New Fish Tank...Finally!!!

[L8 2 RISE]

would an eclipse twelve system be too small for a pair of clowns, some live rock, and an anemone

 

[simple]

maybe not if you get smaller clowns like percula, but no tomato, clarkii or maroon clowns.

 

[Redoc]

I have three salt aquariums, it can take a long time and a few failures to achieve a good balance with everything in your tank but once you get it its easy. Fish with personality rather than flash will hold your interest much longer. If it aint broke don't fix it.

 

[Animal Mother]

would an eclipse twelve system be too small for a pair of clowns, some live rock, and an anemone

Most people recommend a larger tank for an anemone, but if that's all you have in there it would probably be fine, just make sure you have strong enough lighting for it. Stock lighting in an eclipse probably won't do it.

 

[L8 2 RISE]

ok, ive been looking at nano cube aquariums, and I think one of them is what im looking for. I found an Aquapod 24 Gallon Aquarium Kit w/2 - 32W Power Compact and wondered if that would cut it for an anemone (http://www.aquariumguys.com/aquapod24.html), or what nano cube could I use? I dont want one of the ones with the separated light that is not in the hood if I can help it, and I will take either a 12 or 24 gallon aquarium, I just dont understand all this fancy schnacy "watt" stuff, and what watterage (or somethin ) I will need

 

[Animal Mother]

You really need T-5's or metal halides for an anemone. You might can find a T-5 retrofit kit for the hood.

 

[L8 2 RISE]

thanks, but what does the watt part mean?

 

[Animal Mother]

Well, one way to gauge it is "Watts per gallon". Ideally you should have 5 watts per gallon for SPS and anemones, 3 watts per gallon for less demanding corals.

 

[L8 2 RISE]

Thanks AM for your help and being patient with me! I found this tank, it has some T5s and stuff, would it work?

http://wholesaleaquaticsupplies.com/shop/product_info.php?products_id=3182

 

[Animal Mother]

Looks good.

 

[L8 2 RISE]

I know that there are many opinions on the best salts, but i wanted your guyses throw on it, Im looking for a cheapish, but good salt for an anemone and some clowns.

And whats the difference between a mated pair of clowns and just two single clowns? why are they so expensive? dont clowns change sex when there are two of them? so when you get two you will have a mated pair?

Sorry to keep bothering you guys with questions, and thanks for the help.

 

[Animal Mother]

Yes clowns are hermaphroditic but they can be aggressive towards each other. The larger of the pair would be the female.

 

[L8 2 RISE]

so I might as well get an unmated pair of clowns for half the price rather than a mated pair

huh...take my money will you!!! (fish people)

 

[cuttlegirl]

I know that there are many opinions on the best salts, but i wanted your guyses throw on it, Im looking for a cheapish, but good salt for an anemone and some clowns.

Try this thread... Salt Mixes

 

[DWhatley]

Clown fish generally need to be put together BEFORE they acquire a sex. A troup in the wild will consist of a SINGLE large female, a SINGLE smaller male and three or four unsexed juveniles (all about 10% smaller as you go down the hierarchy). The juveniles will remain smaller than the male until the male dies or becomes female (because the female died). ONE of the juveniles (the largest) will then become the male and the male will grow larger fairly quickly. If you attempt to put an unmated pair in a tank you may end up with a pair of females and are not likely to have both for long. Two males are less of a problem as one should change if they accept each other. Juveniles are the best bet (especially with some of the more aggressive species) and will eventually change and accept each other with a greater likelyhood of becoming a mated pair. Note that once a clown becomes a female, she will NOT revert to a male. All that said, we lucked out when we went hunting for ours and were able to get six Clarkeys (not as pretty as some of the others but live well together) that likely were caught as a family. The female is quite obvious but the male and juveniles all look very similiar in size. One is often difficult to find (none of the others are) and we suspect that it is the male (females are very bossy).

As for your choice of anemone, a lot depends upon the type of clown you buy. There are anemones that most clowns will take to but the Clarkeys often don't host and the more agressive tomatoes will sometimes even host with a flower anmeone (there are no Caribbean anemones that naturally host fish as there are no native Clown fish in the Caribbean. However, some will host crabs). Be aware that a carpet anemone will kill even a clown and that a condy will not harm but may not host (our yellow striped maroon took up with our condy's but the condys kept trying to escape it).

As an asside, pygmy angles are similar but opposite, the largest is male and ALL the others are female. If the male dies, the largest female changes sex and chaperones the rest of the troup. Unfortunately, we only have one pygmy angle and have not been able to observe the behavior in a tank (and have no room to try ;>).