The Journey of a Saltwater Aquarium Begins...

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RA286

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Hi,

I already have it planned - 3 clownfish with some sea anemone. Optional - 1 crown fish, rocks, and perhaps other things beyond my imagination.
I have a wide space of 70x60cm to put it in.
With that, I wish for as least manual water replacement as possible, if that's even possible... I was thinking of some automatic water filter to do the multiple maintenance jobs the aquarium needs...

Thank you so much for all the help!
~RA
 
Hi and welcome to the forum :)

Only keep 2 anemone fish (clown fish) per tank because they are territorial and a pr will take over the entire tank.

Optional - 1 crown fish, rocks, and perhaps other things beyond my imagination.
what is a crown fish?

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If you have lots of marine algae like Caulerpa and Halimeda growing in the tank or in a sump that is connected to the tank, and you add minerals on a regular basis, you can reduce the need for water changes and might not have to do any at all. But you will need to monitor calcium and other minerals and nutrients in the water and if they are not kept balanced, then you will need to do water changes. Most people do water changes on marine tanks once a month or more often depending on how it is set up.

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I have a wide space of 70x60cm to put it in.
Go with the smaller species of anemone fish for that size tank. Either Amphiprion ocellaris or A. percula. They look very similar and will be fine in a tank that size.

The other species of anemone fish grow too big for that size tank.
 
Also I have read, but cant find the article to link anywhere, that you should really aim for a captive bred clownfish or a carefully certified seller, since the ones sold often come from natural illegally caught stock most of the time, this is also decimating their numbers, alongside the climate change and their popularity after the movie.
Maybe it is an outdated information, but I thought I would mention it here
 
A crown fish, from what I personally know, is like the cherry on the top of a dessert - the most eye-catching if you know what I mean?
EDIT: How about having 1 male clownfish with 2 females? Will there still be a fight for dominance? It's just that it seems that 3 of them would be perfect for the view, for me at least :)
 
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Remember fish first view second. We all want our tanks to look pretty but we also have to balance that with what the fish need. I'm no saltwater expert but I'm going to assume the attitude of a clown fish is much like a peacock gudgeons from what I habe been reading... Usually its only males who get territorial but females also do habe a sort of territory. What are the dimensions of your tank L×H×W? This will help us more with how many you can put in. I would try to only do two of them but if others say that three is ok then I would go for it... I honestly think three would be ok but I habe no experience with salt water setups so listen to others on here.
A crown fish, from what I personally know, is like the cherry on the top of a dessert - the most eye-catching if you know what I mean?
EDIT: How about having 1 male clownfish with 2 females? Will there still be a fight for dominance? It's just that it seems that 3 of them would be perfect for the view, for me at least :)
 
Yes, I surely listen to others here, and it's important for me to do what is the best for the animals, as I am an animal lover like many people, especially here!
I am starting to like this forum, warms my heart to have support here, so thank you! :)
 
Yes, I surely listen to others here, and it's important for me to do what is the best for the animals, as I am an animal lover like many people, especially here!
I am starting to like this forum, warms my heart to have support here, so thank you! :)
No problem! Only reason I said to listen to others was so that you didn't take what I said as a "masters advice". I just wanted you to know that I'm freshwater guy not salt, so I said that to make sure you paid more attention to others like Colin rather than me who has had no SW experience. But I did feel like I could help in the tiniest bit
 
EDIT: How about having 1 male clownfish with 2 females? Will there still be a fight for dominance? It's just that it seems that 3 of them would be perfect for the view, for me at least :)
Unfortunately it doesn't work that way with anemone fish. In anemone fish society, the female is in charge of the anemone. The next most dominant fish in the group becomes her male partner. All the other anemone fish remain juveniles, which are neither male nor female. If one of the dominant pair are removed (get eaten), then all the fish move up one spot in the pecking order.

eg: The female dies. The male turns into a female and takes over the anemone. The most dominant juvenile fish turns into a male and becomes the partner for the old male, which is now a female. All the juveniles move up one spot but they all remain juveniles.

eg: The male dies. The female remains in control of the anemone. The most dominant juvenile fish turns into a male and becomes her partner. The remaining juveniles move up one spot in the pecking order but remain juveniles.

It only takes a couple of weeks for the fish to change sex. If you have a pair of anemone fish, they must remain together at all times. If you separate them for more than 24 hours, any males and juveniles will start to turn into females and will fight if put back together.

If you buy anemone fish, buy a bonded pair, or get 2 small (baby) fish and put them in the tank at the same time. Have one fish slightly bigger than the other. The bigger more dominant fish will turn into a female and the other will become a male.

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A crown fish (a center piece fish) might not work in the tank with anemone fish unless the tank is big. In a smallish tank (2 foot square), the anemone and its fish will probably become the centre piece (main viewing point) in the tank. If you have some rock in the tank, you could add some shrimp, snails and maybe a small species of dottyback (Royal Gramma) and that would add more variety. But a pr of anemone fish in a small tank will always restrict what you can keep with them.

The 2 species I mentioned previously (Amphiprion ocellaris and A. percula) are the 2 smallest and most peaceful out of all the anemone fish, so you could probably get away with a small dottyback and shrimp with them. But you would have to monitor them when they start breeding.

If you have two tanks (one above the other), and have them connected so the top tank is the show tank, and the bottom tank is a sump/ refugium, that would give you more water and provide a more stable environment for the fish and other inhabitants. It would also give you somewhere to put other fish if they get attacked when the anemone fish breed.
 

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