Wayne Sallee wrote:


Anemone are not what a person should start out with, but the main reason
most people fail with them, is because they don't give them enough
light. Often Aquarium stores will mislead customers into thinking that
they don't need much light in order to make more sales.


Well I'm happy to report that my LFS is one of those that advises
against buying anenomes without sufficient light.....although my T5s on
the current tank could well be enough I am still cautious....I have some
hard corals doing really well but.....well.....if I lose an anenome it
will be bad for my water quality....



People setting up a reef tank, don't swap clown fish out for something
more exotic. About the only time people swap clown fish out, is if they
get one of the more aggressive clowns, like tomato, or maroon. About the
only time people swap an ocellaris out is if they are going with bigger
fish, but such bigger fish don't fit well in a reef tank.


My common clowns are great but I haven't mixed them with other fish
yet....they did decapitate my tube worm though.....I'm in the process of
moving them into the bigger tank and I am still thinking anenome in
spite of the above reservations....



Also be aware that many benthic
dwelling (sand-dwelling) fish have specific substrate needs and can
also topple rocks that aren't secured properly by digging the sand out
from under them.


Yep, so many people don't think about this when they set up a reef tank.
Before you stack rock, you should always put base rock on the glass with
the sand around it, and then stack the rock on top of the base rock,
because many fish and things will dig the sand out of under the rock,
and it's not a matter of if, but a matter of when.

I agree with you here.....not too much reef experience but my Mbunas are
certainly good at destabilising rock structures....I took the lessons
learnt onto my reef tank....

FWIW my new tank started with 6 green chromis (pretty hardy) - since
then I have added 2 bengaii cardinals and will be moving my clowns
across......I'm also planning on a coral beauty and also a yellow tang
to munch on the algae.....

I'm new to reef (since last Sept) but have kept freshwater for a number
of years....my philosophy is to tackle problems naturally so if I have
algae I buy an algae eater.......the clean up crew do a great job on
some of the stuff but a fish will do it better IMO

Gill


Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets