how much room is needed for 2 clownfish and is it worth getting real coral or fake?

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Dan_Forbz

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Apr 28, 2010
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South Coast Australia
just curious about how much room would be needed to set up a sw tank for 2 clownfish?

also is it worth it to invest in getting real coral, or just stick with fake?

what are the pro's and cons?
 
clownfish don't care about coral, so real or fake is up to you. depending on the type of clowns, i would probably want to see them in a 24" tank at least.
maroon clowns need a much larger tank, than say, percula.
 
My only problem with the fake stuff is that it gets pretty dirty and is hard to clean. When you say corals are you talking about an anenome?
 
THis is all personal prefrence some of the new corals are looking pretty good , but the colors tend to fade and as stated above get dirty , clowns (occs clowns) really would not care ... I have in my nano tank 2 clowns , clowns very rarely swim greater than 2 feet from thier territory(they are occ clowns) ... I have seen no issues with my guys in the years that I have had them , they seem happy and healthy their color is good and they generally stay in one part of the tank , yes they swim in and out and use all parts but generally they are in the corner back hosting the mag cleaner :p But as mrx stated the reds need a much larger tank .. :D
 
a pair of occ clowns will do fine in something like a 12g nano. I agree with everyone though, it depends on the species. I had fake coral for my seahorse tank once, just became a huge PITA to take it out and clean it all the time. IME some nice LR with coralline on it, with good aquascaping, looks really nice.
 
thanks. all, i was curious about all the species so thats why i didnt ask specifically, around a 45 gallon would be fine then, what other sw fish do they get along with without problems, and by corals i mean anenome' and other corals to create a reef tank ( 45 g wouldnt be hardly enough )
 
Take a look over at liveaquaria, they have a marine fish compatibility guide which will show what you can put with them. I recommend viewing it in Internet Explorer if you have it, there is a nice cross feature that only works in IE for some reason.

Anemones are a tricky subject, they should really only be added to an established tank, and once you have some more experience under your belt. They can be very tricky. I have seen people create beautiful reefs out of 50g, heck I have seen some 6s and 12s that are better then most peoples 120s. It all depends on experience, and how established and comfortable you are with your tank.

If you ever do decide to get an anemone (and any marine species really) you should try to get one that has been aquacultured. this means from a fellow hobbyist or trusted facility.
 
ok thanks for that, its always hard to dive into trying something new when you have only read information on it, and havent done any practical experience. i talked with the pet shops yesterday and he was saying it's very easy for things to go wrong with sw that arent predictable, any comments on his info?
 
For once an honest LFS..hahaha. Yes the best thing for you to do is to go slow and read, read, read. ;)
 
haha yea, its a rare thing the place i baught my maingano from didnt tell me anything, and ended up going through a few fish to learn my lesson ( of course all at my costs) and that was the second pet store in the area, definately not buying fish until i know everything about the species and what goes with what :)
 
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