recommendations needed for new clown tank

[tebmsu97]

My bro-in-law is looking to get into SW with a Clown/nem tank. He has asked me to help plan out his tank, but I have no experience with clowns or anemones.

What we are looking for:
2 clowns (Ocellaris Clownfish) and a host nem (probably BTA). No other livestock.

Questions
what size tank would be best?
What lighting is required?
How much flow?
Do you have to skim with a light bio load?


Knowns
tank will have live sand and rock

Thanks in advance for you input

 

[GSMguy]

a 29 or a 40 br would be perfect sized tanks
they need good lights T5 ho would work best long term or metal halide but its not neccesary for BTA

you dont have to skim just do water changes more

anemones need stabil conditions and at least a 6 month old tank so get the tank started and get the clowns and add the anemone later at the 6 month point if everything is stabil.

 

[2OceanLovers]

I would recommend a 30gal or larger for the nem. That would require lighting in the 4-5watts per gallon for light. I would also recommend moderate flow, about 10x turnover. I personally would go with a good skimmer just to help with the nutrients. Just my 2 cents.

 

[tebmsu97]

Thanks for the help, but I got one or two more questions for you based on your recommendations.

We were thinking of a 29 gallon AGA for the tank. I would like to plumb it to a refugium instead of skimming (we could always set the sump up with a skimmer spot to be filled later if needed), but not sure if he is going to go for that. My biggest concern though is the lighting, I realize that nems need pretty good lighting so we wantto make sure it is adequate.

First recommendation was for t5-ho, can you recommend a fixture or a retro kit that would work well on the AGA 29 (24 in long I believe). Or can you tell me what wattage fixture I would need in T5?

Second recommended 4-5 watts per gallon, this one has me a bit confused. Can I put a 24" power compact setup with 2 (1 10K, 1 true actinic I would guess) 64 watt lamps and cover my light needs? That would be 4.4 W/gal, but from pc lights and not T5, is that okay?

Thanks again for your help.

 

[cschweitzer]

You're lucky, you want a BTA and BTA's seem to be the hardiest and least requiring anem species commonly found in reef aquaria. Really, any of the common lighting schemes will work(VHO T-12's, HO T-5's, PC, MH, or any combination of the above). If using PC, go higher wattage, if VHO or HO, 4-5W/g should do plenty.

I like the 24G aquapods and I think that would be perfect for a species tank. They run a little more money, but they come with pretty much what you need already included.

On a 30 gal tank, for PC's, I would go dual 96W(1X10000K, 1Xactinic) would be ideal.

 

[cschweitzer]

PC's do give off a lot more heat, bulbs burn out and cost more than, and are not a true in color as VHO or HO, but is acceptable choice in my book(I do the same in a 30 under 2X96 PC).

 

[2OceanLovers]

That is exactly what I have in my 30 with a LTA. It is looking great.

 

[GSMguy]

lots of people are sayiing pc bulbs are ok and yes they are OK but thats where it ends.
t5ho is not the same or even close for me i would not buy completely outdated technology that is less efficent puts out 60 lumens per wattt as apposed to 100+ with t5

for a 29 g whice is 30 inches there are not many options for T5Ho but if you can hang it the 24inch fixtures will work great and give you much better results than the 30inch pc lights

imo the only anemone you can try under pc is BTA and i do not reccomend it long term

pc is a ripoff sorry those who use it i do too and i know one thing it is crap

20oceanlovers got their LTA last week and it is tiny still a large LTA would not fit in a 29g

try a 40br they are so much better than 29g they have so much more room 36x18x16 for the 40br and the 29 is 30x12 too narrow for a big round Anmeone


i dont mean to step on toes but there is advice that is easy like "yea pc/bta its great" and advice that is harder to explain like why bta wont thrive under pc ligts in a 29g

 

[GSMguy]

as for the large fuge that is a great idea make sure to get the tank drilled for safety and looks

i am a firm beleiver in Cheato algae and fuges for nutrient export they really work

 

[cschweitzer]

Just some pics under PC:

And that's just my BTA, you should see my ricordia half of the tank.

 

[cschweitzer]

Ooops. I forgot to mention that my PC bulbs are way past their life(been used for over a year) and still pushing more than enough light for the anem. When it went into the tank, it was maybe 1" and completely bleached, but now looks like that 2-3 months later.

I do warn: I overfeed and they eat much of their energy instead of getting most from light.

 

[cschweitzer]

This is it when it went in: