Clownfish?

[PheonixKingZ]

Hello!

I was at PetCo today and I saw a lot of ClownFish. I ended up watches these little guys for over 20 minutes. (Did I get a lot of weird looks? Of course!)

What is the minimum tank size for these guys? Multiple clowns in the same tank? Food? The works.

I would like to get a basic caresheet.

Also, any thoughts of saltwater gobies?

@Colin_T @Byron

 

[JuiceBox52]

All I can say is that most saltwater fish are wild caught and have no guarantees so be wary

 

[Colin_T]

The minimum size tank for the smaller species (Amphiprion ocellaris and A. percula) of anemonefish (aka clownfish) is 2 foot long x 12 inches wide x 12 inches high.
The minimum size tank for the bigger species (A. clarkii, A. frenatus, A. polymnus, etc) of anemonefish is 3 foot long x 12 inches wide x 18 inches high.

You only keep 1 pair per tank because they are territorial. And never mix different species of anemonefish because some are really aggressive towards other species and will kill them.

Males are smaller than females. If you can't buy a breeding pair, then buy 2 juvenile fish and make sure one fish is bigger than the other. The bigger fish will turn into a female and dominate the male, and he will remain smaller.

You can keep them with or without an anemone. They do prefer an anemone but will live and breed in an aquarium without an anemone. Some anemonefish will live in Leather Corals if there is no anemone.

Most anemonefish are captive bred these days and they are easy to breed in an aquarium. A mature pair will lay eggs on smooth flat rocks and guard them from potential predators. A week later the eggs hatch just after dark and the babies can be scooped out and put in a shallow rearing tank and fed on rotifers, infusoria and green water. After a couple of weeks on these foods you add newly hatched brineshrimp and 3 months later you have 500+ baby anemonefish.

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Feed them on marine mix, which consists of prawn, fish, squid and sometimes a bit of algae. They also eat live or frozen (but defrosted) brineshrimp, mysis shrimp, daphnia, mozzie larvae, and some will take flake or pellet food. But marine mix should be the main part of their diet and other foods added each day to supplement it.

 

[Colin_T]

There are literally hundreds of species of Saltwater Goby and it depends on what you like. Some of my favorites are the fire gobies (Nemateleotris magnifica, decora and helfrichi). There are neon gobies in the US, sand gobies all around the world.

Gobies are generally easy to keep and many will breed in an aquarium. They eat just about anything and most have heaps of character/ personality.

The fire gobies can be kept in groups and some other species can too. Most do best in pairs but you can usually have several pairs together in a tank.

Most gobies only grow to 2-4 inches long and are fine in tanks that are 2 foot or longer, depending on what else is in the tank and the individual species.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

So could a goby and a clown be kept in the same tank?

I will probably only get one. They are expensive.

So what does that relate to? (The 2 foot tank)

I thought I remembered reading somewhere that you could keep one in a 10g.

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Also, can I use the same equipment as freshwater? (Heaters, filters, etc.)

 

[Colin_T]

So could a goby and a clown be kept in the same tank?

Also, can I use the same equipment as freshwater? (Heaters, filters, etc.)

You can keep them together in a big enough tank but it also depends on what species you are talking about. There's a bunch of different anemonefish and gobies and the small anemonefish are relatively peaceful but some of the bigger species can get aggressive.

If you know what species you want I can tell you what size tank and whether or not they will get along together.

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Yes you can use the same equipment for fresh or salt water aquariums. You use the same filters, heaters, lights, plastic plants and test kits. The only things you need for a marine tank is a hydrometer (to measure the salt), and limestone rocks and a substrate that increases pH.

There are 3 main types of Hydrometers, floating glass, plastic chamber, refractometer.
The floating glass hydrometer is the cheapest and they float around the aquarium. They have a mark on them, which shows you hen the salt level is correct. The main draw back to this type of hydrometer is their shape and they regularly break because of it.

Plastic chamber hydrometer is a bit more expensive than the floating glass type but only a few dollars more. There are numbers on the outside of the chamber and you fill the plastic chamber with salt water and a needle points to the salt level. This type of hydrometer is my preferred choice.

A refractometer is the most accurate form of measuring salt but also much more expensive than the previous 2 types. You put a couple of drops of salt water on a glass lens and look through an eye piece. There is a scale in the eye piece that tells you what the salt level is.