New guy seeking advise

**SaltyDawg** · 03-25-2009, 09:56 PM

Hi I'm a newbie to this whole saltwater thing, so please excuse my ignorance. I started a 10 gallon tank a couple months ago and want to add a pair of clowns. I have waited fot it to cycle and the last couple couple weeks the nitrates,nitrites etc. have been at zero. Ph is 8.0. I have 3 hermits and 3 snails. What I'm wondering is, what (if any) kinds of anemones could I put in a space that small. And will adding a pair of fish and a critter be to much of a shock, or should I put them in seperately

**Phurst** · 03-25-2009, 09:58 PM

Welcome to TR!

You should be able to add a pair of clowns no problem as long as the cycle is definitely finished. Anemone's depend more on lighting, but a 10 gallon is going to be too small regardless of your lighting. They also need very stable water parameters (difficult in such a small tank) and a mature environment (6 months to a year).

**SaltyDawg** · 03-25-2009, 10:10 PM

Are there any other kinds of plants or animals that would give them the sence of security that an anemone does? I dont want to make them suffer due to my lack of experience.

**Phurst** · 03-25-2009, 10:12 PM

There are plenty of things clowns will host in, but they absolutely don't require anything at all to host in to be happy. We can definitely make some suggestions though. Tell us a bit about your tank. Equipment, lighting, etc.

**SaltyDawg** · 03-25-2009, 10:24 PM

I have a generic aqua-tech 20 power filter, 2 large pieces of live rock weighing 9 lbs. in an arch formation. About 1 1/2 live sand and 2 coralife mini compact fluoresent bulbs. Each 50% 10000K daylight and 50% actinic 03 blue(I have the box in front of me)

**Phurst** · 03-25-2009, 10:30 PM

Hmmm. Lighting is going to be your primary holdback here. You should be good with softies like xenia and green star polyps, as well as mushrooms, zoanthids and palythoas, and some leathers. You could get away with more if you swaped one or both of those bulbs out for a full daylight instead of a 50/50. Then you could get sometging like a frogspawn or hammer that the clowns may decide to host in.

**SaltyDawg** · 03-25-2009, 10:47 PM

Thanks for your time. It's good to finally find a site where people don't hollar at you for being new. I'll do some more research before I buy them

**rayme07** · 03-26-2009, 12:57 AM

Hi SaltyDawg Welcome to TR the greatest way to get info about reefs on the net.

**Amphibious** · 03-26-2009, 06:10 AM

Originally Posted by SaltyDawg

Thanks for your time. It's good to finally find a site where people don't hollar at you for being new. I'll do some more research before I buy them

Welcome to TR, Bob, the best and friendliest reef forum on the Net.

I hate being hollered at for something as benign as being a newbie. We all start at the beginning. Apparently some "experts" forget their roots.

Above is a picture of my A. ocellaris clowns hosting in a Frog Spawn coral. This pic is about a year old. The coral has grown some since then and the clowns are still using it. There presence may inhibit growth some but, doesn't seem to otherwise harm the coral.

Dick

**NanoRyan89** · 03-26-2009, 02:48 PM

Yeah, my dads clowns host in an elegance coral. Its actually quite nice. Good luck with the tank.

**ScubaBosh** · 03-26-2009, 03:45 PM

Welcome to TR! I found a picture of my old 10gallon tank I use to have before I bought my 80g tall which I love! Anyway, I had a lot of fun with my 10g but be careful cause things change fast with so little water.