Can I keep two clownfish in a 24 gallon tank (fish only)?

[PhilA]

I have an unused 24 gallon tank new in box and have been thinking of trying saltwater with a pair of clownfish (likely false percs, tank raised). Is this doable? Or is 30 gallons an absolute must? If doable, what we would be the best set-up for a fish only tank? Can a stable environment be created without live sand or live rock?

[MACATUA]

I think they would probobly be ok if you got small ones. I would suggest the live rock though, in such a small enviroment you need all the biological leeway you can get. You could even start with some base rock to save some money and seed it with just a couple of pieces of live rock. You reall ydon't need that much sand and could get cheap sand and seed it with a bit from a buddy's tank.

But I think a pair of clowns would be fine together! At full adult size you may wanna move them to a bit bigger tank, but they would be fine for quite a while if not forever in there!

[quarryshark]

make sure you get Clowns that stay relatively small like tank raised percs or false percs.
Agree a larger tank may be need for the future.

[piggybank2005]

you'll be just fine if you are thinking about true or false percs.

[blorkiemom]

I've got 2 false percs in a 20L for QT (which has turned out to be a very long QT thanks to hubby dragging his feet on the display tank) and I feel very comfortable with them in there. They are not active swimmers; really, they only use about 1/2 the tank. I'm running the thing with just a sponge filter and an old Penguin 125 (no biowheel) and while I certainly wouldn't recommend this for a "real" tank I've had no problems keeping the water quality good--no ammonia, no nitrite, nitrate 2.5. (I do 20% water changes every week, though.) Based on what I've seen with my pair, I think a 24 would be a fine home. I think you can create a stable environment without LR or LS with a light bio-load, but the LR makes for such a rich and interesting environment that to me it doesn't make sense to go without.