Wanting to start the hobby.

[clownfish-god]

I want to start the clownfish hobby! add I have it narrowed down to the fish I want to keep.

Wide Banded Clownfish
Rose Anemone

I want to keep them in a 40gal tank.

with 40LBS of LR and 40LBS of LS

No sump or refugium, I am relaying on natural filtration and water changes to keep the water conditions perfect, for I want to breed these fish. I want to have corals but I wouldn't mind not having any, manly just for looks and to make the tank look natural.

Could I get away with no sump?

 

[AquaReeferMan]

First off
<img src="/images/welcome.gif" width="500" height="62"><br><b><i><big><big>To Reef Central</b></i></big></big>

You sound like youre off in the right step. Yes you can run a tank with no sump. My 55g is sumpless. A great Skimmer, LR, LS, regular water changes, and good flow will keep a tank nice and clean. Since you are going to need nice lighting for the nem you will be able to house coral as well. I have a mixture of corals with my green bubble tip and a s haddoni. Your best bet is to let your tank mature and add the nem. Once it moves around and finds a spot it likes then add the coral. HTH and keep us updated.

 

[clownfish-god]

Thanks for the welcome, I am having problems finding these beautiful fish, but I am all over the net looking for them.
Yup I was thinking this tank->

Bow front tank
85cmx45cmx45cm

I am not to shore on tank volume but should be big enough.
Would a 150watt lighting system be big enough?

 

[dc]

Well the time looking will give your tank more time to mature for the anemone. Patience is the best lesson learned in this hobby.

 

[criccio]

Welcome,

Not to burst your bubble, but if you live in the states you should reconsider the latz. They are rarely available, and you may wait years to get a pair.

 

[clownfish-god]

I am not in America I am in New Zealand, I live 4 hours away from their natural habitat and I am trying to get me a permit to collect some.
Would I be able to keep a corals without a sump or skimmer?

 

[criccio]

Oh, very nice. Good luck with the collecting.

Yes, you can keep certain types of corals like softies and lps.

 

[clownfish-god]

good good, How should i keep the water moving in the tank? should i have a couple of closed loops?

 

[55semireef]

I think your best bet would be to get a sump. Your adding more water volume towards your tank and your evaportation will be from the sump, not the main display. Not to mention, your on the bare minimum size tank so a sump would greatly benefit you. The more water volume you have, the more stability you have. Anemones need stability to even stand a chance of survival.

I would wait at least 10 months before you even get an anemone. Anemones need established tanks to survive, even BTAs.

As for the flow, powerheads that are closed off to prevent anemones being caught in them can provide you with water current. I would say about 850 gph in a 40 gallon would be plenty of flow.

40 lbs of ls is a good thing but I think thats way too much. Your not keeping a sand dwelling anemone so I would go for a sandbed of about 2-3 inches. When you get into the deep sandbeds, certain gases build up in the sand if they are released they can cause you algae blooms and possibly hurt and corals or anemones in the tank. I would just go for about 20 lbs of live sand. Reducing your amount of sand will also allow you to have more water volume in your tank and as I already said, the more water volume the more stability...and of course stability is what you want.


What kind of lighting were you planning on having again? 150 watts of what? If your talking about an MH unit, that would be plenty of light to keep a RBTA. If your talking about PC, then your talking about the bare minimum of light.

 

[clownfish-god]

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=980601