How hard are clownfish to keep?

[Rum_Kitty]

I really fancy a pair of occelaris or perc clowns, and before anyone asks I've never seen Finding Nemo . I just think they are the prettiest, cutest little fish. But I have only kept tropical freshwater before, and to be honest things havent gone well with my last few tanks but I think they were a little small to keep conditions constant. What are a novice aquarists chances of keeping these successfully, and does anyone have any tips? Anyone know anywhere in Scotland where I can buy them captive bred? I really would prefer to avoid wild caught.

[Frase]

novices chances are all down to the particular novist.

If you wanna sit and research em for 30 mins, that will give u less chance than if your prepared to sit down and research for 3-4 weeks prior to spending money. Its upto you really matey =)

They are only hard to keep if you dont know what you are doing.

Marine aquariums as a whole however take a lot more time to care for than a tropical would. I havent any marine experience myself but i know people who have kept them.

[capester]

I took the plunge fairly recently after keeping freshwater for 20 years and bought a small marine tank that had a resident "Nemo" and (touch wood) things are going ok. However, If you haven't had much luck with freshwater I wouldn't touch marines as they are far more demanding and the mistakes a lot more expensive!

[Rum_Kitty]

Frase, I have been researching them for ages, always been interested in them, ever since I was a kidling lol.

And Capester like I said I think my freshwater problems are definitely due to use of smaller tanks, I had a massive tank for 6 years when I was a teen and never had any major problems with it. So if I do take the plunge I'll probably end up with 2 clownfish in a 100 gallon tank lol.

[Frase]

yeah but smaller tanks are easier to maintain than marine set ups.

It's good you've researched them.

All i would say is, if you choose to go for marine, have a good look into the actual marine set ups prior to looking at what you can keep in them. If you feel confident that you can maintain a marine setup, then go the step further and look at tank sizes for fish you want etc.

It really is a lot of work involved, timewise.

It is also a lot of money to try and attempt things with.

[becky89]

I think once you've set up a marine tank and got your head around what needs to be done, it's easy enough to keep. They just take a bit more time and effort than a freshwater tank, and a bit more expensive. If you've already been researching then I'm sure you have a pretty good idea of whats involved!
Personally I believe that a fish is only hard to keep if you dont know/understand what their requirements are and how to provide for these.
Good luck

Becky

[AshMashMash]

As everyone's already said, just research research research!

Find out what water conditions they need (they're hardy fellows), and replicate it. Make sure you know about the nitrogen cycle, and cycling the tank, how to dissolve salt, and the differences between tap/RO/salt water etc and you're away.

The only thing that concerns me is your "I've had some problems with smaller tanks" thing, which is so vague. What problems? Did you find out the reason?

"Smaller tanks", when you're talking marines, are anything less than about 3ft/100 litres ish. So, if you're having "small tank problems", which I am not sure what they are, then I suggest you work out what problems and make sure it doesn't occur when you go for marines.

[andy007]

Hi
As marine fish go, a captive bred pair of Clowns are pretty easy to keep as long as the tank and water parameters are correct.
Tank size really depends on what you eventually want to keep? If you happy with a pair of clowns and some shrimp, maybe a small goby, then a 20g would do you.
If you want corals, then lighting needs to be a minimum of T5 tubes to keep the easier corals.
So, a 20g with 2x T5 tubes, external filter and a protein skimmer would be fine. Add a couple of internal pumps, some live rock and your away
I dont know how far you have looked, but dont waste your money on live sand........basically its rubbish.

[capester]

Yeah, I think the small tank thing may have a bearing. My marine is only 30l as it's all I could afford! definately easier to maintain big tanks I'd say because if something goes wrong in a nano, it goes wrong FAST!

[Rum_Kitty]

I've got no idea what the problems were...I was using very small tanks, 5 and ten gallon respectively. I was keeping bettas (one to a tank obv) but I lost two of them in pretty quick succession. Water testing showed tank was OK, and the fish looked fairly healthy until they copped it, I couldnt see any physical problems with them. I have always kept 30-40 gallon tanks lightly stocked before and never had a problem, although I'm still definitely what you would call novice. I guess I've just come to the conclusion that water quality is easier to maintain in a big tank.I was considering a 25 or 30 gallon marine tank and all I wanted to keep was a pair of clowns and possibly one of the little bloodred shrimp...I know fish keeping is supposed to be addictive but I'd be quite happy with clowns on their own til I have more experience.

I definitely don't want corals for now. I'm quite set on two clowns and possibly a shrimp for now, I dont really have room for a mahoosive tank as it stands anyway. I certainly dont mind a lot of work, everybody I already keep is a ton of work as it stands.

Thanks for the info on Live sand Andy, I've read its not really worth it, although other people say its great, but I was going to stick to live rock if I go ahead with this.