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setting up a marine tank

Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2025 1:03 am
by Auroral
hi all, is this list of fish compatible?!!

i've got X2flame angelfish, X3royal gramma, X4 black percula clown, X6common clown (nemo!!), X1copperband butterflyfish, X2embera hawk, X1naso tang, X1pacific blue tang (Dory), X1porcupine puffer, X1reidi seahorse, and X1 Figure 8 puffer.

fluxx, i'm really keen on breeding those clowns - it's a goldmine! the reason i chose so many is i want to try my hand at breeding them.

i picked them mostly for their looks, so can anyone help me tweak the list for an epic reef tank (nothing over 500 gallons, though)?

i've read that you should only have one pair of clowns per tank, but i think my list could work - what do you guys think?

what's the best tank brand and product for this list?

thanks!!

Re: setting up a marine tank

Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2025 1:51 am
by route4
I'd say you can definitely keep multiple clowns in a tank, but to be honest, it's gotta be huge, like 1000 litres. For a 500, I'd cap it at 2, max. If breeding's your goal, I think a species tank's the way to go, and trust me, it's not easy - getting them from eggs to larvae to juveniles is a real challenge.

Re: setting up a marine tank

Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2025 9:39 am
by sweetie_22
the reidi seahorse is probably gonna end up starving or gettin bullied

Re: setting up a marine tank

Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2025 11:08 am
by route4
Auroral wrote: Thu Jul 03, 2025 1:03 am hi all, is this list of fish compatible?!!

i've got X2flame angelfish, X3royal gramma, X4 black percula clown, X6common clown (nemo!!), X1copperband butterflyfish, X2embera hawk, X1naso tang, X1pacific blue tang (Dory), X1porcupine puffer, X1reidi seahorse, and X1 Figure 8 puffer.

fluxx, i'm really keen on breeding those clowns - it's a goldmine! the reason i chose so many is i want to try my hand at breeding them.

i picked them mostly for their looks, so can anyone help me tweak the list for an epic reef tank (nothing over 500 gallons, though)?

i've read that you should only have one pair of clowns per tank, but i think my list could work - what do you guys think?

what's the best tank brand and product for this list?

thanks!!
fluxx yeah the fry can be super delicate, i've read their care requires a lot of attention to water quality & feeding, plus they're so tiny, it's easy to miss any issues

they need lots of hiding spots & stuff, or they get stressed, and that's just a recipe for disaster, right

Re: setting up a marine tank

Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2025 11:28 am
by talonix
hi, you cant put a seahorse in with those fish, it needs a separate tank with slow-moving water, it can't compete for food with the others.

Re: setting up a marine tank

Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2025 12:02 pm
by jolt9
If you're after some help and guidance on the marine side of things, why not join us at the Northern Ireland Reef Club? We're a local bunch, still getting started, but we've already had our first meet under our belts. Come along, ask some questions, and get some advice from people who know the score. If you're interested, just let me know and I'll send over the details. Look forward to hearing from you, cheers.

Re: setting up a marine tank

Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2025 12:56 pm
by flame9x
To successfully breed clowns and raise the fry, it's best to manually collect the eggs and hatch them yourself. After that, you'll have to deal with Nexario cultures and brine shrimp cultures - trust me, it's no cakewalk. I recall reading a testimonial from a breeder who shared her experience with Picclyasso clowns.

http/www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/livest...-clownfish.html

In my opinion, Picclyasso clowns are the only ones worth the trouble. You can sell a pair of true Picclyasso clowns for $400 in the US, and the high-grade ones go for $100 per fish, while the lower-grade ones sell for $50 per fish. Keep in mind, you'll only get a few true Picclyasso clowns per batch of fry - the rest will be a mix of high and low-grade ones.

I'd recommend getting rid of the seahorse and puffers. Aren't puffers notorious for nipping and fin picking? I think they can be, or at least that's what I've heard.

Re: setting up a marine tank

Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2025 2:09 pm
by dune9x
Auroral wrote: Thu Jul 03, 2025 1:03 am hi all, is this list of fish compatible?!!

i've got X2flame angelfish, X3royal gramma, X4 black percula clown, X6common clown (nemo!!), X1copperband butterflyfish, X2embera hawk, X1naso tang, X1pacific blue tang (Dory), X1porcupine puffer, X1reidi seahorse, and X1 Figure 8 puffer.

fluxx, i'm really keen on breeding those clowns - it's a goldmine! the reason i chose so many is i want to try my hand at breeding them.

i picked them mostly for their looks, so can anyone help me tweak the list for an epic reef tank (nothing over 500 gallons, though)?

i've read that you should only have one pair of clowns per tank, but i think my list could work - what do you guys think?

what's the best tank brand and product for this list?

thanks!!
Two flame angels in a tank is a recipe for disaster unless you can find a perfect pair, same goes for the embera hawks - they're just too territorial.

The porcupine puffer, naso, and regal tangs are all going to need a massive tank to thrive, and I'm talking way bigger than 500 litres. Figure 8 puffers, from what I know, are actually brackish water fish, not full marine, so they wouldn't be a good fit for this tank.

Oceanic fish like the ones you've listed are usually best kept in a species tank, but since you're looking for a community tank, we need to be more careful with the stocking. Percula clowns are one of the few species that can tolerate having multiple pairs in the same tank, but it's still not a guarantee.

What size tank are you thinking of getting? Once you've decided on that, we can start discussing the stocking options.

Re: setting up a marine tank

Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2025 3:50 pm
by flame9x
Correct, Fig 8's are brackish fish - unless there's a common name for a saltwater species as well.

If you're going for a 500g tank, I think two flames would be fine - whether they're paired or not. For the naso tang, I'd say minimum 180g. Two flame angels would need bigger than that, though.

Re: setting up a marine tank

Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2025 5:24 pm
by talonix
yeah, it's all about the fish's personalities, i've had 2 coflake beauties in my 8ft tank and they just didn't get on, so it's not me, it's the fish.