thinking small Clownfish harem/anemone tank

[kampo]

so I have a 20in cube i'm cycleing up. i've been waffeling on stocking. lately partially at my sons insistance he was nemo in this tank (I know I know...) i'm thinking of doing a Clownfish Haren/Anemone tank. might have a few other easy coal in it, and I really want a small watchman goby/shrimp combo. but was talking with the LFS yesterday, and he was recomending 5-6 Percula Clownfish. and a equal amount of Bubble Tip anemomes since they are the most forgiving.

what are your thoughts on this? tan is new so i now it needs some maturing. its 32lb of dry rock 2lb of cured live rock and 20lb of live sand. its been cycleing for 3 weeks. its really throwing me for a curve ball because the water is still crystal clear, I tossed in a raw shrimp 3 weeks ago when i started this process expected it to be a clowdy mess by now, could that 1 cured rock really be carrying the load? need to do some water testing, i have some fresh water test stuff in my fishroom (i'm a freshwater guy mostly) but didn't really plan on stocking this tank even with CUC for another few weeks so wasn't concerned.

 

[ChizerBunoi]

I suggest that you get a pair of Ocellaris Clownfish and then later the goby/shrimp combo. The. Let your tank mature for 6 months. Learn about reef keeping and it's chemistry. Once your rock is mature and you have a good grasp on keeping parameters stable in the long run then makes changes to your tank and add some anemones and additional clowns.


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[mcozad829]

BRS did a great series on their clownfish harem tank and a few of the key things they believed were crucial to their success was the size of the tank, (i believe they did a 5ft 120 or something), heavy feeding, and introducing all of the clowns at the same time at a very young age.

I think in a 20 inch cube you would run into a few issues attempting a clown harem tank. First I believe the tank would be too small, when aggression issues begin the weaker fish wont have very far to get away, second with the relatively small water volume you would need to stay up on maintenance due to the heavy feeding required to help subdue aggression. Third being a new tank with smaller water volume, the need to introduce all the clowns at the same time would introduce a whole other group of issues.

I think that just a pair of clowns and eventually a few nems would be really cool and a rewarding tank. Throw in a few other small fish later down the road and the clowns will be fine with them. I just feel that attempting a harem in a tank this small would be a big headache with unpredictable success.

 

[Saltwatersource]

Also recommend the BRS harem series. Very informative and can help you get a baseline.

 

[Dcropley]

I have had my harem running for a year and a haly and have to say there were obsticals at the one year bark but things have died way down and I can report no further issues with aggression or deaths, I started with 12 and now have 9 one was a jumper and the other 2 were subject to extreme bullying one ended up landing on one of the exposed rocks and dried up the other was found dead in the tank badly beaten up. The turning point for me was when I added the Nems, at that point the tank settled out and calmed down I bought 7 of them to split the groum up accross the tank. I love my harem and I think it is a unique tank to look at but it is not a easy tank to just throw up and expect it to work out.

 

[Dcropley]

Please excuse the spelling errors ^^^ cannot edit the post

 

[PeteStarks]

Unrelated to the clown question, but keep in mind that a goby/shrimp combo is far from a guarantee. You could always end up like me with a very successful shrimp on one side of your tank and a clueless goby on the other.

 

[BClute]

I have had my harem running for a year and a haly and have to say there were obsticals at the one year bark but things have died way down and I can report no further issues with aggression or deaths, I started with 12 and now have 9 one was a jumper and the other 2 were subject to extreme bullying one ended up landing on one of the exposed rocks and dried up the other was found dead in the tank badly beaten up. The turning point for me was when I added the Nems, at that point the tank settled out and calmed down I bought 7 of them to split the groum up accross the tank. I love my harem and I think it is a unique tank to look at but it is not a easy tank to just throw up and expect it to work out.

Kinda off topic but do you have pics of the current Harem tank?


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[Kinetic]

I almost had the opposite of Dcropley.

I had a larger bonded pair (1.5" sizes) and 6 smaller (1"). The bonded pair kept everyone in check in a fairly empty tank.

As soon as I added a Magnifica, all the clowns were in it (it was great). But a day later, the pair had kicked all the little ones out. What happened after was a fight between all the smaller clowns to become the dominant clown of the group sans pair.

I tried to remove the aggressor, and then the next largest became aggressive. This kept happening and got worse as the number of smaller clowns were reduced.

The thought is that for each territory, you need the dominant clown (or pair). Once you introduce an anemone, for example just one, then you have effectively two territories. The anemone, and everywhere else (especially in a small 20g). Each territory will need a dominant clown. For that to work, you either need one that is clearly larger, otherwise it'll be a fight to the death or until one eats enough to grow large enough to be unchallenged.

Tank must have one dominant individual or pair for each territory. Either set up that way, or worked out through aggression. Aggression will vary.