New tank questions

[Denver_Keeper]

I am new to saltwater, and it has been over 20 years since I had a freshwater tank.

I have a 90 gallon tank with around 115 lbs of live rock spread throughout the system. The sump is about 15 gallons with a wet/dry filter. I am plumbing the remote deep sand bed and a refugium this weekend that will add another 15 gallons to the system as well. The sand bed in the DT is about 2 inches.

Chemistry looks great after the cycle. Amm 0, nitrite 0, nitrate about 5 ppm before the water change, and PH about 8.2. It was a quick cycle due mostly to the large amount of cured live rock that went in right after fill.

CuC is currently 2 blue legged hermits, and about 30 mixed snails arrives today from Reef Cleaners.

My wife knows we want a pair of clowns. I personally love the ornamental shrimp, and this tank will not be complete until there is a Mandarin in there in 6 months or so. We are looking at dropping in the first fish next weekend, and this will be a fish and coral tank when complete.

With all the basics out of the way... here is the questions I have right now.

My wife really likes two different species of clowns, but everything I have researched says only one species in a tank. Even then only one fish of that species unless they are juveniles that go in at the same time. Is there a way that give a decent chance of success to put two pairs of low aggression clown species in the same tank?

I cannot find information on the life cycle of most fish. What is the rough time period for clowns to age from juvenile to adulthood?

I have seen research that says, if you are going to have one at all, to put any jawfish into the tank as the first fish to give it time to set-up a home burrow before adding other fish. Anyone with experience on this? Keep in mind all fish will be reef safe and non-aggressive.

With those questions, here is my current thoughts on a rough introduction order, not including CuC additions as needed:

Jawfish (not dusky, but not decided on exact type)
Clown pair
2 Cleaner Shrimp
1 True Peppermint Shirmp
Emerald Crab
Possible second clown pair
Small group of Sexy Shrimp
A few other fish, undecided. Thinking about Cardinal , blenny, dwarf Angel.
Finally after lots of time for tank growth and stability, plus lots of pods grow-out in the refugium and small pod tank, a Mandarin.

Does the order look right? Any suggestions/warnings on the second clown pair? Are any of those fish very likely to go after the shrimp? Any suggestions/personal opinions on brightly colored fish for the "other fish" category that would work well in this tank?

Thanks for any and all advice.

[hey.its.me]

I can only speak to the clown issue and bear in mind that this comes from looking at tanks at the lfs and not from personal experience okay.

I noticed that several tanks that have clowns in them, well there are several clowns in them and they swim with each other without any signs of aggression. So maybe with three or more and each one a different sub class of clown. You may have better success in keeping them. A 90 gal with good rock work helps. I'd seriously hold off on the Mandarin for 5 or 6 months to mature your pod growing setup.

[TankStudy]

Clowns will mature depending on how well you take care of them. Usually in 2 years time I see most mature and start breeding. Some as early as a 1.5 years. Your tank is too small for 2 pairs of clowns to be successful. It is possible that it could occur but in my experience with clowns, when they mature they can be quite aggressive and may even kill off other species of fish in your tank. I would recommend going safe and just 1 pair.

Depending on the size of the jawfish and type, they can sometimes easily swallow a shrimp. The have pretty big mouths. I've seen them take a few of my peppermints before =d

[thegrun]

+1, you are headed for trouble if you try to keep more than one pair of clowns in your tank. I would think you will be safe with the jawfish and any of the larger shrimp (like a skunk shrimp) but there is a risk with the smaller shrimp (like peppermint) of it being eaten. I agree the Jawfish should go in first. I would go ahead and add the shrimp first. I would skip the emerald crab, there is always a risk with them eating your fish. The blenny would likely out-compete the mandarin for food so skip it if you want the mandarin. A flame angel is one of my favorites but with all angels there is a risk they will nip at corals. You will need a screen cover for your tank, all fish are potential jumpers and the jawfish will jump for sure!

[Denver_Keeper]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I am thinking that should be enough to convince my wife that only one pair of clowns is a good idea.

I guess the sexy shrimp are out if we toss in a jawfish, so that is just an opportunity to talk the wife into letting me set up a nano tank. :0

[orteh22]

Had no idea that clowns are that ferocious towards other fishes and even each other when they mature.

If thats the case, why is it so common in Salt water tanks to have a fish thats so aggresive.

[thegrun]

Had no idea that clowns are that ferocious towards other fishes and even each other when they mature.

If thats the case, why is it so common in Salt water tanks to have a fish thats so aggresive.

There are plenty of fish that are more aggressive than clowns, but they are territorial. The are hardy fish, generally fun to watch and long lived, the movie Finding Nemo made them a must have for families with children. In larger tanks they stake out their territory and the other fish avoid that area; things settle down and there are few problems. When they are placed in smaller tanks however the other fish don't have anywhere to run too and things can get ugly, although even in smaller tanks they usually learn to tolerate other fish closer than they would in a larger tank.