Hi Barry,
Don't do it!! Anenomes love loads of current and major light!! Put major
light over a 15gal tank and you'll boil the water!! Clowns will associate
with many corals if no host anenome is present, personally I wouldn't use a
Plate coral (Heliofungia sp) as they are usually really difficult to keep
alive for any length of time. I have been keeping a reef for the last 10
years and my tank/water (not boasting) is pretty perfect and they don't
(plate corals) last longer than a year in mine. I know many reefkeepers with
the same experiences. I do however have a 10 year old bubble tip anenome in
my tank, but I wouldn't promote buying one as they generally don't do to
well. Also if you were to get a bubble tip it would fill the tank
eventually, maybe quite quickly if it settled in and you fed it regularly,
mine can expand to 24 inches across and the base of its foot is about 15
inches away from the mouth!!
It is the centrepiece of my 150gal (UK) tank so I don't think it would even
fit in a 15gal tank!!
As you are using such a small tank why don't you start off with some hardy
soft corals like Button polyps and mushrooms that will cope with the
temperature ans salinity swings in a small tank?? A whole tank with loads of
different coloured mushrooms could be stunning?? If you are just keeping the
clowns and maybe a couple more (at a push) small fish they won'y need the
anenome for protection...
Also a protein skimmer is needed from the start even with live rock etc, its
not something to get in the 'future', as it is a BIG part of the filtration
and if you don't have it straight away you will be starting off on a bad
foot... not a good thing to be doing (IMO)
Hope this helps
Jules
PS. sorry to down your idea, but its not right to commit a beautiful anenome
to near certain death in a small tank. I'm not saying that to be mean but my
anenome has only come into its own and started really doing brilliantly in
the last 3 years when its been in the big tank...
on 3/3/01 4:45 PM, Barry B at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> Reefkeepers:
>
> I'd like to try my luck with a clownfish and anemone tank. I have a few
> questions that I would like to ask in regards to one of these setups. First
> of all I'm going to be using a 15 gallon tank. What type of lighting and
> how many watts of light do you suggest I use? My setup consists of a
> prefilter unit going to a sump, I'm using sand on the bottom, approximately
> 18 lbs of live rock, and will be adding a protein skimmer in the near
> future. My next question is what type of clownfish/anemone is the best to
> start out with that people have had some success with? My final question is
> I've read about plate corals liking sandy substrates, if I were to get a
> long tentacle plate coral could it be used for a substitute for a anemone
> and if so, what clownfish will adapt to this instead of using an anemone?
>
> Thank you
> Barry
>
> ________________________________________
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