3 clowns + 3 anemonies = trouble

[bacia]

I am a two month old beginner. I bought a 58 gal tank off ----. I drove 5.5 hours each way to get it. I had a 75 gal tank part way set up to put everything in when I got home. I put in some of the old "sand", added all the old water to the new in the 75, put in the live rock and the animals. Prayed and went to sleep. Everything lived! Now the problem. Among the animals were a mated pair of cinnamon clowns, three long tentacal anemones and a smaller cinni clown. The mated cinnis are making a mess of the tank. They keep "kicking" up the sand and my 75 gal tank is full of brown stringy algae. Any suggestions on how to get my tank clean and keep it that way?

 

[reef.magic]

Well, for starters, can you post your chemical specs?
What type of inverts do you keep as a cleaning crew?
Keep an eye on the small cinni clown, as it will most likely recieve some bullying from the big female if he doesn't keep his distance....if you don't have a new home for him, give him one anemone on his side of the tank and keep the other two near the mated pair.
HTL a little
it is not uncommon for clowns to mess around in the sand

 

[alyssia]

You can't have three clowns together. Two will bully the third and eventually kill it.

 

[reef.magic]

Originally Posted by alyssia
You can't have three clowns together. Two will bully the third and eventually kill it.
under certain conditions it surely is possibly

 

[alyssia]

Originally Posted by Reef.Magic
under certain conditions it surely is possibly

What conditions, other than a huge tank? I have not heard of anyone successfully keeping three clowns together long term.

 

[reef.magic]

well....basically a large tank lol
but possible nonetheless

 

[alyssia]

You're right, but since he said he has a 75 gallon I replied the way I did. :happyfish

 

[mryoung7]

it's possible ... i have a 25 gallon with only three clowns. and they're all different types. they've all gotten along unusually well for at least three months. definitely an exception to the rule.

 

[bacia]

Thanks to everyone who is answering. My response is long. Am I to wordy?
About having 3 clowns in a tank. The person I bought it from said she bought the three all at the same time and they were all the same size. The two grew to about 3 inches and the third is about 2 inches. The big ones do push the little one away but they don't seam to want to kill it. My big problem is the sand dust every where and the algae.
Stats: PH 8.1
Trite 0
Trate 2
Ammonia 0
Alkalinity 4.5
Salinity 1.024
Other life in tank -- Small Sailfin Tang, Large Algae Blenny, Banngai Cardinal, Yellow Watchman Gobie, Pistol shrimp, 2 coral banded shrimp, 2 cleaner shrimp, 1 fire shrimp, 2 blue knuckle hermits, other little hermits, 8 -- 10 big snails, 1 feather duster, 3 toadstool leathers, lots of yellow polyps, red, blue and green mushrooms. Used to have a bunch of daisy looking little polyps but since the sand dust and algae covered them they are gone.
2 weeks ago I took out all the rocks that didn't have any animals on them - swished them in clean salt water to get most of the algae off and put them in a tub of salt water. I did the same to the rocks with animals on them. I drained off 20 gals of water. cleaned out the sump, the skimmer and all the powerheads. refilled the tank and sump with clean warm salt water. put back the rocks with animals and some of the other rocks.
The tank stayed clean for about 4 days and then the big clowns started flicking sand again. I forgot to say that they also move rocks around by head butting them. I tried putting in some small shells/rocks/coral chunks I bought at the LFS. The clowns moved the stuff out and flicked sand. I put in a very large, 7 inch diameter, kinda flat clam shell. they moved it out and flicked sand. About a week ago the algae started back. Every morning I brush the algae off everything by moving water with my hand. Every evening it is back.
If the cinnis had necks I would strangle them. I am ready to sell them or flush them. How do I make them stop!
:help:

 

[integral9]

I have a maroon clown that also loves to flick the sand around. It doesn't cause any problems in my tank. I also think that with all those algea eaters you got in your tank, they should be making quick work of anything that grows... mine do. You might want to try lowering the amount of light you have, ie. lower wattage bulbs. Also, if the tank is getting direct sunlight, that could be a bad thing.

 

[alyssia]

Originally Posted by mryoung7
it's possible ... i have a 25 gallon with only three clowns. and they're all different types. they've all gotten along unusually well for at least three months. definitely an exception to the rule.

Three months? That's definitely not long term. As they mature you are most likely going to encounter serious problems.

 

[bacia]

I have been leaving the atinics only on during the day and "moon" lights on at night. It gets no sun light. I think that the problem lies in the old sand. It's fine as powder. I also have the 58 gal set up and all I've had in there is a little diatom bloom. No stringy algae at all and I have even used some of the rocks that I rinsed from the problem tank. I used a little bit of the old "sand" but it is sandwiched between special grade reef sand and never really gets kicked around the tank.

 

[ryanhayes9]

nesting?

 

[bacia]

Originally Posted by ryanhayes9
nesting?
If you mean the cinnis are kicking sand because they are nesting I agree. Any thoughts on why they wouldn't leave the clam shell in place. By the way the three anemonies and the big cinnis are all under some rocks that form a cave. Moving the sand is making the rocks shift too.

 

[reef.magic]

clowns lay eggs on smooth flat surfaces, not in the sand

 

[granny]

Ive never had cinnamon clowns, but have had Maroon, Tomato and Ocellaris. The Tomatoe constantly moves anything that is place near his Anemone. It is very amusing to watch him headbutt moveable objects. I think this is normal behavior and has nothing to do with your cyano problem (which is most likely what your stringy, brown algae is) Cyano is caused by lack of oxygen in the tank bed, too much light and excessive nutrients in the water or sand. It is tough to get rid of once it starts. I am still fighting it in my 75 gal tank. You can actually pick it off the sand and discard it, use a small soft toothbrush to clean the rocks, add some phosphate removal pads to your filtration system and make sure your pumps are aerating your water adequately.
Good luck-enjoy your clowns-Dont you dare flush them!!

 

[bacia]

Thanks Granny!

Please answer again!

Since you seem to know something about my algae problem AND have had clowns can you tell me how to keep them from kicking sand everywhere? I had another thought about the problem and am now thinking of getting them their own tank. Any suggerstion on how to set it up to aviod the sand kicking problem? What about size of tank and rocks or no rocks?
When I set up the 75 I put in a plenum so that there is a water gap between the tank bottom and the sand. I thought that that would take care of it. I forgot to mention that I also have a horseshoe crab in the tank. At least I think he is still there. I haven't seen him since the cinnis dug him up and he reburied himself.
As for water flow -- I have a double headed outlet for the return and 3 1200 powerheads. Should I add more flow?
Where do you get the phosphate pads? Right now I am used plain filter pads to catch the algae. Should I do both?