35 hex clown harem anenome tank

[Jade5051]

I have a 35 hex coming my way very soon. I've been thinking of the stocking list. Really leaning toward a clown harem with BTAs.

Few questions...

Is it wise to attempt this in a 35 hex?

How many clowns can I squeeze in there?

How many anemones should I have?

What kind of lighting do I need? I have a 150w metal halide fixture and I have another fixture that has a 150w metal halide with 2 65w power compacts. Would either of these fixtures suffice?

Please let me know if you need any additional information and please feel free to offer suggestions outside of the topics I have already asked about.
Thank you in advance for the advice.

 

[ThRoewer]

It's never going to be a harem, only a pair and a few tolerated juveniles.
I have 4 black & white Darwin Clowns in a 42-gallon tank. I started out with an adult pair and 4 juveniles. One of the juveniles became the enforcer and harrassed the other 3 while the pair mostly kept out of it. After the little tyrant killed the smallest of the juveniles I kicked him out and added 2 Dascylus damsels. Since then things have calmed down and the 4 clowns get along fairly well. Though the smallest is not allowed to enter the anemone (an S. haddoni).

In another 40-gallon tank, I tried 3 different pairs:
1 pair of wild Philippines Ocellaris
1 pair (well, they haven't paired up yet) of wild Sumatra Maroons
1 pair (well, same as with the Maroons, not a pair yet) of Darwin Clowns
Everything was kind of stable when I had a number of different anemones in the tank:
a large magnifica for the Ocellaris, a haddoni for the Darwins, and a number of BTAs for the Maroons.
When I had to remove the anemones for treatment (the BTAs brought an infection in) the fighting started. Though not between the dominant ocellaris and the Maroons (they get along surprisingly well) but rather between the Darwins of which the larger is trying to pair up with the Ocellaris female. I suspect I can keep the Maroons and the Ocellaris together for a while after returning their anemones but I will have to take the Darwins out so that they get used to each other.

IMO, your best bet to get a group of anemonefish to stick together in one anemone is to add a mean fish that forces them to team up... or keep two groups of anemonefish that have different anemone preferences with two different anemones.
In my case, Maroons have no interest in magnifica while the ocellaris don't care about BTAs. Though this works best in an elongated tank where you can keep a bit of distance between the two groups but close enough so they see each other as a threat to bond over.

 

[mobert]

A 35 gallon is much too small for more than two clowns. Sorry.

 

[Bendalat]

This is a bad, very bad idea in the long run.
Trust me, been there, done that.
It looks very peaceful, pretty.....in every way at the beginning, but it will be a nightmare after that.
I had tried three time with 3 different kind of clown but failed. I lost a bunch of money to buy them, and then waist so much time to find homes for them from other reefers.

SORRY FOR THE NEGATIVE COMMENT.

I feel bad if I don't tell you my experience.
By the way, I have a 300 gallons tank.