# clownfish



## puffer boy (Apr 14, 2008)

do cownfish have to have anemone and is it true they can change from female to male and any more info.


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## Pasfur (Mar 29, 2008)

Clownfish do not require an anemone to live in captivity.

In the wild, clownfish live in large groups. The entire population live a "sub-adults", which have not established a true sexual orientation. The most dominate becomes the female, the next dominant the male, and the remainder stay sub-adults.

There is a wealth of written material on clownfish available on the internet. If you have any specific questions in your research, just ask.


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## Cody (Dec 22, 2007)

Anenome is not needed. They will host about everything; Torch Corals, Frogspawn, Powerheads, Tank Corners...

Clowns can turn male to female, but is impossible to turn female to male. Largest Clown you have in a pair will be the female and smallest will be a male. In a group in the wild, the biggest is the Breeding female and the second biggest is the breeding male.


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## fishfreak (Sep 1, 2007)

*clownfish in anemone*

I've had two clownfish for about 2 years and neither of them went near my long tentacled anemone. They stuck to their corner. But a few months ago, when I placed a soft coral in their corner they moved over and BOTH started swimming in the anemone! They tend to migrate towards long tentacled anemone. It's the most fun thing to watch in my tank right now!


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## jumpman23 (Apr 28, 2008)

Make sure it is not too salty, ideal salinity 1.02 - 1.023


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## Cody (Dec 22, 2007)

jumpman23 said:


> Make sure it is not too salty, ideal salinity 1.02 - 1.023


Ideal is actually 1.024-1.026 sg.


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## Age of Aquariums (Apr 13, 2007)

Cody said:


> jumpman23 said:
> 
> 
> > Make sure it is not too salty, ideal salinity 1.02 - 1.023
> ...


I thought it was 1.023-1.025 sg for a reef tank, 1.025 sg being best... But thats just me


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## jumpman23 (Apr 28, 2008)

> Ideal is actually 1.024-1.026 sg


I'VE EXPERIMENTED IT.
Anything beyond that the clown will be risky. Only damsel and hippo tang will survived at that salinity level but i observed they become inactive, i believe due to can't take in too much water becos it's salty.

Now I've lowered to within 1.020 - 1.023

I noticed the hippo tang are more active now, this also can be observed from the damsel.


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## Age of Aquariums (Apr 13, 2007)

1.020 is a little too low. Clownfish are much more hardy than Hippo tangs (personal experience).


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## jumpman23 (Apr 28, 2008)

"Clownfish are much more hardy" what does it actually mean?

take a picture of ur tank salinity at tat salty level and proof it.


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## Age of Aquariums (Apr 13, 2007)

jumpman23 said:


> "Clownfish are much more hardy" what does it actually mean?
> 
> take a picture of ur tank salinity at tat salty level and proof it.


I have had clownfish in a tank that I took down last month (they are in another now) for 3 years. The salinity was 1.026 for the corals and inverts. Clownfish are beginners fish, they are almost as hard to kill as Damsels.

Most tank guides say that the clownfish can handle 1.020, and they can because they are hard to kill. Most fish won't though.


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## jumpman23 (Apr 28, 2008)

Well, this is my tank

This is the beginner tank, 1.5 ft PH (55+ litres) 8.2 Salinity 1.020 - 1.023 Feeding JBL MariPearls Using ADA (Aqua Design Amano) 15 W NA Lamp
Some modification on the Rio Nano Skimmers, and the Hang on filter

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8DI7kzR0DM

Here's some modification, actually i plan to have a bigger skimmer & canister or sump but it will looks bulky in taht 1.5 ft tank, hence, i tried to improve on the filtration by manually adding JBL filtration product.


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## jumpman23 (Apr 28, 2008)

*Filtration Improvement*





































A modified Rio nano skimmer


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## Pasfur (Mar 29, 2008)

First, this debate about salinity is fruitless. There a great many factors that contribute to the health of your fish. To imply that your salinity is the reason your fish are healthier, without a discuss of the entire tank specs, is a simple waste of time.

Second, lets regress to the early 1990's. This debate was much more common. You will be surprised to hear that many hobbyists ran their fish only systems at 1.017 to 1.019. Reefs were run at 1.023 to 1.024 due to the sensitivity of the inverts and corals. I am sorry to tell you both that fish show very little effects from these salinity changes. I have personally kept a great many species at 1.017, including the Blue Hippo Regal Tang and Clownfish. About the only exception are fish from the Red Sea, which seem to require slightly higher levels of 1.024 to 1.026.

As to the setup from Jumpman. I certainly do not consider it an "upgrade" on a marine system to add a biological filtration product such as the JBL filtration product. How is this an upgrade exactly? You added a product designed to pump Nitrate into the aquarium. Not exactly what i'm looking for in a marine tank. 

Finally, this thread is not helping to promote the hobby, which is the goal of any internet forum. It would help tremendously if you would offer information so that we can understand why you hold the opinions you hold, rather than stating your view as a hard fact and attacking each other. There are many ways to run an aquarium in this hobby, and rarely can you make blanket statements of fact, such as "Only damsel and hippo tang will survive". 

As an example, I think all of you are familiar with Eric Borneman and his contributions to the hobby. If you follow his writings then you are aware that he does not use supplements for his reef aquariums. Most of us would pass out at the idea, but I am certainly not one to question his method of success. This is just an isolated well known example of differing techniques, both which work well with proper husbandry.

Pufferboy- to answer the question, no, Clownfish do not require an anemone. And yes, the dominant male will change from male to female if the domanant female dies.


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## connorsclownfish (Sep 19, 2007)

*Re: clownfish in anemone*



fishfreak said:


> I've had two clownfish for about 2 years and neither of them went near my long tentacled anemone. They stuck to their corner. But a few months ago, when I placed a soft coral in their corner they moved over and BOTH started swimming in the anemone! They tend to migrate towards long tentacled anemone. It's the most fun thing to watch in my tank right now!


That may have been a Condalactis Anemone, which clownfish never see in the wild, hence why it isnt in there nature in captivity to host one.
Yep, clowns host usually stuff with long tentacles such as they euphyillia species like Torch's....mine hosted in everything before i added my Bubble Tip


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