Thinking of my first tank!
 

Ok I've done lots of research on fish but I'm still doing more mostly on coral.

I'm thinking of getting a 29g tank with live rock (about 43-58 lbs), 1 Ocellaris Clown, 1 or 2 Panda Gobies, 2 or 3 Green Chromis fish, and some coral but I'm not sure what (exapt I know I need Branch Coral for the Panda)

Also I'm thinking of getting a fake anemone for the clown (to make him/her to feel at home). =)

I dont think the clown will go into a fake anemone.

Welcome to Canreef! What type of lighting do you plan to use? That will determine what type of corals you can keep. I doubt a clown would host in a fake anemone but there are many other corals it will host in if you don't want to get a real one. My clown hosts in the frogspawn I have.

A 29g tank only needs about 25 pounds of rock. 58 pounds, you might need really skinny fish :)

yah... on my 80G, I got 85 lbs... I had to turf 3 or 4 pieces because they didn't fit right in the tank. ROT is about a pound per gallon, but even that dedends on how pourous the rock is... if it's volcanic, it's going to be lighter by volume ect.... so take that into consideration.

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I've seen people with small anemone's in 20 gallon tanks, so you should be able to eventually put one in yours, once you've got the tank nice and stable of course. I've also seen clowns host green star polyps (gsp), that could be one short term solution for your clown. They are also a really good beginner coral that don't require much light.

Oh I was told by some people that you should have about 1.5-2 lbs of rock per gallon.
And I guess I'm not going to get a fake anemone maybe I'll get frogspawn coral insted (I prefer not to get an anemone) but if I have to for my clown I will.
I was wondering what kind of Branch Coral should I get for the Panda. =)

Get a fuzzy mushroom or a similar soft coral i have an anemone and two clowns. The female is in the GBTA but the male is content hosting a candy cane coral. Here is an interesting article for maybe the best alternative Clown Host

I wouldn't worry too much about the pounds per gallon, just search for some really nice pieces to make a nice aquascape. It seems to many people just pile in a load of rock and end up with a rock wall in their tanks. Lots of openings and places to put coral is ideal :)


My two cents worth when it comes to aquascaping anyways :)


.. I should add that I think the lbs/gallon calculation is based more on the biological filtering of the tank rather than taking the visual aspects into account, I should ask if you are planning on running a sump and a skimmer? This would help reduce the amount of rock you "need" for bilogical filtration. You could also fill you sump with rock, thats what I have done in my tank. I think I have about 100lbs in my display tank but atleast another 50-60lbs in my sump.

Just remember, because you want the clown to host doesn't mean it will. :) Wild caught Perculas need a host anemoneshowever captive bred do not at least that has wbeen what i was told. Although In my experience the captive bred are usually willing to host anything..like powerheads i had one "host" the probe for my temp guage once.

clowns can host just about anything, powerheads, coral (of all kinds), etc etc. there was some talk that wild caught ones would more readily host stuff, but it wasnt proven. something you can do that might help is find a picture of a clown hosting whatever you want your clown to host (example: if you wanted the nem, youd find a pic with a clown hostign a nem) and leave it by the tank.

i would discourage an anemone... there are plenty of other better options. a toadstool leather for example makes a great clown host.

as for the rock, it is virtually impossible to say how much is needed in weight. it is much more dependent on the volume the rock takes up and how you stack it. in fact the only really reliable tool for that purpose is your own two eyeballs. you'll just have to wing it. look at some other reef tanks and decide roughly how full youd want your tank to be and just go by that. i agree with digital that the best way to go about it is to get a bunch of nice rocks of differring size/shape. it makes aquascaping easier and more flexible.

and if i were you i would stick to at most four of those fish... like 1 clown, 1 panda and two chromis for example.

do you know that you really want a panda goby? you would need at least one colony of any pocillopora coral. be aware that these arent easy ish to keep... certainly not anywhere near beginner level. they also lay their eggs on the underside of sps coral which can harm the coral if it isnt a large colony. and to top it all off the pandas sometimes nip sps polyps. just making sure you know what you're getting into.

Ok thanx for that little losson on Pandas.

I went to an aquarium store to day and the guy there said I should 1 or 2 clowns and 2 or 3 Bicolour Basslets or chromis not a Panda. For a 24g tank. What do you think.
If clowns don't host does that mean there something wrong with them or do they just not want to. =)

thought you said it was a 29gal tank? eh, anyways that isnt bad advice. I wouldnt do 5 fish, but i think a pair of clowns and a couple chromis wouldnt be a bad combination (mind you i wouldnt add any other fish after that).

if a clown doesnt host it's just that... it's not hosting. nothin wrong. some never host, a few rare ones host right away, many take six months or so to pick a home. you just never know. oh i should also add, if you do the whole picture thing, make sure the target host coral is significantly bigger than the clown(s). if the coral isnt big enough it will probably just get too stressed from the clown.

if you go with a pair of clowns, and buy the clowns singly, make sure you do your research well on pairing them according to size. if you find an already mated pair, then that would make life easier.

edit: 2 chromis should be okay in that combo... im not sure about the basslets.

Do you have to get 2 clowns or could you just 1?

Also a 24g tank would fit 4 fish and a coral or 2 right. =)

Clowns can be kept alone, but IMHO they do much better as a pair, also just watching the interation between a pair of clowns is worth the price of admission right there.

New plan I went to this Fish shop and the guy there told me I could buy a fresh water tank put in a skimmer and change the lighting and it would be fine.

He's selling the tank, stand, skimmer, and 40lbs of live rock for about $724 + tax.

Is that good or bad for me to start with? =)

What type of lighting? And what type of Skimmer? Also how big is the tank?

It's a 40g tank with the stand, a protein skimmer and the guy at the store

said I'd just need to get a different light bulb for any coral I'd get. I hope

that helps =)

If it's a fresh water setup/kit.... the lighting canopy might be just reg flourescent. Many corals require moderate to high lighting. You would want MH or some type of VHO setup.