27 clowns in the same tank 27 months~Thread of the Month

For those that are new to Reef Central, Welcome.

The little red house was part of the old forum format and it led to my tank build thread: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=660686

Over the years, I have answered general reef keeping questions that should be directed to the appropriate forums. There are many opinions and methods to achieve a beautiful reef. I have outlined what I did and cannot comment on equipment or lighting that I have little knowledge of. There are many much more knowledgeable people here who generously help others in this hobby. Please direct general questions to those forums.

I believe BSR did a great job of summarizing the main points for success and I am looking forward to their updates. I still have trouble with excess nutrients with nuisance algaes and I will be interested to see if they are able to control that with the heavy feedings that are so important to prevent aggression.

By the way, my skimmer looks like a giant compared to what they are using. I wonder if my 9 year old skimmer's technology may be outdated or if the BSR tank will be under skimmed??

I still have 12 adult clowns. Aggression has gone back down to pre neglect levels. I did pull a tile of eggs from the tank and am raising the clutch now in a 29 gallon BioCube with a H. Magnifica aka Ritteri:
<iframe width="853" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/kNysCvR-r18" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

YouTube did something to it and the quality is not as good as the original. So apologies for that.

I dropped 7 culls that were small 4 month olds in the big tank. There are 3 left in there after a week. Sooooo, if you see my clowns with obvious birth defects in the future, it is because they survived being dropped in there without ceremony and have earned their right to stay. The older clowns, Banggais and a few hungry fish were brutal the first few days but they now seem to ignore them and the little guys live in the Bubble coral.

In the few months, I'll try adding babies with an acclimation container for a few days to see if things will work out better for the little guys.

I got this idea from MarvinsReef:
<iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/rKnkHiX6rOU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

j_r_smith said:
First I love the thread on the clown harem. I am a new member and actually came here searching for this thread in particular as a result of the recent BRS videos.

They tell me I can't PM you yet so.....
Click to expand...

Thank you, I have PM'd answers to the general questions and noted the buttons at the top of the page to other forums and the all important search button.

Thanks again folks for your interest.
 
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iDestroya said:
OMG... those babies are tiny! how are you feeding them when they have to compete with the bigger ones for food?
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Here is a feeding video:
<iframe width="480" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/-ImQqjuU8m4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

The whole tank has floating small pieces of food such that even the smallest fish can get a bite. I have been doing this every day lately. I have also gone long periods of just Spectrum New Life pellets from a Eheim automatic feeder. The pellets was great except when it ran empty and I didn't notice for who knows how long.....?
 
Snarkys said:
I understand your viewpoint and it's absolutely valid. Thing is basically everything we do in reefing today was imposable or very risky at one point. Wasn't that long ago everyone said keeping two tangs in one tank is impossible, very risky or akin to the 100MPH analogy. This is absolutely not the case but you do have to go into it with strategy for success to maintain multiple tangs.

IMHO it's threads like this one that help us expand what we think we know about reefing. For instance we know for sure throwing a third clown or forth clown in is very risky and likely to be unsuccessful long term. It could be that is very different than raising a clutch up together with a plan to manage aggressive tendencies and this thread would imply that. The difference between a thread like this one and what i'd call irresponsible is they went into it with a strategy to manage the challenges, documented the results over a long period of time and were wiling to show both the positive and negative results so the community can learn from the experience.
Click to expand...

I can see from your response that you aren't taking diving into a tank like this lightly. Yes, it is very true that things that are the norm today used to be very "difficult" or even taboo. SPS and anemones used to be "very difficult" but now with further understanding are not too hard really. If one goes into a situation with an open mind, a TON of research, and realistic understanding about what you're getting in to then it can be done.

I have just talked to (online and in person) several dismal failures after trying to duplicate this style of tank. Admittingly, those attempts largely just tossed a few fish into an established tank and let them fend for themselves. It's like people who don't understand anemones will put a condy in their SPS reef and be upset when it wanders, killing other corals and maybe itself. PLAN, PEOPLE! I definitely can come off my stance of "this should not be attempted", as long as adequate pre-work and planning is complete.
 
Pm

Pm

Mona, I can't PM yet :-( so I just wanted to say thanks for your PM response. When I am "allowed" I will answer proper. Just didn't want to seem rude!
 
Just read through all 32 pages. Your tank is great!!! A few months ago, I purchased a 12 gallon nano-cube dx off craigslist that had been running for a year as a FOWLR tank with a mated pair of clowns (ocellaris I think). I bought some much needed new PC light bulbs and added a RBTA to the tank. The RBTA is doing great and has doubled in size in almost a months time. However, the clown fish have not hosted it yet and they bite me almost every time I put my hand in, the female especially, and I was wondering if that ever happens to you? I read somewhere in this thread that a clown drew blood... I feel mine are close to doing that to me.

Also, did yours just host naturally because you raised them with a BTA and any tips to help me or are they a lost cause because they were so long without one. I have read about taking them out and putting all three in a small container or putting up pictures of others that host but wasn't sure if just waiting a little longer would be more helpful. Don't want to take them out and they die. I've read bad stories on that happening to people. :headwally:

lastly, did you ever figure out why some anemones bubble and others get stringy looking. I really like the stringy look better and was wondering if there is anything I can do to encourage that look. I saw most of yours resembled that look.

Also, any chance you could put up a new entire FTS. I see it has been a while sense the last full tank shot. THANKS AGAIN for doing this. It really is amazing.:spin3:
 
Found and read this entire thread via the BRS video. It only took me 3 days to complete the reading. I really appreciate the reading. And congrats on your successes.
 
Last month I added some safe areas in the tank:

I have since added more safe areas and all the babies. I did remove the pajama cardinals as they were eating the early culls.
 
Few weeks ago, I added a safe area on the right side of the tank along with all the rest of the babies. Babies were approx 6 months old. The area was not 100% secure and a few adults got in. They don't chase the babies while in the cage:

I'll add more current pictures later. The babies are swimming half the tank now and mostly sleeping in their safe cage at night.
 
Amazing. Thoroughly enjoyable read. I love all your pics & vids as well Mobert. Thanks for the share! :fish1:
 
Mobert, what do you think of a clown herem in a 40 gallon. all from the same clutch, ten clowns and several BTAs, thanks a ton this was so inspiring:)
 
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