What is a good tank size?

[harial]

Hi, I am probably biting off more than I can chew but I have decided to get a small reef tank. My mother was looking into putting a 75 gallon tank in the living room in order to fill up a large space on the wall and make it look nice.
She however does not nearly share my enthusiasm for aquatic life, and after I spent all night reading "saltwater aquariums for dummies" she reads the first couple of pages, decides that it is too much work and drops the idea. I however am really interested in the idea and even after doing some research and seeing that it does require work.
I am seventeen and am on a limited budget though, I am contemplating getting a small tank and putting a couple of clown fish, a Cleaner Shrimp , and maybe a Pink Tip Haitian Anemone. I am not really into buying everything at once so I would probably buy the complete tank one piece at a time.
My question is will these animals live together well and what would be the appropriate tank size for these particular animals while giving them room to grow?
Thank you very much.
Harial

 

[flipper263]

Welcome to the board

You will most definitely find the information you need on this board. There are some very helpful and knowledgeable people.
I believe you can keep clowns and cleaners even in a nano tank but I don't know much about anemones..except that they require very good lighting.
Good luck and keep reading.
Brenda

 

[tableforglasses]

you can put those guys in most any size tank. Flipper is right the anemone will need good lighting, but other than that, just about any size tank will work. I have found once you get one size tank you want the next size up, but sometimes I think it is best just to start small and build a nice looking small tank. You can make a small tank look real nice for less money. You are very wise to start slow. Just be patient with everything and always come here and ask questions.
Prove your mom wrong!
Sean

 

[dacia]

Probably for a small tank with those livestock choices, you will need to get metal halide lighting. I believe that the bubble tip anemone only requires strong PC lights, but other anemones thrive under the MHs.
I have a pair of clowns in a 20 gallon tank. I just have NO lighting, so no anemones...they did live with a cleaner shrimp for a while, but the cleaner was eaten by Mr. Crabs (a really big hermit...)
Anemones are hard to care for, especially for beginners. You might want to just get some feather dusters, or make a small reef with long tentacled corals...I've heard of clowns hosting in green star polyps and frogspawn, for instance. And those corals don't require the more expensive MH lights and feather dusters don't even require PCs.

 

[harial]

I think I might follow your(Dacia) advice and go with feather dusters for a while and then when I think I( and my wallet) can handle it get some anemones.
thanks you guys so much.
Harial