starting up a clown/anemone tank need help

[bfitz06]

just picked up a 42gal tall tank that i want to set up as clown/anemone tank
i have the lighting
64 watt x2 pc light and a t5 fixture
i want to go sumpless, any idea about filtration??? i was thinking about a aquaclear hob or current in tank filter
how many powerheads do i need
what type of uv sterilizer should i look at
i plan on doing weekly water changes 4-5 gal.
i have about 20lbs. of live sand and 50 lbs. of live rock so far
i wasnt planing on using a skimmer (want to keeping it as low buck and low up keep as possible)
an ideas what i should do

 

[Coral Hind]

From my personal experience and from dealing with anemone farmers, anemones do not require the super clean water or high flow rates that many of the other items we keep in our tanks do. They can handle nitrates up to 30 with no issues.

They do love and require a lot of light. You didn't detail your full light setup but make sure it is strong. Anemones seem to prefer light that is between 5,500K - 10kK. I know one greenhouse that gets readings of near 1200 micromol PAR and the RBTA in there love the intense light. I think you can get away without the skimmer as long as you keep up with the water changes.

Make sure to protect any powerheads, pumps or the intake to the aquaclear with foam so the anemones do not get sucked into them. Place powerheads high in the tank. A UV unit like the 9w turbo twist would be fine. If you do decide to run carbon make sure you rinse it very well as carbon dust in the water really upsets my anemones.

What type of anemone are you planning on keeping? I recommend any of the BTA's for their high survival rates.

 

[bfitz06]

thanks for the info it helped out alot, i was thinking about bta, and maybe a carpet , any idea what types of clowns i should go with . i was thinking of a few black/white saddlebacks and i really like the pink skunk clowns

 

[patriots81]

i would just go with a bta or maybe 2. i dont think that you should go with a carpet because that is a small tank and the chances of a carpet eating your fish is very high and carpets get very big so that is too small of a tank for carpets. you should go with one type of clown and the most, 2 clowns.

 

[bfitz06]

think im going with 2 bta's and afew black n white clowns. im going to go with a canister filter not the aquaclear and a 9 w uv only thing im not sure about is the powerhead. ill update pictures when i get the stand build in my basement. should look cool when its all done its going to be 13.5 ' long u shaped and house my 30 gal fowler , 10gal starfish tank(lunch for my harley) 55gal reef, the 42gal clown tanks mini frig and a tv . im running 30 new outlets and framing it out now