Are true percula clownfish good for begginers

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Devonvincent98

Member
I want to get two true percula clownfish but I have read on the Internet that they are not for begginers! Why is that and would they be good for begginers. And would it be ok if I fed them mysis once a day or pellet food in the morning and mysis at night. I have a 29 gallon tank with 30 pounds of aragonite sand and 10 pounds of dead rock and 19 pounds of live rock. I want to get two clownfish, a firefish, a bengui cardinal and a yellow watchmen goby with a clean up crew. But I really want to get two clownfish and either a baby blue tang or a baby yellow tang so what could I do.
 
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DaveK

Well-Known Member
The big problem with most clowns today is that they are often in poor shape and carry disease when you get them. If you want to get a pair I recommend that you put them in a quarantine tank for at least 8 weeks and treat at the first sign of disease. The most likely diseases are SW ick, brooklynalla, and velvet. Once you get them through quarantine, and feeding well, you shouldn't have any real problems.

You fish list is way too long for a 29 gal tank. By the time you add rock, gravel and so on, that 29 gal tank is holding about 20 gal. I would restrict what I put in the tank to 2 or 3 fish at most. Do not over crowd SW fish. You'll pay dearly for it long term. I know 3 fish doesn't sound like much, but that is the typical load you can put in the tank.

As for tangs, they require large tanks and a lot of space. Your tank is far to small to even consider one. Those babies will grow fast.
 
reefguy

reefguy

Member
Everything Dave has said is on point. I have clowns and I QTed them for 6 weeks treated them with copper for the first month just to be on the safe side then watched them for another 2 weeks. They are powerhouses and are always first to the top of my DT when it's time for food now.

On the tang topic, they might be small but it only took my yellow and hippo tang about 3 months before they were about 2 inches. It's been a year and they are running out of room in my 110..

I would go 2 clowns, 1 chromis, 1 fire goby max. Even at that when they start to get bigger u will find the itch to get a bigger tank.

Just a thought if u have a bio cube try and do 2 clowns and then a bunch of different mushrooms. Great starting corals and multiply fast(trust me I have to give mine away). Just my 2 cents

Happy Reefing!
 
reefguy

reefguy

Member
I don't disagree with the QT.

The 29 gallon from Walmart won't work for mushrooms unless u upgrade the lights.

On your original topic. I would only put 3 to 4 small fish and always QT. If its going to always be a fish only tank.. No live rock, u could get away with out a QT cause u can just treat the DT. I just don't recommend it.

Hope this helps some.
 
lbiminiblue

lbiminiblue

Well-Known Member
Devonvincent98 said:
I want to get two true percula clownfish but I have read on the Internet that they are not for begginers! Why is that and would they be good for begginers. And would it be ok if I fed them mysis once a day or pellet food in the morning and mysis at night. I have a 29 gallon tank with 30 pounds of aragonite sand and 10 pounds of dead rock and 19 pounds of live rock. I want to get two clownfish, a firefish, a bengui cardinal and a yellow watchmen goby with a clean up crew. But I really want to get two clownfish and either a baby blue tang or a baby yellow tang so what could I do.
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I wouldn't say your list is "way too long" but that sadly, you can't keep a tang in that tank. Bottom line, i think. The others should be fine. 5 fish in that tank may be towards the "overcrowded" end of the spectrum, but it isn't un-keepable. The problem is, with that livestock list, you have less room for error and a skipped water change, for example, would really turn things haywire. Don't panic when they say it's too many fish: there ARE smaller fish you can get that are the same amount but have less of a toll on your tank.
 
ddelozier

ddelozier

Well-Known Member
PREMIUM
RS Ambassador
If you havent already purchased the fish, DONT. With SW systems, the first step is to Season or Cycle the tank. This involves getting your filtration setup, and establishing the bacteria that will deal with the waste. With SW tanks, its wise to add at least SOME live rock, which HAS to be cycled correctly if you dont want all your fish going belly up in a week or less. The cycling process, even with SOME live rock and some dry rock, will take aprox 21-30 days before anything can be introduced to the tank. There are many great articles and posts here on cycling.

As to the fish choices, 5 is going to be the limit, with NO tangs. That tank simply isnt big enough to support them. They are fast swimmers that need lots of running room. I've never seen anyone recommend anything less than a 75g for ONE tang, and 125 Minimum for 2. Hippo's are notoriously sensitive/touchy, so i'd stick with a yellow, should you decide to up your game.

Imho, the False perc's are easier to keep than True Percs, and are widely available in the Tank Raised, so as to be healthy. Still, Proper acclimation, and QT are critical. Do not attempt to treat/qt the fish in the tank with your Live rock. It will absorb the Copper, and leach it later, reaking havoc with your CUC.

All that said, GL.
 
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DaveK

Well-Known Member
Some of the others here have recommended a fish load of 5 fish. This is ok if your keeping very small fish, such as neon gobies. It's far too large a number for fish like clowns, cardinals and watchman gobies. Either keep very small fish or keep only 2 or 3.

Remember that 29 gal tank has a lot less than 29 gal in it.
 
lbiminiblue

lbiminiblue

Well-Known Member
DaveK said:
Some of the others here have recommended a fish load of 5 fish. This is ok if your keeping very small fish, such as neon gobies. It's far too large a number for fish like clowns, cardinals and watchman gobies. Either keep very small fish or keep only 2 or 3.

Remember that 29 gal tank has a lot less than 29 gal in it.
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really? the watchman goby will probly keep out of sight most of the time in a tunnel, and one cardinal and two clowns shouldn't really be too much.
 
reefer gladness

reefer gladness

Well-Known Member
Whether the fish spends more of it's time hiding in the rocks or hovers in the middle of the tank is less relevant than how much the fish needs to eat and consequently come out the other end. There's only so much fish waste the beneficial bacteria on the LR and the filtration system can handle. Some watchman gobies are pretty big for a 29g tank as well, some of them reach 5 inches or so.

Clowns can get pretty large too, you can buy them pretty small but you'll see them triple in size in the next year. And yes you can find baby blue tangs 1 inch long but they grow up to a foot so you better have a much larger tank ready and waiting, and if you do there's not much of a reason to not put the tang straight into the larger tank.

@amxfoch - live fish really shouldn't be used to cycle a tank. It used to be common for damsels to be used but when they grow up you either have mean damsels in your tank or you have to get rid of them, neither are good options because nobody wants a mean old damsel. The best way to kick off the ammonia cycle in a new tank is with a fresh deli shrimp (uncooked) from your local meat market.
 
Oxylebius

Oxylebius

Well-Known Member
It is not humane to cycle a tank with fish. Ammonia causes stress and damages gills and other tissues, even in small amounts. Fish exposed to low levels of ammonia are more susceptible to bacterial infections, have poor growth, and will not tolerate routine handling as well as they otherwise would. Ammonia is a killer when present in higher concentrations, and many unexplained losses have likely been caused by ammonia.
 
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