I have a few questions!

fishymomma

fishymomma

Member
Okay, So first of all I want to mention to everyone that this is my first time taking care of Percula Clown fish
and I am still yet to put up the tank, but I have a few questions for those who know a lot about Clown fish.
1. I have a fresh water tank with Goldfish in & when ever I clean the tank I use a vacuum.
Can I use the same vaccum I use to clean the fresh water tank to clean the salt water tank,
or is it best that I go out and buy a separate vaccum for the salt water tank?
2. With using only LIVE SAND on the bottom of my aquarium tank, how often should I replace all
of the sand or if at all?
3. To clean the live sand all I have to do is stir it up right? Or is there more that I need to do?
4. Does Clown fish necessarily NEED a Anemone or can they live perfectly fine without one?
5. Yellow Tailed Damsel fish & Clown Fish can live safely in the same tank correct?
6. You don't need a blue light with Clown fish unless you are growing live rock & live Coral right?
7. What other breeds of Clown fish can live happily & safely together? ( IN A 30 GALLON)
Thank you for your answers in advance, I really appreciate it.
These are just some questions I needed answered before I set off on my
journey of taking care of my fish.
P.S. If there is any other tips you'd like to share with me. It would really be appreciated
and would help out a lot, I want to learn as much as I can so I can make sure and
keep my fish in a happy & safe environment.
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
1 - If you set the tank up with live sand you shouldn't ever have to vacuum it.
2 - I've seen amny opinions on this, probably all of them are somewhat true. I recommend adding a small quantity of live sand to reseed the sand bed about once a year. My definition of live sand is sand that has worms and crustaceans in it, not wet sand that has been bagged up and sitting on a shelf. IMO the best live sand is freshly harvested from clean water of the ocean.
3 - Try to avoid stirring up your live sand. It destroys the tunnels and habitats the sand bed infauna have built. If detritus is settling on your sand bed they it needs a little more waterflow to suspend the detritus to be consumed by filter feeders.
4 - Clownfish do not require an Anemone. They will be just fine without one.
5 - For most tanks yes. If it's a smaller tank there may be fighting for space. A Percula Clownfish typically claims ownership of about a cubic foot of area.
6 - Nothing I know of in a saltwater aquarium requires blue light. It's a matter of aesthetic preference.
7 - It is uncommon for different species of Clowfish to get along. It does occationally happen, most often between Percula and Ocellaris, but the odds are not in favor of it. I personally do not recommend trying to mix species except in the larger tanks.
 
J

jstdv8

Guest
welcome to the boards fishy momma!
Looks like bang answered your questions pretty good.
if you are doing a fish only with live rock tank FOWLR then your lighting doesnt need to be spectacular. do get a good test kit so you can test your own stuff, ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, PH at the bare minimum also a hydrometer or refractometer to test the salinity of the water is of course a must.
you would do well to also get an RO/DI water purification system so you can make your own pure freshwater for topping off the tank and to make saltwater for waterchanges.
 
andrewjardin

andrewjardin

Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fishymomma http:///forum/thread/382717/i-have-a-few-questions#post_3342061
Okay, So first of all I want to mention to everyone that this is my first time taking care of Percula Clown fish
and I am still yet to put up the tank, but I have a few questions for those who know a lot about Clown fish.
1. I have a fresh water tank with Goldfish in & when ever I clean the tank I use a vacuum.
Can I use the same vaccum I use to clean the fresh water tank to clean the salt water tank,
or is it best that I go out and buy a separate vaccum for the salt water tank?
2. With using only LIVE SAND on the bottom of my aquarium tank, how often should I replace all
of the sand or if at all?
3. To clean the live sand all I have to do is stir it up right? Or is there more that I need to do?
4. Does Clown fish necessarily NEED a Anemone or can they live perfectly fine without one?
5. Yellow Tailed Damsel fish & Clown Fish can live safely in the same tank correct?
6. You don't need a blue light with Clown fish unless you are growing live rock & live Coral right?
7. What other breeds of Clown fish can live happily & safely together? ( IN A 30 GALLON)
Thank you for your answers in advance, I really appreciate it.
These are just some questions I needed answered before I set off on my
journey of taking care of my fish.
P.S. If there is any other tips you'd like to share with me. It would really be appreciated
and would help out a lot, I want to learn as much as I can so I can make sure and
keep my fish in a happy & safe environment.
In regards to question 7;(example) Maroon + maroon, or tomato + tomato, if thats what you are asking than im pretty sure that almost every type of clown gets along with its own kind, but usually you would have to introduce them to each other at a size of less than 1 inch, unless they have been living together in the LFS tank for a while and don't show agression twards each other, or are a mated pair. So yes there are alot of different clownfishes that can live with their own kind. The only common mixed clownfish species I know of living together is the B&W Percs, and Regular Percs. Hope that helped
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member

Welcome to the site!
Choose only one set of clown fish for a 30g tank. I don’t recommend a damsel fish, they get so dang mean they will bite your hand when you put it in the tank. There are plenty of nice small fish that live well with clowns. Firefish, Royal Gramma (one per tank) , chromis lots of nice fish to choose from.
To keep a saltwater tank clean we use a CUC (clean up crew) a careful choice of snails, crabs and starfish that will keep the tank nice and tidy. Nothing like a freshwater tank. Your hardest part is just making sure you pick the right critters to go in the tank together.
I recommend these books and I am putting a page up so you can see the info they offer.

 
fishymomma

fishymomma

Member
Thank you so very much for your information guys and Thank you a whole ton Bang!
The live sand I have is the kind you get off the shelf at the pet store, so do I have to stir that up off and
on then or with each water change or is it just like the other live sand with the worms in all in it, where you
don't have to stir it at all?
In regards to the mixing breeds of Clown fish, I was talking more along the lines of..
Black Percula Clown fish & Regular Percula, Or classic clown fish & Percula.. Like that.
I did however talk to the sales men at ***** & he said, "You cannot mix the
Percula with the Black clown fish because Black clown fish are very aggressive. "
I do not know how true that is and haven't gotten the chance to look into it
more closely but I just took his advice for now. Is this statement true?
And I have a 30 Gallon tank, so I am thinking I will only be able to safely
house 2 Percula Clown fish & probably 1 or 2 yellow tailed damsel fish.
I don't want to make it to crowded in there so (The less the better IMO)
As far as the Refractometer & Hydrometer go, I did purchase a Hydrometer.
Should I go ahead and take that back and get a Refractometer?
And where can you buy them where you're not paying blood for it anyone know?
Is having a RO/DI water purification system a total must?
Cause I am really low on funds right now and don't really know if I could
spend a lot of money on one that is extremely expensive.
If Someone knows where I can get it at a Great Price, please let me know.
I know you have to do weekly water changes but when you guys say Top the water off,
do you mean daily or weekly? How fast does it take for the water to evaporate and
the water to get really high in salt?
Last thing I wanna ask is, If I don't vaccum the tank, How does one get the water out
for water changes?
 
1snapple

1snapple

Active Member
find a LFS i don't trust *****. yes the LFS might try to rip you off but they can also give you great information.
 
1snapple

1snapple

Active Member
oh, don't go with the damsels, that was the worse fish purchase I have ever made. go with a Lawn Mower blenny instead of the damsels. the LMB isn't the prettiest but they have an awesome personality
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member

Thank you so very much for your information guys and Thank you a whole ton Bang!
The live sand I have is the kind you get off the shelf at the pet store, so do I have to stir that up off and
on then or with each water change or is it just like the other live sand with the worms in all in it, where you
don't have to stir it at all? No you get the snails, crabs and starfish that do that for you.

In regards to the mixing breeds of Clown fish, I was talking more along the lines of..
Saddleback Clown fish & Percula, Or classic clown fish & Percula.. Like that.
I did however talk to the sales men at ***** & he said, "You cannot mix the
Percula with the Saddleback because Saddleback's are very aggressive. "
I do not know how true that is and haven't gotten the chance to look into it
more closely but I just took his advice for now. Is this statement true?

And I have a 30 Gallon tank, so I am thinking I will only be able to safely
house 2 Percula Clown fish & probably 1 or 2 yellow tailed damsel fish.
I don't want to make it to crowded in there so (The less the better IMO) Like I said, choose a better fish there are lots of small beautiful fish to choose from.
As far as the Refractometer & Hydrometer go, I did purchase a Hydrometer.
Should I go ahead and take that back and get a Refractometer?
And where can you buy them where you're not paying blood for it anyone know? Unless you are doing hypo for ich..you don’t need anything more than the hydrometer. I have used only a hydrometer for years. However if you ever do hypo you will need the refractometer then for sure.
Is having a RO/DI water purification system a total must?
Cause I am really low on funds right now and don't really know if I could
spend a lot of money on one that is extremely expensive.
If Someone knows where I can get it at a Great Price, please let me know. Walmart sells water 37 cent a gallon…don’t use tap water it makes ugly algae everytwhere
I know you have to do weekly water changes but when you guys say Top the water off,
do you mean daily or weekly? How fast does it take for the water to evaporate and
the water to get really high in salt? Water evaporates but the salt does not, so just use the RO water to keep the tank water line the same at all times. How fast depends on your tank..just keep the water at the same level.

Last thing I wanna ask is, If I don't vaccum the tank, How does one get the water out
for water changes? Take out a little water and replace the same amount with new mixed saltwater, I use a hose with a pump for my 90g but I use a container and just dip out water from my 30g and replace with the same amount of clean water....very easy.
 
fishymomma

fishymomma

Member
So what your saying is: I can have 1 Black Percula & one regular Percula in the same tank right?
Or is that not a good idea?
Thank you for all of your insight guys!
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
I just posted in another thread about the exact same subject

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bang Guy http:///forum/thread/381953/clown-fish-adding-more-then-a-pair#post_3342342
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fishymomma http:///forum/thread/381953/clown-fish-adding-more-then-a-pair#post_3342341
So regular Percula fish & Black Percula fish can not be in the same tank as each other.
Like 1 Regular Percula & 1 Black Percula?
If they are truly the same species (both A. percula) and they are ungendered or different gender, then they almost always get along great.
OTOH, I've never see a black Percula.
 
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