180g ClownFish Harem Build (yes another.. lol)

[Zagzoo71]

Must be the theme all of a sudden, hahaha!

So, while I am waiting for my tank to recover from marine velvet. I decide as well to turn my 180g in the wall to a clownfish harem tank.

Tank has been fallow for 3 weeks.. I had 1 survivor that I couldn't catch for 2 months. Tank has been up and running now for 6 months.

For exporting nutrients I run a skimmer and a algae scrubber (11x10 screen)

The plan is for 40 clownfish from the same clutch, just trying to decide which species to go with.

Since i have till 11/1/17 before I can add fish.. started dropping BTA's in the tank. With 40 clown fish.. I am gonna start out with 20-24 BTA's. The plan is to get them in the tank and growing till them.

4/24 BTA's!!

The video shows 1 RBTA from the weekend, and today I trade some coral for 2 rbta and 1 bright green BTA. Gonna make my aquascape look like skittles!

https://youtu.be/V9hY5JBH7YQ

Here is a pic from the today's additions:

[Zagzoo71]

BTA Update...

Well... 3/4 of the first BTA's stayed put for one week, getting ready to possibly add 10 - 12 more in the next few days. One of the 2 new rbta's is mia.. been missing for 8hrs.. so i guess 3/4 staying put were i placed them isnt bad to start.

[Zagzoo71]

9 GBTA's into the tank now.. grand total of 13 BTA's. 9 green, 1 bright neon green, and 3 RBTA's. Have some rainbows on reserve for next months frag meet.

And the gbta's have started their evening walk to see were they are happy!

[D-Nak]

Have you decided on which species of clownfish?

I guess it's a little late to recommend not going with BTAs, but if you're planning to have ocellaris or percula, having either magnifica or gigantea anemones makes for a nice display. Once settled in, IME both mags and gigs don't wander much, unlike BTAs. They're both difficult to find and need to be QTed, but after that point, I consider them very hardy anemone despite what you may read.

One BTA in your MP40 could take out your whole tank. 20 of them is asking for trouble. I've gotten a large gig stuck in an MP40 and it actually stopped the wetside from spinning. The result was an injured nem (it eventually recovered) but my point is that it didn't nuke the entire tank because the nem wasn't turned into a puree.

[Zagzoo71]

I got foam covers on order for my power heads to keep them out. Still deciding on what species of clowns to go with.

[Zagzoo71]

Little update.. been about 1 week since I added 9 GBTA's (7 made it) and added 1 RBTA past thursday. Redid some rock work to get a few gbta to move into view.. everyone basically settled in and happy.. no one has moved it last 4 days.

Youtube Link:

ClownFish Harem.. 13 BTA's (https://youtu.be/oVVeI9DiJwg)

[Zagzoo71]

can I mix any other nem with bta's? or will it be a sting fest if they get to close?

[Zagzoo71]

Well... Little update... seems all the BTA's want to be on one side of the tank this week. The biggest gbta decided it will just shove itself in front of the others. Next weekend still gonna be picking up around 12 rainbow bta's.. then in 2 weeks 40 lightening clowns!!

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

[Kinetic]

Looks really great. It's kind of crazy how much your BTAs are moving. Do you ever wonder if conditions in the tank aren't right for them to settle down?

I have little experience with BTAs moving around (I've had a few in the past, but they attached and stay put pretty quickly). I always assumed that if they're happy, they'll stay put. If they're wandering so much, maybe they're looking for something they don't have.

Your flow looks pretty strong. What about lighting? Or do you think all the movement is totally normal?

My current rainbow BTA didn't move for 3 days, then wandered the entirety of the tank (even face planted on my mesh cover for my gyre pump, good thing that thing was on minimal flow) for about a week. It stayed put for a week, and now it moved 5 inches. So maybe they just keep walking forever?

Lightning maroons will be amazing. I like the cuteness of ocellaris, but the lightning maroons look incredible.

[Zagzoo71]

Looks really great. It's kind of crazy how much your BTAs are moving. Do you ever wonder if conditions in the tank aren't right for them to settle down?

I have little experience with BTAs moving around (I've had a few in the past, but they attached and stay put pretty quickly). I always assumed that if they're happy, they'll stay put. If they're wandering so much, maybe they're looking for something they don't have.

Your flow looks pretty strong. What about lighting? Or do you think all the movement is totally normal?

My current rainbow BTA didn't move for 3 days, then wandered the entirety of the tank (even face planted on my mesh cover for my gyre pump, good thing that thing was on minimal flow) for about a week. It stayed put for a week, and now it moved 5 inches. So maybe they just keep walking forever?

Lightning maroons will be amazing. I like the cuteness of ocellaris, but the lightning maroons look incredible.

Well.. I been playing around with the flows.. trying to calm some of it down (probably why a few have moved... some have moved into the strong flow and stayed there.. some move to an area with hardly any flow.) I have the Jabeo 40 size power heads. THink I am gonna get the 25 size version. My current ones are on power setting 2 and on the pulse slowest setting. I have also redid my LED settings.. had too much whites were the bta's colors were off.

[D-Nak]

Well... Little update... seems all the BTA's want to be on one side of the tank this week. The biggest gbta decided it will just shove itself in front of the others. Next weekend still gonna be picking up around 12 rainbow bta's.. then in 2 weeks 40 lightening clowns!!

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

I'm sure you've done your research, but I feel the need to reiterate that maroon clowns are extremely aggressive. Even juveniles are known to fight with each other, so much so that breeders are forced to separate them a lot earlier than with other species. Having lots of BTAs will hopefully ease the aggression, but I think you may end up with losses.

[Zagzoo71]

I'm sure you've done your research, but I feel the need to reiterate that maroon clowns are extremely aggressive. Even juveniles are known to fight with each other, so much so that breeders are forced to separate them a lot earlier than with other species. Having lots of BTAs will hopefully ease the aggression, but I think you may end up with losses.

They were piscaso percula's type (sorry might have my spieces mixed up).. I know they were not maroon clowns.

[D-Nak]

They were piscaso percula's type (sorry might have my spieces mixed up).. I know they were not maroon clowns.

LOL okay gotcha. Picassos will be fine together. Lightnings not so much. :lol2:

[Zagzoo71]

Here is the picassos I am getting 50 of:

<img src='https://i.imgur.com/c7zIVnD.jpg' />

[Zagzoo71]

well it looks like I will not be adding 12 rainbow bta's this weekend. Vendor over sold at a swap meet last weekend. But, the good news is probably be getting 4-5 rainbows.. and 1 is the mother rainbow (were all the clones were coming from ) and she is 12" across!!

Soo.. little change of direction.. since all the bta's like the right half of my tank, ill keep putting them there. On the far left side of the tank putting a saddle carpet in tomorrow!!!

[Zagzoo71]

Well finally one of my rbta split!! First one ever I owned that split: Total now 14 bta's!!

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B5LhrWE5nEnybEZDeGRLcS05dmc

[Zagzoo71]

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GQXjmwO1fjE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Mongo77]

Can't wait to see the tank with the clowns added. Nice choice of clowns!

[Zagzoo71]

Another update: Added 3 more rainbow BTA's, 2 in the 3-4" range, 1 around 8-10"

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Rn8fLiJiA7E" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[sunkim622]

I had a friend who's darwin clownfish started breeding so he tried raising them. After a couple tries he had probably 80 baby clownfish and nowhere to put them. I had a huge 4" darwin in my 85 gallon tank so I got rid of all my other fish and turned it into a harem tank by taking 50 of his. It was awesome with the one huge female and 50 babies swimming around.

Keep this up! It looks like it's coming around nicely. Good luck!

[Zagzoo71]

Well today waa the day!! I picked up my clowns from the local breeder. 55 clownfish to be exact, here is the make up"

- helmet perc
- platium perc
- picasso perc
- darwin percs

Accilimated for almoat 2hrs, 1 darwin didnt make it.

Enjoy!

https://youtu.be/QeptrTgWp_0

[Kinetic]

Wow they're all in the middle. Good things those BTA's are well established already, having so many clowns smashing themselves into it would be pretty traumatic =)

Looks great! So many different sizes too!

Good luck with all of them! Keep us updated.

[Silfer]

I'm doing a 2ft cube with a small clown harem too, probably 10 baby clowns.

From speaking to others and my own personal experience of 21 Btas right now if you want them to bubble and stay that way you need low flow and strong lighting close to the water line.

My bubble tips are all nicely bubbled and I have a single vortech mp10 qd on lagoon mode. Once a day I stick it on NTP for an hour or so.

[eppersonm16]

What kind of lighting are you running and at what intensity and spectrum?
thanks,

[clorox]

This is cool.
From personal experience, having had 20 clowns with gigantea anemones, try to get bubble tips as large as you can find. Those 55 baby clowns will grow to about 1.5~2" pretty quickly and will be constantly 'rubbing' 24/7 on their hosts.

You will notice over time that tentacles in the center of the anemones will begin wearing out and disappear due to the constant activity of the fish. If this is a long-term plan it is something to keep in mind. Your approach is correct though, giving the clowns lots of anemones to roam around is the way to go.

[Zagzoo71]

Well finally the clownfish have spread out across the tank. Now all 19 bta's are hosting!

https://youtu.be/7SWOyPGZm_E

[Zagzoo71]

What kind of lighting are you running and at what intensity and spectrum?
thanks,

Im running 3x 165w black box LED's on a 10 hr cycle. 2.5 hours 100% blues.. then 5hrs 50% white & 100% blues, then 2.5 hrs 100% blues.

[moneymm]

Well finally the clownfish have spread out across the tank. Now all 19 bta's are hosting!

https://youtu.be/7SWOyPGZm_E

this is an awesome tank.

[Esh1]

any update on the 50 clowns? still in the q tank?

[Zagzoo71]

any update on the 50 clowns? still in the q tank?

My 180g is the q tank! I went 120days since marine velvet wiped out my tank. So the tank has been empty. But yes all 55 clowns doing well.. they are spread out across entire tank and all 19 bta;s are hosting.

[Zagzoo71]

Almost month into the Harem tank, a few updates. Really no aggression to report, dont see any nipped fins or anything. Clowns are now spread out thru entire tank, pretty much in 2 groups now. My algae scrubber I am cleaning 1 of the 6" x 10" about every 6-7 days with full growth (1 screen gets cleaned on wednesday, the other screen on saturday. Clean skimmer cup 1x a week. Still doing 1 water change a month, 30g out of the complete 300g system. And I add a goby to "work" on cleaning the sand both.. might need to upsize the cleanup screw.

sal. 1.026
Ph 8.0
Nitrites = 0
Nitrates = 0
ammon = 0

temp = 79.5

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OJsoJtxsRRo" frameborder="0" gesture="media" allow="encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Kinetic]

Cool goby! What is it? Watchman?

I do see aggression, but I don't think it's anything to worry about yet nor does it look bad. it's when they go head to head and size each other up. You see it in the beginning and in the back anemone.

I suspect each anemone will have a dominant clown, and any that get kicked out can probably wander to a different one. At some point they should settle down into a good group with bickering here and there.

Looking good!

[Zagzoo71]

Little 1st of the year update... 2 new Bta's Black Widow, Ultra Neon Green Snowflake, and an Ultra Watermelon. No causalties, all growing except 2 runts.. lol, Bta count now at 24, hardly no more spliting they are just getting big!


<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fB6_b49EDRw" frameborder="0" gesture="media" allow="encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[ChizerBunoi]

Looks fantastic. What a joy this must be to watch everyday.


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[Zagzoo71]

5 month update:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/C99AneqZRDQ" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[gfox2]

Great looking tank.Have you noticed any pairing off yet?

[LauraGreenImp]

Soooo much FOMO from this! [emoji4] what a great job. If I had my way, our whole house would be tanks. I’m supposed to keep to a ‘tank budget’, but hubs can barely rein me in. smh

A beautiful sight. [emoji4]


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[CapnClive]

Wow this looks awesome. Hoping to keep just a pair of clowns in the future.

[Zagzoo71]

Great looking tank.Have you noticed any pairing off yet?


Well.. pretty much I think I am down to the last 2 position.. the queen and her mate.. which are the 2 biggest helmet picasso's. Not much confrations that I see from the others.. just the 2 biggest clowns.

[Zagzoo71]

Feeding time... little update:

- Lost 4 bta's, including my big black widow. Had a issue with mixing wild bta's with domesticate bta's. Was able to get them out before polluting the tank.

- The black is really starting to fill in on the clowns.

<iframe width="854" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YwxDMCQK_Hs" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[D-Nak]

Sorry for your losses, and I'm glad you got it taken care of.

Had a issue with mixing wild bta's with domesticate bta's.

I keep questioning when people say this, and I'm going to have to do this again. What does this mean? How does one determine when a BTA becomes domesticated?

[Kegel]

Feeding time... little update:



- Lost 4 bta's, including my big black widow. Had a issue with mixing wild bta's with domesticate bta's. Was able to get them out before polluting the tank.



- The black is really starting to fill in on the clowns.



<iframe width="854" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YwxDMCQK_Hs" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>



Awesome tank man!


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[Zagzoo71]

Sorry for your losses, and I'm glad you got it taken care of.



I keep questioning when people say this, and I'm going to have to do this again. What does this mean? How does one determine when a BTA becomes domesticated?

From the way it was explained to me, wild bta's have a different/stronger chemical they give off. Domesticated bta;s over time and splits and splits generations and loose that 'chemical' which when the wild ones give it off gets the domesticated bta's sick.

[Byronyk]

Just read through your whole build, very nice! I'm building a 90g cube (36x24x24) as a clown harem as well, and wanted your opinion on clown numbers. You have 55 clowns within a 180g tank, so with that I could technically fit 27-28 clowns.

How did you arrive at 55 / 180 ? I understand this partially depends on species and filtration, but in terms of territory/aggression, that's what I'm curious about.

[Zagzoo71]

Just read through your whole build, very nice! I'm building a 90g cube (36x24x24) as a clown harem as well, and wanted your opinion on clown numbers. You have 55 clowns within a 180g tank, so with that I could technically fit 27-28 clowns.

How did you arrive at 55 / 180 ? I understand this partially depends on species and filtration, but in terms of territory/aggression, that's what I'm curious about.

Well.. local breeder and I discussed 50 clowns,,, then when I went to get them he threw a hand full more in. I probably could have gone with more.. I only have the clowns in the 180 so they would have plenty of room to swim and get away from each other.

[D-Nak]

IME, and this was already discussed but worth reiterating, what's more important than the number of clowns is the number of hosting anemones you have. If you have 50 clowns and one nem, they'll most likely kill the nem, even if it's a large carpet. It's best to get your host anemones established and then throw in the clowns, and if they are not natural hosts, then hope that they quickly form a bond.

Also, once you get over say 30 clowns, it's really hard to tell how many you actually have. I only have about 18 spread over 6 gigantea, and I can't tell exactly how many clowns are in the tank.

[juanfdezdc]

I love your tank!
I currently have a 100 gallon tank with about 40 BTAs (they are splitting all the time) and I'm seriously considering to get a clown fish harem of about 20 clowns.

[ponokareefer]

Awesome tank. I’m in the process of converting my 240 gallon from a mixed reef to a clownfish harem tank. Any more updates on how everything is doing?

[Calvitos]

Nice picasso

[Zagzoo71]

Let me see if I can this youtube embedd to work.

[Zagzoo71]

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/V7ZcoRm6hho" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Joe0813]

Thats pretty cool