How many clowns?

[Andrew D]

I'm in the process of setting of an anemone tank, a 56G tank plumbed into a 700G mostly sps system. My plan is to get many different kinds of anemones, and already have a blue carpet and 2 bubble tips, all of whom are doing well. I'd like to get some clownfish to keep them company, and wonder how many I need to get to diffuse the aggression between them. I'm thinking at least 8 to 10 small ones but would apprecaite some feedback from those who might know better.

Thanks, Andrew

 

[shifty51008]

2 clowns in a 56 gal unless you get a group grom a breeder and they are all from the same batch.

A friend of mine set up an anemone tank and bought 20 clowns from me and so far they are all doing great, cool looking tank

 

[Andrew D]

Well, I thought I'd close the loop on this one and say that I ended up buying 10 small oscellaris from a local breeder, all from the same brood. I don't see any aggression, but 1 has disappeared and another was on it's last legs when I removed it and put it in my mantis tank to let nature take it's course. I'm quite pleased with the look, although I'd like to get more anenomes and might have to trim the herd if all survive until they get larger.

Not the greatest pictures but you get the idea. The clowns are sharing a 56G tall with a blue carpet, a green and red bubbletip (out of the pictures close to the water line as I acclimatize the carpet to a higher light intensity), an elegance which was being picked on in my display, a few different kinds of xenia and a clean up crew.

 

[traveller7]

Plan for the carpet to move around a bit and that elegance is going to be pestered, possibly to death, by the clowns calling it home.

Best of luck, in my experience, there are a few challenges on the horizon for the current arrangement and mix.