Clowns,lps And My Problem

[Redstratplayer1]

Ok so i read that true perc. clowns wich are the ones i want to get for my soon to be 20g can kill lps by hosting.
Aperently the clowns nip ,rub and basicly stress lps to the pount of death.

My tank is goung to be lps dominated so this may cause a problem.
Should i change my stocking plans?
Also what are some good active fish that could replace the clowns in my plans .
The replacmennt fish must be ... Vary active.... not be harmfull to lps or sofies...live peacfully with whachmen gobie/pistol shrimp...and i want not one big fish but 2 or 3 small to medeum fish.

Thanks in advance
8) -Redstrat - 8)

Bla spelling

 

[enjoiskater158]

you could go with either damsel's which are aggressive and might bug ur goby, chromis which wouldnt bother anything in the tank, cardinals, or a Pseudochromis but they usally are aggressive towards that same species. but if you get tank born clowns theres a good chance that they wont host an anemone not to mention a lps. I have a ocellaris clown(false perc) thats in a 30 gal with some softies and dont bother them at all he doesnt even seem to notice the BTA i bought for him

 

[Lynden]

How about a Firefish, Nemateleotris magnifica / decora / helfrichi ? Many of the Darters or Gobies would work well in this situation. If it were me, I would get a Scissortail Darter Lovely finnage on those things. Chromis or Damselfish really need a bigger territory than a 20 gallon could offer, I'm afraid.

Also remember that Clownfish can harm LPS by hosting; it's not even a distinct possibility, let alone a likelyhood. Tougher LPS like the Euphyllia genus probably wouldn't be harmed at all. Though I believe SkiFletch had some trouble with Clowns and an Elegance Coral - maybe wait until he replies, since I have no experience with LPS and Clownfish together.

-Lynden

 

[Mr Miagi]

Well im not SKi P) but ive had two species of Clowns in with various LPS. Lynden is right, they do disturb them, but it would have to be pretty bad trauma to kill an LPS with annoyance and biting.

Ive had two species of clown, A. occellaris, and A. akindynos in with an Elegance coral and a Torch coral, both of which are still doing well. The two larger clowns, the A. akindynos or Barrier Reef clowns are trying to host in the Torch (theyre too big LOL) and its still ok, but it does retract from too much lovin!

I think youll be fine keeping a Perc in with LPS, its been done a many a time. Whos tank had the issue BTW, id be interested to read their story.

 

[Redstratplayer1]

Well i lurk around in a few deferent fourms. This one is the best but on Reef central you get answers from many reefers .
Reef central thread

"don't subject any LPS to a clown fish! It's the constant abrasive motion of the LPS flesh against it's own skeleton that will kill it" more than a few threds i have read say that clowns will stunt the growth,kill,damage and stress.

The damage would most likely take a year or 2 to kill it but stunting is constant.

 

[rhysiboy]

eh? if this is true then why do so many people suggest using a LPS for clowns. i think they are being a bit over cautious. but then i spose it all depends on your fih' personality because if isty a lil sissy its aint gonna kill it but then if its a ballsy bully then it probably would.

 

[SkiFletch]

Its an interesting topic for sure and there's no clear answer IMO. Percs will sometimes try hosting in corals, and rarely that coral will suffer from the hosting. It really depends on the coral and the tank though. As was mentioned, my ocellaris female decided she wanted to make a nest out of my old elegance coral. She would bury her face in its flesh at the skeleton all the time which I've come to find out was her attempts at cleaning the area for a nest. Prior to that, the elegane coral had been in my LFS for 6-8 months with 2 skunks hosting in it and it looked very healthy as such. As soon as my ocellaris decided to nest though, that killed it.

Now, both of my ocellaris host in my hammer coral, expecially at night. I've seen no signs of stress in the hammer and in fact its more than doubled in size since I purchased it. My answer to your situation would be, if you plan on keeping very sensetive tentacled LPS like an elegance coral, then clownfish are a no-no. If you're planning on lots of Euphylla species (hammer, frogspawn, torch, galaxea) or even bubble corals, clown hosting probably wont bother them whatsoever.

Just my $0.02

 

[Lynden]

Just for the record, I wouldn't take anyone's advice about anything on Reef Central; frankly, most of them are a bunch of opinionated idiots.

I once read a thread on there about a guy with a beautiful, absolutely magnificent tank, with tons of SPS corals. It's main show fishes were 3 Tangs. The tank was 150 gallon, and the owner stated that he was planning on getting another Tang. He was then practically "booed off the site"; people were saying that he was being cruel to animals by having that many Tangs in a tank that size.

-Lynden

 

[Redstratplayer1]

I agree with you that the site is full of jerks but you can also talk to the experts like Anthony Calfo a auther on fraging vary well known i bet a few members on thise fourm have read,own or heard of some of his books.


I have found that in life the majority of people are jerks wich is y i love this fourm every one is so nice.But one RC they have 140,544 members i am amazed at the ammount of friendly people on that fourm i would say around 100,000 are nice and the other 40,544 are blood sucking monsters.


Lynden it also depends on what type of tangs


Acanthurus achilles, Achilles Surgeonfish, 100 gal (380l).

Acanthurus coeruleus, Atlantic Blue Tang, 75 gal (285l).

Acanthurus japonicus, Powder Brown Tang, 75 gal (285l).

Acanthurus leucosternon, Powder Blue Tang, 100 gal (380l).

Acanthurus lineatus, Lined or Clown Surgeonfish, 180 gal (680l).

Acanthurus nigricans, Whitecheek Surgeonfish, 75 gal (285l).

Acanthurus olivaceus, Orangeshoulder Surgeonfish, 135 gal (510l).

Acanthurus pyroferus, Mimic Surgeonfish, 75 gal (285l).

Acanthurus sohal, Sohal Surgeonfish, 180 gal (680l).

Acanthurus tristegus, Convict Surgeonfish, 75 gal (285l).

Acanthurus tristis, Indian Mimic Surgeonfish, 75 gal (285l).

Ctenochaetus hawaiiensis, Chevron Tang, 100 gal (380l).

Ctenochaetus strigosus, Kole's Tang, 75 gal (285l).

Naso brevirostris, Spotted Unicornfish, 180 gal (685l).

Naso lituratus, Orangespine Unicornfish or Naso Tang, 135 gal (510l).

Naso unicornis, Bluespine Unicornfish, 200 gal (760l).

Paracanthurus hepatus, Pacific Blue Tang, 100 gal (380l).

Zebrasoma desjardinii, Indian Ocean or Red Sea Sailfin Tang, 135 gal (510l).

Zebrasoma flavescens, Yellow Tang, 75 gal (285l).

Zebrasoma scopas, Brown Tang, 75 gal (285l).

Zebrasoma veliferum, Sailfin Tang, 135 gal (510l).

Zebrasoma xanthurum, Purple Tang, 100 gal (380l).


You will note that none of these minimum sizes are less than 75 gallons. If you have a tang in a smaller tank, you should expect that some people will give you a hard time about it. Expressing outrage about that could result in suspension of your posting privileges. We are not, BTW, giving a free pass to the self-styled "Tang Police" to be abusive.

3. The above sizes assume a standard rectangular shape with plenty of open swimming space. If your tank is full to the brim with coral, your tang won't be happy. Tanks 125G or larger are assumed to be at least six feet long (approx. two meters). Where possible, choose longer rather than deeper shapes. While smaller species may be OK in a four foot tank, they will probably do better in a five foot or longer tank.

4. We do not condone the practice of keeping more than one specimen of the same or very similar species together in the same aquarium, except possibly for Zebrasoma species in a very large tank.

5. If you wish to keep multiple dissimilar tangs in the same aquarium, we recommend you have an aquarium significantly larger than the sizes listed above.




RC has that on the top of there reef fish page.

 

[SkiFletch]

Blood sucking monsters indeed. I never visit the main RC forums, but I do hang around my local club forum which happens to be RC sponsored

 

[Mr.September15]

But you do get a quick response at RC. One time it took 5minutes for my thread to get a response. I also was very suprised to find people from my area! I found the Bay Area Reefers Club which suggested some good fish stores around the area. Sadly TFF only has about 3 people from the bay area. None of which are active in Marine Section.

 

[SkiFletch]

But you do get a quick response at RC. One time it took 5minutes for my thread to get a response. I also was very suprised to find people from my area! I found the Bay Area Reefers Club which suggested some good fish stores around the area. Sadly TFF only has about 3 people from the bay area. None of which are active in Marine Section.

Yeah the club forums are where its at. The cruel internet forum mongrels usually avoid those

 

[Mr Miagi]

RC's changed of late. I dont conribute as much there, as some times you definately get shot down or really badly flamed, but now they have some more defined, and better structure forums. They also removed the forums dedicated to some of the individuals in this hobby, like Anthony Calf etc, which I think may help "calm" things down (a shame in a sense though). I just find the strong amount of info. there an endless good read, sometimes you just have tot ake your own opinion away from a topic, because theres no right/wrong answer, for example DSB's!