20 g. nem and clown setup

[eb8919]

I am embarking on a project for a 20 gallon tank dedicated specifically for an anemone and a pair of clowns. I would like to put coral but have seen that anemones don't due well with coral (especially in a small tank like a 20) so thats why i want a tank dedicated to just this. The clowns i am hoping to get are a pair of black ocellaris. The setup is a 20 gallon tall with enough lr to fill close to the top (not sure on lbs.). I have a 150 watt metal halide and 2 24 watt t5 actinics freed up for this. 20 gallon long sump/fuge. I realize i will need to let this cycle and mature for months and months to contain a healthy anemone but i have a few questions before i start tearing into this project.

So my questions are as follows:
1. Would a carpet live and be happy in a 20?
2. If not, what are my choices in this tank?
3. Is the lighting sufficient?
4. Is there anything I should keep in mind while setting up the tank that will help in the end, keeping in mind the only live stock will be the anemone and clowns. (and a cuc of course)

Anything else you would like to add in that I'm missing would be greatly appreciated.

 

[garygb]

First, let me say I don't have a carpet anemone, but my suggestion would be to get a larger tank if you wish to keep any of the carpet host species. You are going to have an additional 20 gallon sump (which is good and adds to the overall stability), but eventually a host carpet would likely outgrow your tank. They all tend to get rather large.

If I were you, I would consider a BTA. A 30 gallon would be preferable, but if you have a 20 gallon display plus a 20 gallon sump and have a good protein skimmer you should be ok. At some point the anemone will take up a large part of the tank, but that would be a nice looking display. Although ocellaris is not a natural symbiont with Entacmea quadricolor doesn't mean it won't work in your aquarium. Very frequently they take up in BTAs in aquariums.

 

[eb8919]

What type of clowns would you advise? I am open to suggestion as i like all types of clowns. I could also put aside the carpet idea for quite sometime as i had already assumed a 20 would be to small to contain one in the long run. My lfs always has nice bta's running through it. Thanks for the advice so far.

 

[kimsie]

If it were me I would also go with a BTA - maybe a nice RBTA or something... I think tanks are pretty when there aren't any corals and the BTA's get big or even split and it's just the anemone and the clowns.

As for what type to get - for a 20g I would suggest either true percs or ocellaris. I always think black ocellaris look great with RBTA's...

Good luck!

 

[garygb]

If you wanted to go with natural symbionts for BTAs, then tomato, clarkii or maroons would be the commonly found species. Of those species, I would probably go with either tomatoes or clarkii, as maroons get large.

 

[eb8919]

Its funny you say that, because i had my eye on a rbta at the lfs...obviously it will be gone by the time I need to get mine, but i certainly do love the look. In the meantime I'm going to start setting it up for cycling. All advice is appreciated, thank you.

 

[garygb]

I'm sure you will find one when the time comes. I suggest you read all you can such as the anemone faqs at the top of this forum and also go to Karen's rose anemone site. As I'm sure you know, rose and green BTAs are the same species and require the same conditions. So her site is devoted to RBTAs but everything is applicable to GBTAs if you decide to get one of those.