clown fish

[fish_keeper2]

well on recent trips to my lfs i have fallen in love with clown fish. what is the min tank requirement for 1 clown fish and nothing else? also can i use the same filter and heater as freshwater? can i use gravel and plastic and silk plants with sw(i cant even keep freshwater plants alive let alone attempt to try coral or something). basicly i want all the info you could give me so i can decide if i want to this now or not. is sw a lot harder than fw? how would i cycle a sw tank?

sorry for all the questions....i just want to get all the info possible. im sure ill have more quetions soon

 

[Opcn]

well it depends apon what type of clownfish it is, if its a "nemo" (a false percula clown) it will need at the very least (were talking the barest minimum) 5 gallons, however its easiey, cheaper, and much nicer to look at if you set up atleast a 10 gallon. You can use all the same equipment however you need to get something to measure the saalinity of the water and a powerhead would be a really good idea, to increse the flow rate. Also you sahould change out the gravle, Saltwater fish really like to have a pH around 8.2 and the calcium carbonate gravel helps them get that, you buy the Marine sand or crushed coral and then if you can get it buy a pound or two of live sand and mix it in, then buy some SW snails and Hermit crabs and getsome decorations or porous rocks as well, because clown fish like to have a cave to hang out in.

 

[fish_keeper2]

ok thanks.....would a shrimp be ok instead of the hermit crabs? and i just thought of something else. i have some sea shells from the craft store(most are clam shells) if i clean them fairly well are the safe to use in a marine tank?

 

[inflexion]

not an expert in SW but id avoid putting those in you dont know what there made of and they might upset the water

 

[fish_keeper2]

made of? sand is formed in nature from crushed sea shells and other organic stuff.....these are real sea shells not fake ones. the only thing im worried about is possible chemicles on the shells

 

[Opcn]

chances are there is nothingon the shells, however, its a chance I would never take, besides clam shells dont look very good in the tank anyways, maybe a giant clam shell but not normal clam shells, they look like a pile of debree.

No, a shrimp cannot take the place of hermit crabs, however you can get a cleaner shrimp in addition to your cleanup crew,in a reef tank pepermints are highly sought after as they eat apistia.

Also, You may want to consider setting up a 30 gallon, its not much more expensive and you can litterally keep three times as much.

 

[DreamOn]

OPCN! Cheers, it's Dan.

Anyways, like OPCN said, keeping a 10g is NOT EASY. Ive had mine for a few months, and Ive been battling water quality, evaporation, anemone movement, over feeding, over stocking and every other problem that can come to mind.

If you do decide to go with a 10g, your Blue Legged Hermits are your best bets, along with some Astreas. Stay away from Turbos.

Also, I know from working at a pet store, ALWAYS ask to see the fish in question feeding.

Cheers on the tank,

--Dan

 

[fish_keeper2]

y should i ask to see them eating....is this to make sure they are trully healthy and to see what they are used to eating?

 

[DreamOn]

Some Marines come into shop and we cant get them to eat anything, but sell them anyways.

Clowns basically always eat, but its good to put to use anyway. Also, ask what they have been feeding.

More good than harm will come from it.

Cheers,

--Dan

 

[Opcn]

They keep banning you and you keep comig back, unflushable thats what you are.

 

[fish_keeper2]

keep banning me? i havent been banned at all. i dont see why you made that comment. i am only asking these question(even if they do seem very noobish) becuase i dont want to rush into something i dont understand and end up wasting a whole bunch of money and haveing fish die, etc. i really didnt know anything about marine fish and tanks before i started posting anything in the SW section and Chac has been helping me quite a bit through PMs

P.S. opcn if you want to discuss this further then you could you please PM me so we dont have to make problems within the forum

 

[Opcn]

I'm sorry FK2, I wasn't Talking to you, I was reffering to DreamOn, I would have sent him a PM, but hes still validating, sorry for the confusion.

 

[fish_keeper2]

oh ok....im sorry. i guess i over reacted a bit. dont worry about it )

 

[GuppyDude]

lol iv seen quite a few of these "unflushable" members around lately

anyway, as far as i know keeping one clownfish in a very basic 10g set-up wont be hard, will cost u a chunk of cah, SW isn't cheep. if ur gunna get creative with it and add decorations and stuff, i recommend u do that first before adding any expensive critters. my recomendation to you is to keep it simple first since your all knwo to this, just set it up with sand, filtration, heating, a few shells, and down the road if u wanna add on u can.

 

[fish_keeper2]

thats great advice for all sw noobs. i actually planning on a FOWLR tank. and if all goes well after a couple of months start moving into soft corals. i already have been researching and i know what all the required equipment is so you dont have to help on that.