12" cube for a pair of clowns?

[coral acquisition]

Would a 12" cube be too small for a pair of clowns?

Thanks

 

[jwoyshnar]

Yes it would.

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

Absolutely too small.

 

[coral acquisition]

Anyone else? The two clowns will be the only fish in there, along w live rock and soft corals.

 

[crooks]

You can do it.

 

[Cliff519]

my vote would be no

Once they reach their full adult size, they would not have a lot of room in a 12" tank.

 

[davocean]

That's 7.5g w/out any rock or corals.
Typically that size tank would have a goby and a shrimp and be max'd out, or darn near max.
I sure wouldn't do it, not even w/ just one clown.

 

[coral acquisition]

I think a better question would be, what would be the smallest/ideal tank size I can fit 2 clowns in?

thanks

 

[davocean]

Well, I'm not the biggest fan of small tanks because they are actually kind of a pain to gear up and keep stable, but I guess if you have space restraints and have to have them in a small tank I would do no less than 20g for a pair of clowns, and that would be w/out a nem.

 

[deangelr]

I think a better question would be, what would be the smallest/ideal tank size I can fit 2 clowns in?

thanks

This is dependent on which species of clownfish you are interested in..

But I agree, a 20g, unless you are plumbing it into another system, is the smallest just due to water issues..

 

[reefstew]

If you go with Ocellaris the tank will be fine. Just keep on top of the water condition as with any small tank. All my breeding pairs are in 10 gal tanks plumbed together, total of 17.

 

[davocean]

If you go with Ocellaris the tank will be fine. Just keep on top of the water condition as with any small tank. All my breeding pairs are in 10 gal tanks plumbed together, total of 17.

That's a very different situation, and a whole lot more water volume than a single 7g tank not plumbed to anything else.

 

[reefstew]

If you keep up with water quality it will work. I have raised 525 black & white clowns in a 55 gal tank with very few losses. I now have 612 mocha clowns in a 60 gal cube.

 

[davocean]

As a breeder very a few losses may be acceptable, as an average guy who may be attached to their pair of clowns probably not so much.

 

[Faye]

Uhm, if they are ocellaris clowns, you can probably keep a pair in a standard ten gallon. I have seen pairs in 6 gallon nano cubes. A bigger tank would be better, but I don't think 10 gallons is unreasonable. Clowns are poor swimmers, and they tend to use anything as a host, which means minimal swimming. Keep up on water changes and you should be fine.

 

[rwb500]

it really depends on the size of the fish. clowns can be very slow growing if you feed them sparingly. but no, it would not be ideal to have two full-grown clowns in a 12" cube. if you had seen a full-grown ocellaris i think you would agree. especially a pair, which may get in minor scuffles and need some space apart at times.

i have been thinking about planning a rimless cube for my clowns and RBTA, to get them out of the reef, and everytime I thought about trying to get away with a 12" cube, i changed my mind and decided to go with the 18" cube. its only $100 at marine depot.

 

[ejanastacio]

I believe if they are both small you could get away with it for maybe a year but i would really consider getting at least 10g

 

[maymania6]

I've had an Ocellaris pair in a 8gallon biocube for six months. I got them when they were TINY, less than an inch a piece. They are now out growing the tank. If you get very attached to fish and have a problem selling them or returning them to your LFS, then I would advise against putting them in such a small tank.

 

[coral acquisition]

Ok so as an adult size, would an 18" cube be ok for a pair?

I'm thinking of also getting multiple tanks and plumbing them together so I would have a
bigger water volume, but I was just wondering, as space-wise, what's the smallest I could go with for them to be comfortable.

I want to do a few different clown types (don't know if that's the right word) meaning,
ocellaris or true perculas but have misbars, snowflakes, black ice, and what not.

I think clowns are one of the coolest fish out there and wanted to keep a lot of different types but didn't want to put them in one big tank.

thanks for all the replies.

 

[davocean]

That would be ideal size.