SniperY
14-03-2006, 12:04 PM
Here's some essential advice for anyone considering buying their own 'Nemo'...
The launch of the film Finding Nemo has led to many children requesting a Clownfish (Nemo) as a pet.
Clownfish are marine fish and require special care to keep them successfully. If you are considering buying a Clownfish for your child, we would urge you to find out as much as you possibly can about their care and seek out a specialist marine fish dealer who can provide you with the information and equipment you require as well as a good back-up service.
Remember that these fish are from a saltwater environment, not freshwater, so their care is more complicated. A Clownfish can live 10 years or more, so this is a long-term commitment and it is up to you - and your child - to do very the best you can for the animals in your care. It also won't come cheap.
To keep your Clownfish properly, you are going to need to spend £300 or more on the tank set-up and equipment...
We recommend you buy only tank-bred Clownfish which are more hardy and less prone to diseases.
Here are some tips to help you on your way.
You will need:
* A 90 x 30 x 38cm/36" x 12" x 15" aquarium minimum - anything smaller can be difficult to manage for the inexperienced marine fishkeeper.
* A tank stand or cabinet.
* Filtration - if you're just keeping one or two Clownfish in a 90cm/36" tank you could get away with an internal or external power filter packed with good media (eg sintered glass) plus a bit of carbon, but if you can add a protein skimmer, so much the better. Alternatively you can filter the tank using live rock - for this you need a protein skimmer, powerhead to provide circulation (in a tank of the dimensions listed above, you need one that delivers about 1000 lph/220 gph), a small nylon bag of carbon (which can be hidden behind a rock) and the live rock - about 8kg/17.6lb of seeded Fiji rock is just the job.
* Substrate - a 2-3cm/ 3/4"-11/3" layer of fine aragonite
* A heaterstat to keep the water at the required tropical temperature - we recommend 25°C/77°F for marine fish like Clownfish.
* A good marine salt mix.
* A hydrometer to measure the salinity (or saltiness) of the tank water. Aim for 1.021-1.023.
* Test kits for ammonia,nitrite, nitrate and pH
* Lighting - one or two aquarium fluorescent tubes plus starter unit(s).
* Buckets and syphon tube for water changes
* A fishkeeping net
* An algae scraper to clean the tank glass
* A good quality marine flake plus some frozen marine foods like lobster eggs and brine shrimp
You also need a degree of patience. You can't set up the tank and add the fish the same day. You need to give it time to mature. This is vital as the friendly bacteria that break down fish wastes need time to build up. If you stock the tank too soon you will get a build up of ammonia or nitrite and this could make your fish very ill and even kill it.
The process in which toxins are broken down is called the nitrogen cycle and it's important that you understand how this works before you buy your fish. It's also essential not to put too many fish in the tank, as there is a limit to how much life your filter will support, so don't exceed the recommended stocking levels.
You also need to keep a check on the pH of the water in the aquarium. For marine fish like Clownfish, it needs to be in the region of 8-8.3. You'll need to change 10% of the tank water every two weeks to help keep it fresh. Mix it up using a good quality salt mix to the same salinity and temperature as that in the tank. You also need to keep a check on your filter and skimmer, and change carbon every two months - you may also need to clean the algae from the front glass from time to time.
The best way to keep common or percula clowns is as pairs. Although clowns live in larger groups in the wild, it is seldom possible to keep more than two successfully in the aquarium. To get a pair, all you need to do is buy two young fish.
One of them will grow slightly faster than the other and be slightly more assertive - this will become the female. The quieter one will become the male. In time, the size difference may become quite marked.
The pair bonding in both these species is quite strong, and once they have bonded, the fish will quite often stay close to each other for much of the day, and at night sleep huddled close together.
Captive-bred common and percula clowns will eat almost any aquarium food, provided it is of the right size. A diet consisting of a good quality marine flake or pellet food, alternated with frozen foods such as brineshrimp (especially the omega 3- or spirulina-enriched versions), red plankton, fish roe and lobster eggs, is particularly good.
You do not need an anemone, particularly with tank-bred clowns (they will never even have seen one). In fact anemones are best avoided, as they are by no means easy to keep in captivity and require highly specialised systems. Please don't be tempted into keeping one.
The launch of the film Finding Nemo has led to many children requesting a Clownfish (Nemo) as a pet.
Clownfish are marine fish and require special care to keep them successfully. If you are considering buying a Clownfish for your child, we would urge you to find out as much as you possibly can about their care and seek out a specialist marine fish dealer who can provide you with the information and equipment you require as well as a good back-up service.
Remember that these fish are from a saltwater environment, not freshwater, so their care is more complicated. A Clownfish can live 10 years or more, so this is a long-term commitment and it is up to you - and your child - to do very the best you can for the animals in your care. It also won't come cheap.
To keep your Clownfish properly, you are going to need to spend £300 or more on the tank set-up and equipment...
We recommend you buy only tank-bred Clownfish which are more hardy and less prone to diseases.
Here are some tips to help you on your way.
You will need:
* A 90 x 30 x 38cm/36" x 12" x 15" aquarium minimum - anything smaller can be difficult to manage for the inexperienced marine fishkeeper.
* A tank stand or cabinet.
* Filtration - if you're just keeping one or two Clownfish in a 90cm/36" tank you could get away with an internal or external power filter packed with good media (eg sintered glass) plus a bit of carbon, but if you can add a protein skimmer, so much the better. Alternatively you can filter the tank using live rock - for this you need a protein skimmer, powerhead to provide circulation (in a tank of the dimensions listed above, you need one that delivers about 1000 lph/220 gph), a small nylon bag of carbon (which can be hidden behind a rock) and the live rock - about 8kg/17.6lb of seeded Fiji rock is just the job.
* Substrate - a 2-3cm/ 3/4"-11/3" layer of fine aragonite
* A heaterstat to keep the water at the required tropical temperature - we recommend 25°C/77°F for marine fish like Clownfish.
* A good marine salt mix.
* A hydrometer to measure the salinity (or saltiness) of the tank water. Aim for 1.021-1.023.
* Test kits for ammonia,nitrite, nitrate and pH
* Lighting - one or two aquarium fluorescent tubes plus starter unit(s).
* Buckets and syphon tube for water changes
* A fishkeeping net
* An algae scraper to clean the tank glass
* A good quality marine flake plus some frozen marine foods like lobster eggs and brine shrimp
You also need a degree of patience. You can't set up the tank and add the fish the same day. You need to give it time to mature. This is vital as the friendly bacteria that break down fish wastes need time to build up. If you stock the tank too soon you will get a build up of ammonia or nitrite and this could make your fish very ill and even kill it.
The process in which toxins are broken down is called the nitrogen cycle and it's important that you understand how this works before you buy your fish. It's also essential not to put too many fish in the tank, as there is a limit to how much life your filter will support, so don't exceed the recommended stocking levels.
You also need to keep a check on the pH of the water in the aquarium. For marine fish like Clownfish, it needs to be in the region of 8-8.3. You'll need to change 10% of the tank water every two weeks to help keep it fresh. Mix it up using a good quality salt mix to the same salinity and temperature as that in the tank. You also need to keep a check on your filter and skimmer, and change carbon every two months - you may also need to clean the algae from the front glass from time to time.
The best way to keep common or percula clowns is as pairs. Although clowns live in larger groups in the wild, it is seldom possible to keep more than two successfully in the aquarium. To get a pair, all you need to do is buy two young fish.
One of them will grow slightly faster than the other and be slightly more assertive - this will become the female. The quieter one will become the male. In time, the size difference may become quite marked.
The pair bonding in both these species is quite strong, and once they have bonded, the fish will quite often stay close to each other for much of the day, and at night sleep huddled close together.
Captive-bred common and percula clowns will eat almost any aquarium food, provided it is of the right size. A diet consisting of a good quality marine flake or pellet food, alternated with frozen foods such as brineshrimp (especially the omega 3- or spirulina-enriched versions), red plankton, fish roe and lobster eggs, is particularly good.
You do not need an anemone, particularly with tank-bred clowns (they will never even have seen one). In fact anemones are best avoided, as they are by no means easy to keep in captivity and require highly specialised systems. Please don't be tempted into keeping one.