I really want to enter the hobby (I've made a thread in the Beginners section) and I'm planning to start with possibly a 40-gallon or 75-gallon FOWR / LR tank. Are clowns the best starting fish once my tank's cycled? If so, what species would you guys with experience recommend? What about getting an anemone for a new tank?
Are clowns the best starting fish for a complete dummy?
- Thread starter Zionas
- Start date
Clowns are a fine first fish. I like common clowns. They're pretty mellow. Other clowns get big and mean, and will attack your hand in the tank. This will discourage you from properly maintaining it. It is recommended that you wait one year before adding anemones. They are particular about water conditions - especially stability. It really does take a year to reach that point.
One of the more difficult things to do in this hobby is be patient. It's hard to wait for the cycle to complete. It's hard to wait to add fish. It's hard to wait to get an anemone. If you do it right, you'll be rewarded. If not you'll be taught a lesson.
One of the more difficult things to do in this hobby is be patient. It's hard to wait for the cycle to complete. It's hard to wait to add fish. It's hard to wait to get an anemone. If you do it right, you'll be rewarded. If not you'll be taught a lesson.
ThRoewer
New member
Tank bred (false) clownfish, Amphiprion ocellaris, are as good of a beginner fish as several other tank bred fish species. Clowns are generally favorites because they are well recognized and usually always out in the open.
That said, wild-caught anemonefish are nothing for beginners as they often come with a number of parasites and infections that require advanced knowledge and at least some experience to treat.
Generally, I would suggest beginners to start with tank raised species and tank bred clowns are generally the ideal beginner fish. Though you should keep in mind that all anemonefish can get quite old for such small fish - them reaching 20 years or more in captivity is pretty common and research suggest that females have the potential to get to 30 years or even more.
Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk
Thanks for the replies. As much as I would love to get tank-bred species (and I would certainly get tank-bred clowns if I could), I am not sure about the possibility of that since I'll be starting my tank in China or a developing SE Asian country (PH, TH or VN). I'm not even sure they know what tank-bred is. This is concerning to me as I would want to avoid fish with diseases / parasites.
ThRoewer
New member
I would think that in China you should be able to find tank bred clownfish, most likely designer clowns, unless you set up shop in some remote village.
In all the other countries you could pretty much catch your fish straight from the ocean.
The primary causes for fish to catch diseases is being kept in crowded holding systems at the exporters and being shipped in a puddle of water half around the world. But South Asia is where most of our fish come from so at least some of the stressors fall away.
That said, a quarantine tank is a must. If you can't make space (at least temporarily) for one when you get new fish then you should rethink the idea of having a reef tank...
Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk
I don’t like designer clowns. I prefer the originals. I will be setting up my tank in a first tier city, and I’ve also found that they sell fish on Taobao. As for the quality of fish shipped through Taobao, I will have to investigate further. The problem with me getting a quarantine tank is space and time constraints, more than anything else. In your opinion, if it’s really not possible for me to get a quarantine tank in the foreseeable future, would it best for me to stick to FOWLR?
ThRoewer
New member
A fish only tank would be one option. The other would be to buy all fish close together (or all at once) and use the display as quarantine tank in the beginning. Once all fish are okay you can transfer it into a reef tank.
As for the Chinese names of fish, try Wikipedia: find the English page for the fish you want, then switch to the Chinese version.
This issue is one of the reasons why I normally prefer scientific names as those should be the same everywhere...
Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk
As for the Chinese names of fish, try Wikipedia: find the English page for the fish you want, then switch to the Chinese version.
This issue is one of the reasons why I normally prefer scientific names as those should be the same everywhere...
Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk
My intention is to start with a FOWLR tank that's 40 gallons or 75 gallons because I heard it's the most ideal for beginners. If everything goes well, I may upgrade to a reef tank (even a somewhat simple reef setup) further down the line, but for now I will be focusing mostly on FOWLR.
short answer : NO...they are not really a hardy "beginner" fish as some think..The tank bred may be a little better though.IMO..
I'd love to give u a list of a few "hardy beginner fish" that would tolerate new tank conditions well, but i'll refrain...& let others chime in...
I'd love to give u a list of a few "hardy beginner fish" that would tolerate new tank conditions well, but i'll refrain...& let others chime in...
ThRoewer
New member
I would say, once acclimated and free of diseases, clownfish (ocellaris & percula) are among the hardest saltwater fish you can find.
Though, I could say the same for bluespot jawfish, which are even hardier and even less demanding (I keep 3 in a 29 gallon tank with nothing else but a flow pump).
And there is a whole lot more (generally smaller) fish that fit the bill.
But clownfish (and with that I mean in particular ocellaris and percula) will do fine in small tanks, even reproduce there, and have with 20 to 30 years a life expectancy no other fish that size can beat. As such I would rate them as ideal aquaium fish.
Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk
What other fish do you suggest? Update: I've decided to go 40 gallons and plan to keep 5-6 fish with some inverts.
ThRoewer
New member
Certain damselfish (which include Anemonefish), many gobies, Banggai cardinals, and a number of other fish are not too difficult to keep in smaller tanks and suitable as beginner fish. Though there is no fish you can't kill with mistakes.
IMO the only true beginner fish would be Platies and Mollies which can be kept in saltwater but are not actually reef fish - they are however good for algae control in reef tanks too small for tangs or rabbitfish. And since they are euryhaline and can also be kept in pure freshwater it is pretty easy to strip them of most if not all external parasites without the use of medications.
BTW, if you would go to Taiwan, there you could find pretty much everything you can find in the US or in Europe...
IMO the only true beginner fish would be Platies and Mollies which can be kept in saltwater but are not actually reef fish - they are however good for algae control in reef tanks too small for tangs or rabbitfish. And since they are euryhaline and can also be kept in pure freshwater it is pretty easy to strip them of most if not all external parasites without the use of medications.
BTW, if you would go to Taiwan, there you could find pretty much everything you can find in the US or in Europe...
Similar threads
