Anemone nano tank
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DanP-SD
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Neither the anemone nor the clown needs a lot of room, so theoretically you would just need enough room for a piece of live rock, the anemone and a little swimming room for the clown. But there are some issues with going too small.
First, anemones should be fed meaty foods. (The clown won't mind either). That means a lot of waste so be prepared to do a lot of water changes -- more so the smaller the tank.
Second, the clown may not take to the anemone. So unless they're already paired, you'll want enough room for the clown to make its home somewhere other than in the anemone's tentacles.
Third, most anemones have a certain amount of light they like and will move around the tank until the find the right light level (and flow). With a small tank, you can keep it in place by depriving it of anywhere to go, but if the light level or flow isn't to its liking, it may not thrive. So you might consider a taller tank, even if the footprint is small.
Fourth, some clownfish can get quite large so you'll want to go with a smaller species like Occelaris or Percula. The problem is these species are known to be more finicky about anemones they'll pair with. You could always try the clown you want and trade it when it gets big. Should be easy to catch in a pico tank.
All that said, if you can maintain reef-quality water, I don't see any reason why this couldn't work with a really small tank or even a cookie jar. I would suggest you consider no sand -- just a piece of rock, the anemone, a heater and a source of water movement -- so you can do a large water change frequently. I think it would be a kind of cool approach to do a pico or cookie jar tank like this and just replace 100% of the water (perhaps sourced from another reef tank) every few days as your primary source of filtration. The live rock should keep the water quality ok between water changes.
First, anemones should be fed meaty foods. (The clown won't mind either). That means a lot of waste so be prepared to do a lot of water changes -- more so the smaller the tank.
Second, the clown may not take to the anemone. So unless they're already paired, you'll want enough room for the clown to make its home somewhere other than in the anemone's tentacles.
Third, most anemones have a certain amount of light they like and will move around the tank until the find the right light level (and flow). With a small tank, you can keep it in place by depriving it of anywhere to go, but if the light level or flow isn't to its liking, it may not thrive. So you might consider a taller tank, even if the footprint is small.
Fourth, some clownfish can get quite large so you'll want to go with a smaller species like Occelaris or Percula. The problem is these species are known to be more finicky about anemones they'll pair with. You could always try the clown you want and trade it when it gets big. Should be easy to catch in a pico tank.
All that said, if you can maintain reef-quality water, I don't see any reason why this couldn't work with a really small tank or even a cookie jar. I would suggest you consider no sand -- just a piece of rock, the anemone, a heater and a source of water movement -- so you can do a large water change frequently. I think it would be a kind of cool approach to do a pico or cookie jar tank like this and just replace 100% of the water (perhaps sourced from another reef tank) every few days as your primary source of filtration. The live rock should keep the water quality ok between water changes.
A friend and I housed an Entacmaea quadricolor/BTA and one clown in a 5.5g with a 50/50PC light over it, and a small cascade canister filter for chemical media and flow and it worked well. So it can be done, but we've both been reef keeping for over a decade (I just hit 12 years). If you're willing to do frequent water changes (we changed 1g daily) and top off often it can be done, just needs a bit more work.
Really the issues are stability, in a smaller tank it's hard to keep params stable, next would be that intakes/PH's will always be very close, easy to get sucked in.
Not all anemone's are the same or even reach the same size, but I'd say you can expect most to be 12" in diameter or bigger in not too long of time, so you're going to want at least that much area.
I'd say 30g is really probably the smallest for long term.
The anemone does not need to be fed at all as long as it has good light, that is their main source of energy.
All clowns will take to an anemone, just some will not take to a non natural matched species, or may take a long time, given a natural match hosting happens very fast if not immediately.
Not all anemone's are the same or even reach the same size, but I'd say you can expect most to be 12" in diameter or bigger in not too long of time, so you're going to want at least that much area.
I'd say 30g is really probably the smallest for long term.
The anemone does not need to be fed at all as long as it has good light, that is their main source of energy.
All clowns will take to an anemone, just some will not take to a non natural matched species, or may take a long time, given a natural match hosting happens very fast if not immediately.
I have a pair of Onyx Picassos with a 6in RBTA in a IM 10 Fusion. The clowns and nem came from another tank. I had to move the nem since it started to wander around after staying put for a few months. It was reeking havoc on several other corals. Since the clowns/nem were hosting I decided to move both. Also have a watchman and pistol shrimp pair in the same tank. They keep the substrate clean. I do a 4 gallon WC every 2 weeks (RedSea PC salt). Feed twice a day and feed the nem a chunk of shrimp or piece of clam once a week. Running a Kessil A160 about 45%. Other corals in the tank consist of Zoas, Miyagi tort, Pavona cactus coral and Purple Monti cap in the same tank. I don't dose anything. Run filter floss, Chemi pure Blue and Brightwell Xport Bio media cubes.
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