Clown Harem Tank - I'll Document my progress :)

[JFranz93]

Hey!

So I'm starting a clown Harem tank. I've been watching the BRS tank for a few years now and I've been wanting to give it a go.

Tank is cycled and ready to go.

Stats

60 gallon tank
78 lbs of rock
40 lbs of sand
LED Light
HOB Skimmer and filter with refugium
Gravity - 1.025
Ammonia/Nitrite - 0 PPM
Nitrates - >10 ppm


I'm getting the fish this Thursday and I've ordered 15 Reg Oscellarias clowns.

They are all from the same clutch!

They are less than 1 inch. My QT Tank is currently occupied with other fish so I haven't had any Nems yet. In case I need to treat for ick/velvet. I have some coming, I just want to make sure they don't die. My thought is that they are less than 1 in so the aggression should be limited until I had Nems.

Let me know if you have any questions or comments! I'm excited for this!

[JFranz93]

Trying to post a picture of my tank and failing epically.

[Esage]

Following. I'm looking at doing the same kind of setup

[D-Nak]

I'm getting the fish this Thursday and I've ordered 15 Reg Oscellarias clowns.

They are all from the same clutch!

They are less than 1 inch. My QT Tank is currently occupied with other fish so I haven't had any Nems yet. In case I need to treat for ick/velvet. I have some coming, I just want to make sure they don't die. My thought is that they are less than 1 in so the aggression should be limited until I had Nems.


A few comments:

1. Since the fish are captive bred, they should be disease free.

2. IME, there is more aggression in a tank without anemones. The fish don't have any place to hide, so they can't run from the bullies. I definitely recommend multiple anemones so that the fish can spread out. Natural host anemones work the best, but if you don't have experience with anemones, it's best to start with an easy to keep species such as BTAs.

3, When you get the anemones, after your QT process in a separate tank, when introduced into the DT it's best to have a barrier to keep the clownfish away until the anemone settles into its new habitat. However, this may not be an issue because your fish are small.

[D-Nak]

Here's my 60 gallon (48" x 24" x 12") clownfish and anemone tank:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KI0ni3g9VrY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[JFranz93]

A few comments:

1. Since the fish are captive bred, they should be disease free.

2. IME, there is more aggression in a tank without anemones. The fish don't have any place to hide, so they can't run from the bullies. I definitely recommend multiple anemones so that the fish can spread out. Natural host anemones work the best, but if you don't have experience with anemones, it's best to start with an easy to keep species such as BTAs.

3, When you get the anemones, after your QT process in a separate tank, when introduced into the DT it's best to have a barrier to keep the clownfish away until the anemone settles into its new habitat. However, this may not be an issue because your fish are small.

Thanks for the info! I am sure they don't have any disease but I've had velvet and ick breakouts before so I want to cover all grounds. Better safe than sorry.

[Kinetic]

Following along! I'll be embarking on this as soon as I find time to plumb everything in the tank.

I'm going to be introducing one or two anemone first, and making sure they're fully established before getting the clownfish.

I've been reading about H. Magnificas, and they seem pretty tough as a first try. I might get a BTA first to try it, then invest in a Mag (with a full proper treatment tank + cipro).

[JFranz93]

Following along! I'll be embarking on this as soon as I find time to plumb everything in the tank.

I'm going to be introducing one or two anemone first, and making sure they're fully established before getting the clownfish.

I've been reading about H. Magnificas, and they seem pretty tough as a first try. I might get a BTA first to try it, then invest in a Mag (with a full proper treatment tank + cipro).

I found something on ebay that sells ten 4-6 inch BTAs for about $300. If I can save the money I might just get that because I really want them to take over the tank and get that anemone flowing affect.

[Kinetic]

I found something on ebay that sells ten 4-6 inch BTAs for about $300. If I can save the money I might just get that because I really want them to take over the tank and get that anemone flowing affect.

omg, that is A LOT of BTA's. If you got a couple, they would eventually split. I think introducing 10 at a time might be too much?

[D-Nak]

omg, that is A LOT of BTA's. If you got a couple, they would eventually split. I think introducing 10 at a time might be too much?

I completely agree. BTAs are common and should be able to be purchased for the same price from local hobbyists or LFS -- WITHOUT having to purchase 10 of them. Introducing 10 at once is asking for trouble.

[JFranz93]

I completely agree. BTAs are common and should be able to be purchased for the same price from local hobbyists or LFS -- WITHOUT having to purchase 10 of them. Introducing 10 at once is asking for trouble.


I was thinking the same thing! Thanks for the information!

I ORDERED THE CLOWNS TODAY AND THEY WILL BE HERE TOMORROW

That is all :)

[Esage]

How many clowns did you order?

[JFranz93]

How many clowns did you order?

15 but I think he sent me 16-17?

[Kinetic]

photos!?

[JFranz93]

https://youtu.be/l1-YXArcrRQ

The video should be live by 6 PM CST

I am going to go ahead and post this experience and my other reefing experience on youtube! Let me know what you think! :)

[JFranz93]

It's live if you want to watch :)

[JFranz93]

Sitting in bed and staring at the tank.

So I received 16 clowns today and that is the official count!

It is interesting to not that that about 12 have gravitated toward the left side of the tank and 4 are on the right side of the tank and rarely venture over to the other side. I don't know if that is early on heirarcy developing amoung the clowns but I'll see!

On a brighter note, the breeder told me he keeps Cu in his systems so that should me (hopefully) that they are disease free!

I'll monitor them over the next couple of weeks to make sure they are ok. I'll need to purchase a better light for the BTAs. Excited to have fish in the tank :)

[Kinetic]

I just watched someone in a car for most of the video, not sure if I got the right link. Anyway, congrats!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[JFranz93]

I was in the car for like the first 45 seconds of the video.

So hopefully that wasn't most. It should have been just under 7 mins long?

[JFranz93]

UPDATE :)

So to update. I added a canister filter to the tank!

The reason I did this is because I am feeding 4 times a day. I wanted more surface area to counter act the high bioload in the tank. I'm measure nitrates and they are stable around 10 ppm. I do a 6 gallon water change every three days (Takes about 10 minutes) and that helps alot. Tank is crystal clear. The canister filter was rated up to 125 gallons so that is twice what I need for my tank. Lets see how this goes :)

[Kinetic]

What's in the canister filter? Your skimmer isn't pulling enough out?

[Mad Marine]

Aquascaping looks unstable and doesn't look right.

[JFranz93]

I stacked 4 of the 5 compartments with filter floss. Wanted to clear up the water after adding the goby.

I put a bag of carbon and bio-balls in the middle compartment just because I had them laying around.

Whats wrong with the aquascaping? I like how it looks. I did put putty between the rocks so its pretty stable.

[JFranz93]

http://s350.photobucket.com/user/Jsfranz93/media/IMG_8219_zpsxirlxfyv.jpg.html?o=0

[JFranz93]

I'm trying to share an image on this site. I'm so confused.

[JFranz93]

https://imgur.com/a/naH1E

[Kinetic]

Everyone has their own methods of keeping water parameters in check. I definitely wouldn't use bio-balls and filter floss personally. Traps a bunch of detritus and that just breaks down eventually into more nitrates/phosphates if they're not cleaned out extremely often.

In my opinion, a brilliantly working skimmer goes a long way to get junk out before it turns to ammonia. Chaeto or other phosphate/nitrate absorbing is a good idea. Carbon isn't bad either.

[JFranz93]

I'm cleaning out the floss once a week.

I'll monitor the levels. If I see anything spiking I'll remove the balls. My LFS likes them and they say as long as you don't let gunk build up on them they are a good place for surface area for allow BB to build up.

I'll add more carbon to the system on sunday when I do weekly maintenance on all of my tanks.

[JFranz93]

Thanks for the information!

[kozmic]

+100 on ditching the floss and bio balls... will quickly turn into a nitrate factory...

I've been fish and reef keeping for 20+ years, and I will never use bio balls on any tank ever again...or floss really... just use the right amount of rock for bacteria keeping, a good filter sock to catch large solids, a good skimmer for removal of excess proteins, perhaps some form of fuge to catch excess PO4, and some carbon to clarify the water. :)

If you insist on using some form of bio ball... try the marine pure balls... (they act more like additional live rock and have way more surface area than those traditional "bio balls") :thumbsup:

[Kinetic]

Everyone has different methods, but I feel like what you say is the general modern day consensus @kozmic.

@JFranz93: how's your skimmer doing? You never mention it. Usually skimmers are pulling out 2 to 3 full cups a week of gunk. That's when you know it's working.

[JFranz93]

Its currently non existence... I bought a cheap one from Petsmart (Shame me I know) and it broke after week one. I'm saving up for a better skimmer. (Will get it this friday on pay day). I'm a full time student as well so I can't invest all of my money into the tank (Ramen on tastes so good for so long haha)

[Kinetic]

Do what you can, but at some point, you will need to get your filtration sustainable. It'll need to happen, otherwise, it's just going to become a mess that you can't control.

Rock solid proven way to keep harmful levels of anything is a strong skimmer with at least 2 full cups a week skimmed.

GFO will help with any excess phosphates that breaks down from something your skimmer doesn't catch. GFO gets expensive, and you might be able to get away with a really strong chaeto grow if you have space. You could even put together an inexpensive algae reactor (marine depot has a good cheap solution with an Aquamaxx and accel stirp light).

Basically, skim out stuff before it breaks down. Water changes will help you fight nitrate build up and replenish water parameters. Phosphate solutions to keep algae at bay for, well, visual problems mostly.

Filter floss and bio balls, just going to trap more poop to turn into nitrates and phosphates.

If you want to polish up your water, you can run Carbon.

[Zagzoo71]

For mine I am running a skimmer and a 11" x 10" algae scrubber.. so far with 13 nems in the tank still reading zero levels and cup of black skim mate a week. Skimmer takes out its part then the algae scrubbers cleans out the rest.

Might want to read into algae scrubbing, I know it is voodoo topic for some people.