in the short term, and would be a disaster in a year or 2 when a mate pair forms.

+1
The clowns (from my experience) will not live in peace with other fish in "their" territory. The addition of an anemone just imcreases their nasty behavior (or did mine anyway) Also, some anemones are VERY difficult to care for and should be avoided. Because this is your first tank I suggest going with BTA/RBTA nems. They are beautiful and much easier to keep (and more forgiving) than other anemones (I'm sure others can chime in and give a few suggestions). Another plus to keeping these is that you can have them brushing each other and they wont kill each other (mine don't anyway) so you don't have to worry about dying anemones due to chemicle wars.
Clownfish I'd highly suggest avoiding if you are hoping to keep more than one pair are maroon clowns. These are massive, vicious clowns and will put you at the highest risk of having aggression issues.
Back to the anemones. Treat these like a coral: High (reef capable lighting) and fabulous water quality are the main two. I'd wait a mimimum of 6 months before adding any anemones as that will give the tank a little while to mature and you time to get a hang of things
I also want to point out that it is not a sure thing that the clowns will take up the anemones as a host (really a 50/50 toss up) but either way they are both beautiful animals.
To finish up my thoughts on anemones I want to say that pumps are not as big a problem as they're made up to be. I probably have the most "anemone-death-trap" pumps out there (I have 3 of them and 2 RBTAs which have been in the tank about a year ), my nems moved all over my tank for the first 2 months I had them, and they haven't been chopped to bits (knock on wood)
I am upgrading and putting vortechs on my tank in the next few days so I can let you know if that changes things up (in the nems behavior and what not) but don't sweat the pumps as much as the care of the nems themselves because you really do want a nice amount of flow on your tank to keep many species of fish (and the anemones)
One more thing...lol
Because of the tank being mostly anemones and clownfish I'd only go with a couple other, bigger fish. I'd avoid anything that likes to hide in little cubby holes in the rock because they'll have a greater chance of getting stung, if not eaten, by the nem.
What other fish are you looking into?
I wish you the best on your build and keep as updated!

 

[MarvinsReef]

Also, I've been reading how nems and power heads do not mix. This has me thinking a closed loop system might be a better way to go.

definitely a closed loop. if I had to do my tank over, that would be a MUST!

 

[Theclutziestspazzofaninja]

I don't want to hi-jack this thread, but could you give a quick run down on how to set-up/how a closed loop system works?
I understand the concept, but not how people do it

 

[Oberst Hajj]

Well, If it could work, I'd love to have 8-10 clown fish in the tank. I'm thinking of going with all of the same type and from the same clutch. From what I've read, this seems to help with the aggression. I think it's the Ocellaris types that are a little less aggressive? If I'm right about that, I'd love to have the Black Ice variant.

So far I'm reading three threads that have (or will have) 10+ clown fish in a single, a couple with smaller tanks then we are looking at. That being said, if it does not work out and the fish are being beat up, I'll drop the number until everyone is happy.

For seascaping, I initially was thinking of doing a large rock formation on one side with quite a bit of sand in the middle and a few smaller rocks on the other side. This was to try and keep BTAs on the big rock and LTAs over in the sandier area. But after reading more on nems, I think we will stick with rose and green BTAs. And hey, the RBTAs will match the decor in the room

So with all the same type of nems, I'm looking more towards setting up separate areas for the clowns. I think two larger rock formations on each end of the tank and a smaller one in the center.

The tank will be setup at least 6 months before a nem goes in, and probably another month before I start adding other nems in. I think it's better to make sure the tank is read and I can safely keep one of them before adding in a bunch more! After the tank is populated with several nems, I'll look to add the clownfish in. My wife was kind of like "is the tank going to be empty and ugly for 6 months?" LOL.

As for other fish, we are really open to suggestions. The wife would really like to have some that add some color pop to the tank. With RTBAs and clowns dominating the tank, it will be a little mono-chromatic with out some bright fish. We all like the angle fishes and I personally love the Triggers. Just not sure how either of those would do in this type of tank?

 

[bige]

My concern is if they mate. They become very nasty. Mine killed most of my sps by carrying them around in their mouth. These were encrusted sps mind you. They broke them off! They also killed all other tank inhabitants. Ie cleaner shrimp, Randall's goby, etc everything. But I assumed it was my tank size 29 gallon biocube.

 

[SNAKEMANVET]

I tried several 3 month old clowns from the same clutch.I started with seven and ended up with twnce they paired up they chased the others.I removed them before the the pair killed them.The tank was a standerd 75 gallon with about 7 rbtas,some on each end.Some have pulled this off.

 

[MarvinsReef]

I tried several 3 month old clowns from the same clutch.I started with seven and ended up with twnce they paired up they chased the others.I removed them before the the pair killed them.The tank was a standerd 75 gallon with about 7 rbtas,some on each end.Some have pulled this off.

How long before a pair formed? what kind of clowns?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Oberst Hajj]

Snake, what type of clowns were they?