little help

[jamgar]

i have a false percula that came with my large tank. i hope over the next year to have a coral dominated mixed reef but would like to find an host anemone and a mate for the clown, i want them as happy as possible. also i have no idea of the clown's sex. right now 'he' sleeps in the bottom right corner. I have heard that the maxi-minis are good in coral tanks
Thanks

 

[WaffleWalffle22]

Maxis won't host clowns. If your clown is by itself for a few months you can assume it will be female. What kind of lighting do you have, how big is your tank, and what is your experience with this hobby? We need to know so we can recommend a certain anemone for you to start with.

 

[jamgar]

tank size-84x30x30 320g
vho but will be upgrading to ai sol led in the next couple of months
clown hangs out with the foxface now and always stays in the open in one of the front corners
had a small predator tank 20 years ago for three years and just got this set up 3 months ago
parameters are good except phosphate at .5 due to high feeding by previous owners, po4 leaching from rocks
thanks for the quick reply

 

[WaffleWalffle22]

Your tank should be OK for any anemone, but I would suggest a bubble tipped anemone if you're new to anemones.

 

[jamgar]

would that be ok with the softies and other corals i plan to get later...it should have plenty of time to get established in the tank before i add anything else. would you recommend buying a male and can the lfs tell the difference in the gender

 

[WaffleWalffle22]

I would recommend buying a male. Find the smallest one in a large group of others and it is more than likely a male. Never trust what the LFS says, most of the time they're just trying to get your money.

Let your tank run for 6 months before adding an anemone. If you add it too soon the tank might not be ready to support one and the anemone could die. Anemones, especially bubble tipped anemone, will move around if they are unhappy with where you put them. They'll move around until they find a nice spot where they like the lighting and flow, and you need to keep your water parameters really stable for an anemone. Try not to add too much coral until the anemone has chosen a spot to live in. If the anemone stings a coral is might kill it.