The Puffer Forum

Why are tomato clowns more hardy toward puffers than other clowns?

Just a hardier fish all around. the maroons are way too mean. Chewed my puffer's tails down to nubs within
3 days.

Oh wow! O.O Definitely tomatos if I go that way then xD

Don't be fooled by Clown fish looks. They can be meaner than most fish. They have teeth like scalpels and know how to use them. Tomatos, ephippiums, and Maroons can stand off any GSP if they grow up together.

Ha ha! They had me totally fooled. When I manage to work my way up to full marine I just might get one and my fiance is in full support because he has an unhealthy obsession with the cute little fish -_- When I tell him I'm considering it I probably won't hear the end of it. It's easy for him cause he isn't the one caring for the little buggers LOL

I am still scared to take it to full marine. When you say that there are fewer water changes what do you mean? Like, you don't do partials once a week or something? Other than the protein skimmer and live rock is there anything else that I would need for a full marine set up? Right now I have a marineland magnum 350 canister filter running on the tank, will that be good enough for full marine too?

Oh! And would I want to get anemone for the clown or would the puffer destroy it?

I wouldn't concern yourself about keeping a nem for quite some time. They need special lighting & pristine water conditions in a well-established system.

Ok! Thanks for the info. ^^

Skimmer, circulation pump(s), liverock.
You can still use the micron filter, but that's up to you. I hate that filter personally.

How many powerheads would I need for a 55 and where is the ideal place to set them up? What do you hate about the filter? I had a jack dempsey that I used it for (She died when my house burned down) and I loved it.

I don't like having to swap/bleach the filter, and the monthly total unit cleaning.
It might just be that my tap water encourages diatom growth quite fiercely, but it seemed to get clogged weekly.

A koralia evolution 550 or equivalent could be enough, you position it so it will sweep over/around your live rock.
A larger/higher gallons per hour circulation pump may be too strong of a current to be comfortable for their bumblebee style swimming.

Alright, so along with the skimmer and powerhead you mentioned I buy 25lb of baserock and 25lb of liverock that will eventually seed the base rock? How long will it take? Do I have to do anything special with the rock or just put it in the tank? And since I am starting with freshwater and working my way up I am assuming that all of the little buggers in the dsb will be dead, right? Will the liverock contain those little fellows and re-seed the sand? Where do I buy more of those creatures if I need them? And finally, if I buy live rock from someone off craigslist how can I tell if it's good stuff?

your live rock will seeed your sand and base rock , may take 6 mths or so by my understanding. You also need to prep live rock for your tank check out the library or you can buy rock ready for your aquarium but you may lose out on critters etc that will be beneficial

I couldn't find anything about prepping the rock in the library but I do tend to fail at search terms xD