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Newbie Q on Clown Fish & Anenomes


Tasiamay

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Hi all. I have just gotten my first reef tank - an 18 gallon reef ready acrylic with a venturi driven protein skimmer. I have 72 watts of power compact lighting (36 w 10,000 K daylight & actinic 03) & a moonlight DIY kit installed in a fan cooled hood. Before I start things going and begin setting things up, I have a few questions for all you experts.

 

I know I need to wait several months before adding anything but ...

 

Q1 - I have decided on putting one (maybe a mated pair if it is possible) perc clown fish in tank. Is WC or tank raised better?

 

Q2 - I would love my clown(s) to host in an anenome. What anenome's would perc's most likely host in? If they are not "picky" ... which anenome would be good for an 18 gallon tank?

 

Thanks ahead of time!!!

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i wouldnt suggest an anemone to anyone starting out in salt water. your not experienced enough for these delicate animals. they require special care and with you being new you probably wont know how to properly care for it. clowns will host pretty much anything you have in your tank. they don't need an anemone to stay happy. and re your question about qc or tank raised i would go with tank raised. they are already acclimated to an aquarium surrounding. i think you need to read some more on anemones before you try and purchase one. good luck with your tank.

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Thanks for the info! Sounds like an anenome would not be the right coral for me ... at least not in the near future and until I can do some more research.

 

In regards to my other question. Is 18 gallons large enough for one pair of mated percs? I do not plan on keeping any other fish.

 

Also, is there any difference (other than maybe color) between true percs and false percs?

 

Thanks Again!

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I have a 18 gal. acrylic with a pair of clowns and they are just fine.

Also a skunk & peppermint shrimp, emerald crab, 2 hermits numerous snails. Shrooms, button's, nyphthea, star polyps. Up and running good for about 6 months now with out a problem.

I think I've only lost 1 astrea snail and that was because he couldn't flip back over.

Where did you get your tank?

Brian.

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I don't have an anenome. They like to hang out in the front bottom corners of my tank.

 

drewmd is right, they'll be just fine without an anenome.

 

I have some starpolyps that are getting pretty shaggy, but I haven't seen the clowns getting inside of them yet.

 

Brian

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well i'm glad that you decided to not go with the anemone at this time. after a year or so and when you feel comfortable with your knowledge then maybe you could get one. i'm not trying to tell you what to do but i just don't want you to get an anemone that will die and take your whole tank with it. then you'll be back on here asking what happened. anyways there really is no difference with a true perc and a false perc. besides the color pattern. either way you go if or when you get them make sure they are tank raised and not wc. tank raised are more hardier and already acclimated to a tank surroundings.

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theclearblue

Tasiamay - Congratulations on listening to advice on not going with the anemone. Looks like you have the right attitude to be successful in this hobby.

 

Good luck, read, read, read, and keep asking questions.

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Thanks again guys/gals for your information! I appreciate all the responses and help! I did research the forum before asking the anenome question, but wanted to get some first hand advice. I'm glad I did too!

 

Kristin :)

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Just to comment since I have had a few clowns over the years. Clowns host in a lot of things, not just anemones. They host in mushrooms, zoos, and corals. There are some great shots of clown in Hammer Corals and zoos on reefcentral.com. However, with that said, knowledge is everything. Read a lot before attempting to house the various inverts. There are some great books out there (one of my favorites is Aquarium Corals ). In any case, the most important thing is to understand the needs of your inhabitants and make sure your tank can accomodate them.

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my first anemonie was a condylactus gigantea, a great beginer anemonie. mind you a clown will not host it, but they are very hardy and cheap. ours has done very well. also, with the condy its a good idea not to keep coral with it as it will move all about the tank constantly, and you run the risk of stinging other corals. we have not moved up to corals yet after the first year as the condy is still thriving and we dont want to get rid of it. If you run aim keep an eye out for me, my handle on there is titanpenguin, i have a great anemonie FAQ article that i can send to you to get you started.

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if you want your clown to buddy up with something and you want to get into some beggening corals get a doughnut coral very hardy and ive seen clowns go to them when no anenome is present. plus they are cool as hell

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Doughnut coral? I have not heard of this one before. Do you perhaps have a scientific name I could use to look it up?

 

Thanks again everyone for the info :)

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tasiamay the scientific name for that coral is Scolymia australis. try and go into a lfs and ask them for that and they will look at you dumbfounded. just ask for a doughnut coral and they will know (if they know what they are doing) what your talking about.

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anemones are real easy to go out on you espically in a new tank plus when they die they are a mess!!! (experience ) yuck! at my lfs i saw a clown living it up in a frogspawn. there are many things they take to. good luck

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