Clownfish and anemone...

[sdergar]

Just curious about the numbers for having clownfish. Not sure as I read that you should only have even numbers then at the LFS I was told 3 is better than four.

I guess I should say that what we are wanting to do is a tank, it's 120g SW and hope to add corals down the road. We at the point of just finishing the plumbing and adding live rock, then cleaner crew then adding 4 clownfish, 1 yellow tang, 1 hippo/blue tang, maybe a royal gamma and just see where that goes (all with appropriate qt time and slowly adding all this)

So is four clownfish better than three? Or is it better for the community to just have 2?

As for the anemone I understand corals need more exacting conditions and care but what is it that needs to be done. I know that clownfish in an aquarium do not need a host and when one is added later they may or may not bond with it. I was listening to a podcast and they mentioned that the chances are better if one is added at the same time. What are the opinions of that?

Do corals need to be quarantined as well? Cleaner crew QT?

I know this was long girls and guys but just making sure. Thanks...

Steve

[iDream]

well as far as i know a pair would be fine(im not sure about more than that) just make sure you add them at the same time, that is crucial.

im not familiar with anemones but make sure you have the lighting and water conditions for one (make sure you tank is several months old before adding an anemone)

for corals its lighting and flow conditions, some like strong like and some need no light at all but need to be fed, and flow is how strong the current is going over that colony.

coral QTs i dont think so, but i know a lot of people "dip" their corals (not quite sure what they dip them in though) and if you add the clean up crew first, you shouldnt need to QT

and no worries about it being long, ask any and all questions you can, it will be beneficial to you and your livestock

and for the tangs, im not sure the dimensions of you tank but make sure its at least 6ft long, they need the swimming room.

[melosu58]

Welcome aboard Steve. I would consider two and that being a mated pair. As far as them hosting anenomes there is no guarantee that they will do it. Mine totally ignored my anenome and hosted corals instead. Eventually had to get rid of the anenome. Also do you have intense lighting for an anenome? As far as the corals I dont QT my corals but I do know some that do. I do agree that most tangs need a 6 foot tank for plenty of space but IMO there are a few that will do fine in a 4 ft tank like the 12o tank you are talking about. That would be the yellow tang and the yellow eyed kole tang. Good luck on the tank build.

[sdergar]

Thanks for the replies. The tank is 5'l x 18w x 26h. Lighting is the Aquatic Life T5 HO with 2 x 54w 10 000k and 2 x 54w 420/460 blue (actinic) and 4 x 1w lunar LEDs. I was just looking at the preprogrammed schedule for the lights (mind you I can change it) but it goes:

blue from 8am to 8pm
white from 9am to 5pm
moon from 8pm to 6am

Is that about right? I was thinking of keeping it as it is but moving the start and end times up by two hours each. Not sure if that is too much light for FOWLR. I was told that I could keep some corals with this fixture down the road.

Steve

[melosu58]

It`s definitely OK for a FOWLR tank. But need more for a reef.