Wanting to buy True Percula Clown Fish

[smoKe]

Hi, I want to buy two True Percula Clown Fish for my girlfriend and haven't got a clue where to start.

I was wondering if anyone could post me a link or tell me everything i need to keep them, and where i could purchase them in Wales, or the UK.

 

[DrOizo]

Ok have you got any FW tanks or any Saltwater Tanks? Firstly You have to realise perculas are SW and require alot of money to get a satisfactory set up going. Unfortunatley many people think you can just get two clowns dump them in a bowl and add an anemone and call one nemo. It isn't quite as simple as that. The minimum size tank that you would be looking at with no experience would be a 50-75gal. You woulkd have to spend over £500 to get the tank working properly. Really if you have no FW experience then a marine tank is going to be very nearly impossible for you. I would suggest starting FW first and get a good size tank that you might be able to turn into SW one day.
Here is a link begginers reef section
http/fish.orbust.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=3220
HTH

 

[trout_pout]

Ok have you got any FW tanks or any Saltwater Tanks? Firstly You have to realise perculas are SW and require alot of money to get a satisfactory set up going. Unfortunatley many people think you can just get two clowns dump them in a bowl and add an anemone and call one nemo. It isn't quite as simple as that. The minimum size tank that you would be looking at with no experience would be a 50-75gal. You woulkd have to spend over £500 to get the tank working properly. Really if you have no FW experience then a marine tank is going to be very nearly impossible for you. I would suggest starting FW first and get a good size tank that you might be able to turn into SW one day.
Here is a link begginers reef section
http/fish.orbust.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=3220
HTH

I went to this fish shop today and there was about 15-30 clown fish in a 25 maybe 35 gallon tank
They are on sale for £9 and the guy said they aren't that hard to look after and they are quite cheap including the tank etc.

 

[drobbins27]

Yes but the smaller the SW tank, the harder it is to maintain. Always go big with Saltwater setups

 

[7chanaa]

it ll take you ages to set up and cost is alot too. i did my 1 in about less than a year but i didnt get things all at once i got tank then heater then skimmer

 

[smoKe]

50 gallon tank for TWO clown fish???

 

[DrOizo]

Did You look at the Forum You don't seem top be taking it in. It is not as easy as it seems. To get a stable workable tank you will need to start with a 50gal plus. You will then be able to expand. You cant just have clowns anyway you need a clean up crew and if you want live rock aswell. One of the most important aspets of SW tanks is lighting and this is EXTREMELY expensive but it can be cheaper if you want a fish only set up. Please read the pinned articles in the SW general forum. The man in the LFS of course he's going to say it easy 'yer in a 3 gal you can probably have shoal of perculas, couple of reagal tangs a sea turtle and off course a couple of sea apples' He just wants your money. If you go about the tank the way you want to go at the moment your fish will soon die or live uncomfortable lives. Please don't be put off but just go and find out what is involved first. You are trying to recreate the whole ecosystem in which this animal lives as you can imagine its not that simple

 

[Fuzzy]

http/www.saltwaterfish.com/site_11_03/pr...oot_parent_id=4

i have a 30 gal for mine but it can be hard to maintaine

 

[Landlocked]

First of all, the clownfish. They actually do need at least 30 gallons. You may want to get only a simple, 30 gallon fish-only setup.

If so, you will need:
A tank
A stand
A heater
Some form of filtration (sump, canister filter, etc.)
A protein skimmer
A light (since it's fish-only, just about any light will do)
A cover
Salt
Substrate
Live rock

That's it. Whether this is vastly expensive or relatively cheap is up to you. If you get a big setup, with a sump, big lights, etc. the tank will be rather expensive. If you take the cheaper options, it will be less expensive. However, if your girlfriend decides later that she wants an anemone for her fish, or a coral, or some other form of invertebrate, it will be much easier to get it if you buy the more expensive setup.

This is not a light purchase. You will have to change about 20% of the tank's volume (6 gallons) every two weeks. You will need to make up your own salt water, and use it to replace the old 6 gallons. You cannot become lazy on this and start skipping it! Your fish/your girlfriend's fish will die if you skimp on the changes!

If you get a 30 gallon, as well, it will be harder to keep the water stable than it would with a 40 or a 50 gallon. The water is the most unstable part of the aquarium, and if it fluctuates, your fish will not last long. You would do better with a 40 or 50 gallon tank.

I would definitely get a good book and start reading up on setups BEFORE purchasing anything. A good book is The Conscientious Marine Aquarist, by Robert Fenner. Like DrOizo said, you should not trust your lfs. Only listen to them if you already know, from research, that the facts they give you are true.

Look at the pinned articles on the Salt Water/Marine Chitchat forum on this website, and proceed with caution. Starting a salt water tank is a big undertaking.

Good luck. 8)

 

[RamJet]

Ok, you need to take a visit to the marine section of the forum. Read up on whats posted there, ask questions and find out what others are doing. Dont just jump into this or you will have dead nemo on your hands. See you there, Ram
"I would definitely get a good book and start reading up on setups BEFORE purchasing anything. A good book is The Conscientious Marine Aquarist, by Robert Fenner. Like DrOizo said, you should not trust your lfs. Only listen to them if you already know, from research, that the facts they give you are true. " Right on the money!

 

[trout_pout]

First of all, the clownfish. They actually do need at least 30 gallons. You may want to get only a simple, 30 gallon fish-only setup.

If so, you will need:
A tank
A stand
A heater
Some form of filtration (sump, canister filter, etc.)
A protein skimmer
A light (since it's fish-only, just about any light will do)
A cover
Salt
Substrate
Live rock

That's it. Whether this is vastly expensive or relatively cheap is up to you. If you get a big setup, with a sump, big lights, etc. the tank will be rather expensive. If you take the cheaper options, it will be less expensive. However, if your girlfriend decides later that she wants an anemone for her fish, or a coral, or some other form of invertebrate, it will be much easier to get it if you buy the more expensive setup.

This is not a light purchase. You will have to change about 20% of the tank's volume (6 gallons) every two weeks. You will need to make up your own salt water, and use it to replace the old 6 gallons. You cannot become lazy on this and start skipping it! Your fish/your girlfriend's fish will die if you skimp on the changes!

If you get a 30 gallon, as well, it will be harder to keep the water stable than it would with a 40 or a 50 gallon. The water is the most unstable part of the aquarium, and if it fluctuates, your fish will not last long. You would do better with a 40 or 50 gallon tank.

I would definitely get a good book and start reading up on setups BEFORE purchasing anything. A good book is The Conscientious Marine Aquarist, by Robert Fenner. Like DrOizo said, you should not trust your lfs. Only listen to them if you already know, from research, that the facts they give you are true.

Look at the pinned articles on the Salt Water/Marine Chitchat forum on this website, and proceed with caution. Starting a salt water tank is a big undertaking.

Good luck. 8)

I'm not sure about that
Are you saying that if you get the cheaper option they will be ok
But if you want coral or an anemone you need to get the expensive option, also do you really need an anemone to keep clown fish?
But If you just want clown fish, the cheaper option will also work

 

[DrOizo]

It really depends about what set up you are going for. There are fish only setups in which you don't need expensive lighting but as soon as you want hard or soft corals then you do need to spend aloth of money when it comes to lighting and supplements. So you can take a cheaper option but I suppose if Your going to commit to SW you might aswell get at least soft corals

 

[trout_pout]

do i really need coral though?

 

[DrOizo]

Well thats a matter of taste. Not having coral limits your tank. I might be wrong but bear with me but anemones come under soft coral so Yes it would limit you and I think you would get a much more pleasing tank in the end

 

[fishdudein]

You are getting a lot of very good advice here, the people on this forum are trying to make things easier for you, so don't get aggravated. Landlocked is right on the money with his advice. The only thing that I might add, or clarify rather, is that when you get your salt, plain old table salt is not going to work for keeping fish, you will need an aquarium seasalt mix, available at your LFS. I've talked a lot of new folks through this process, and many of them don't realize this, just thought I'd bring it up.