questions on flow rate, clowns and hammer corals

[ambulocetus]

I have a 29 gal which has lots of live rock and a dsb. I have a longnose hawkfish and two clowns.
My question is this, the clowns seem to only inhabit one small corner of my tank, I think that I have too high of a flow going on for them to handle (1 penguin 550 + Magnum 350) is this too much for them (they are kind of small!) ?
Also I have a hammer coral, and began to read lots about them attacking other corals close by - do they attack fish?
thank you!

 

[luntiz]

Clowns are not very active fish to start with...at least in my experience. Hammers are considered "aggressive" but from what I have seen at the LFS's display tank, they do fine with enough room between them and other corals. They are extremely nice looking! You might also toss in another PH for added flow for the hammer. They look beautiful with the added swaying from more flow.

 

[ambulocetus]

Thanks luntiz - the hammer's can handle a pretty good flow? I am never sure what people class as "high" or "medium" flow rate!

 

[luntiz]

What is your total flowrate from both the Magnum and the Penguin? Usually it takes a couple of PH to aggitate the surface unless you have a spraybar and because of that a lot of the flow is lost in the upper portion of the tank. If you have the hammer up close to an area with enough flow then it should be okay. If its placed in the lower portion of the tank then an additional PH pointed in its general area (never point a PH directly at any coral, the high flow will not only damage the coral but push all the filterfeeding particles too quickly before it can pick it out).

 

[fishfreek]

The clowns will stick to their small area of the tank even if you had no flow. This is because in the wild they can become a meal for a larger preditor should they venture to far from their host anenome. If you dont have an anenome then they will basicly take up refuge next to another host. Sometimes this host is as simple as a rock.

The hammer will send out sweepers if it detects another hostile coral close by (a few inches away usually). These sweapers will have stinging cells on the tips. They wont affect fish.

 

[jackdp]

I would class a hammer as a moderate to low flow coral. Just enough flow to gently move its tentacles. Any more than that and it may stay closed up. I've had clowns that generally have done the same thing, pick an area of the tank and stay there only moving around to feed.