how many in 45g?

[dzeadow]

Next week I want to place an order for some BW Ocellaris.. I was thinking of getting 3 of these and possibly a normal orange one for some color difference.. question is, how many ocellaris can I put in a 45g w/o having problems? I've heard 2-3 is ok, but I just want to make sure I'm not going to get one killed because it gets picked on.. but as with some others clowns are my favorite so I wanted to get as many as I can! Thanks in advance for the help!

 

[Slakker]

You can put two clowns in a 45. Three or more will result in the two dominant clowns harassing the others to death.

 

[dzeadow]

Thanks for the quick reply! What's the rule of thumb in regards to total inches of fish to gallons? w/ 2 clowns, I can also get a small goby and some other fish right? I don't want to have an overly high bio lode since I want to get soft corals down the line, but, I also would like to have some interesting inhabitants to watch.

 

[phender]

Hi,

I went to college in Bozeman 25 years ago. I imagine it has changed quite a bit.
Two or three medium sized fish, in addition to the clowns, would be about it. The type of fish would depend on what kinds of invertebrates you are planning to keep.

 

[dzeadow]

You wouldn't believe how much Bozeman's changed in the last 5 years.. I can't imagine what it was like 25 cuz I just moved here in 02. But it's completely developed north of Oak on 19th now which I guess back in the day was just a dirt road to the highway!

I was thinking of getting some soft leathers, zoas, GSP's, possibly some pulsing xenia.. as far as fish, I thought I'd go with a yellow clown gobie, maybe a bi-color blennie. Just smaller fish so I don't have to worry about upgrading the tank anytime soon. Thanks for the reply!

 

[reefman13]

What you can do which is what I have done, is buy 3 clowns and watch them daily (You want to buy all three from the same place at the same time). Then stick them in a 20L for QT and watch them like a hawk for about two/three weeks to see what happens. At that point you will have made you decision as to what is going to happen with them. For me I got a happy clown family of three

Otherwise, in regards to the other fish and tank mates, go with what phender has to say. He has been doing this for a long time (at least from his profile), and so far with the advice he has given me, it has never steered me in the wrong direction.

Good luck with your tank -BTW, how long has it been running?

 

[dzeadow]

It's been up for 2 weeks now, the nitrates are high, but the nitrites and ammonia are nil. But I'm going to put the fish in a qt first with a sponge that's been in the tank for a week so it's got some bacteria on it, and then let the DT finish it's cycle completely before adding any fish. I was going to get the 3 bw ocellaris from Drs Foster/Smith, and I figured since they'd come in at a size of 3/4 to 1 inch, they would definitely be juvies and be ok, plus I didn't want to take the chance that one would die in shipping if I only bought two.. figured I'd save on $$ by not having to re-order one clownfish! Thanks for all the help.