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i am going to be setting up a 20L for a mini reef. i have a coralife double lunar light (2x65w, actinic & 10k). about 30 lbs of live rock and want a coral that a percula clown will adopt. are there any? i think an anemone will outgrow this tank.

I don't belive a clown will really care about corals. I have heard of some clowns hosting in a goniporia, but this is not good for the goniporia. I also had a clarkii host in a feather duster.

Dan


Dan

Xenias..

My Maroon clown loves the xenias.. Elongata is the one it favors, but I've seen her in the umbellata as well.. For such a small tank, I'd probably be tempted to stick with the umbellata since it's not as prolific a grower as the elongata..

She also liked the brain coral until I finally bought her a bubbletip anemone..

Good Luck with it..

thank you. it is all still the developement stage, so i am trying to get as much info as possible. i see so many nano reefs with anemones in them and wonder how long it can grow on in a 12g cube? is it really viable?

I think the size it will grow too depends on your water quality and what you're feeding. A healthy specimen, of any animal, not just anenomes, can outgrow it's tank.

Nowadays, with the nano cubes becoming more and more popular, we see tiny set ups packed with tons of things. The reality is, usually it will not last.

You could always keep it until it outgrows your tank, sell it back, and get a new smaller specimen, but that tends to be somewhat stressful on the animal. I wouldn't recommend buying anything you wont be able to care for in the long run. I think Anthony Calfo puts it best:

I pray that your sacrifice into captivity, and that of all our aquarium dependents, is for a truly greater good. Through education, discipline, responsible husbandry and respect for life at large, perhaps we may return more than we’ve taken.

-Ferret



[hr width='40%'][font color="#000080"]
Life’s tough,
Get a helmet.
[/font]

-Formerly known as the Ferretfish

Oh, and may I add that it's a common misconception that an animal will "only grow to the size of its tank."

Yes, it may stop growing, but that's because you've stunted it, which will cause it to die prematurely. Stunted animals do not live up to their full potential.

Unfortunately this tends to be all too common in the hobby today, all though usually salties know what they're doing. Not to say that there aren't exceptions but...

Yeah well I think I've gone off topic enough.

Did I enough comment or answer on the original question?

-Ferret


[hr width='40%'][font color="#000080"]
Life’s tough,
Get a helmet.
[/font]

-Formerly known as the Ferretfish

the reason i asked about corals for the tank was because i know that anemones get too large for my setup. i dont want to put anything in my tank that i am just going to kill or have to take out. so there really isnt anything i can put in my 20L besides one shrimp?

are there any corals, anemones, or inverts at all that could be happy in my tank for the long term? i ask this because ferret makes it sound impossible. if it is possible, what is the exact recipe for the perfect mini reef setup?

p.s. i got rid of the lunar light PC lights and i now have a 150w 20k MH.

Last edited by acei at 28-Apr-2005 15:00

There are plenty of things that you can keep in a smaller tank...you will just need to frag them to keep them smaller.

Zoanthids, mushrooms, ricordia, branching frogspawn, and the list goes on...

I believe what Ferret was trying to say is dont jam pack the tank so it is filled up from the get go. Corals do grow, and some grow very fast. You just need to research different corals and see what would work in a smaller tank even if it means frequent fragging.

Oh, and clowns will host in just about anything. Ive had clowns host in my leather coral, brain coral, zoanthids, and ricordia....it really depends on the clowns.




[hr width='40%']I lay here in my bed and dream of you
Hoping you are dreaming of me too...
Someday the miles will be less and we will dream together
Your heart and mine Always and Forever...

thank you for the great advice. i am only keeping a pair of perculas, maybe a small wrasse, and a cleaner shrimp. as for corals, i am still in the learning stage and trying to figure out what my possiblities are. i am not going to overstock it. i dont like overstocking anyways. i have a 180g cichlid tank with only 20 small fish in it.