Mini-Bow 7 for SW?

[Napsterhaven]

Can anyone offer me some insight if this would be a good tank for a SMALL sw tank? All I want to keep in it is a clown or 2. Im looking at 2 fish at the most. Can someone give me the pros and cons of this? My wife is TOTALLY in love with the orange and white striped clowns. And I would really like to get her one or 2 for mothers day.

[ChilDawg]

I don't think that you could throw clowns in an uncycled SW tank.

Besides, I'm pretty sure that 20 is the recommended minimum for Clowns.

[kreblak]

Small SW tanks, especially those 10 gallons and less, have a whole set of their own problems. Cheifly, they suffer from temperature and specific gravity fluctuations. I am assuming that you have kept a SW tank before as I proceed, so if you have questions, please ask.

Small bodies of water do not hold their temperature nearly as well as large ones do. With fish, temperature fluctuations can cause stress, illness, and death. A seven gallon tank would need an extremely reliable heater, and it should not be anywhere near direct sunlight or a vent.

Evaporation is your next enemy. As water evaporates, it leaves behind the dissolved solids (i.e. salt). This leaves you with the same amount of salt in less water, thus raising your specific gravity. If one is not careful, the SG can get too high, and your fish will suffer. The reason this is a problem in small tanks is thus: one half gallon (common evaporation in a week) evaporating out of a 55 gallon tank is a decrease in volume of .9%. One half gallon evaporating out of a seven gallon tank is a 7.1% decrease in volume...with a corresponding rise in SG.

I'm not saying it can't be done, you just need to be careful. Oh, and Childawg has an excellent point in that Clownfish can get decently large (3 or 4 inches, bigger in some cases) and need adequate swimming space. A seven gallon tank may not accomodate them properly. Also, DO NOT cycle the tank with a clownfish. A clownfish with ammonia poisoning is not a pretty sight. I would recommend upgrading to a 15 or 20 gallon tank that was properly cycled before adding fish.

[BHRay]

If you are interested in a small sw tank i wold suggest going to


www.nano-reef.com (http://www.nano-reef.com)

There is lots of info. Sure a 7g would have challenges that a 125 wouldn't, but if fishkeeping wasn't a challenge, I prolly wouldn't do it. I have a 10g skimmerless reef and love it. I wouldn't put 2 clowns in a 7g, but 1 would prolly be ok.

[dcallen]

Hi,

I also think two clowns is way too much for a 7 gallon tank or even a 10 gallon. Maybe one fish and a few inverts would be okay. I have one six line wrasse in my 10 gallon nano-reef and 6 snails at the moment and I don't plan on adding any more fish. My biggest problem thus far is with heat. My tank wants to stay at around 81-82 degrees which is too high, I really want it at 78-79 degrees if possible but I'm having a hard time doing that, so you will most likely have the same heat challenge as myself and many others if you stay with a smaller tank. They do need to be topped off daily to be sure the salinity stays relatively stable, mine is around 1.023. If you can swing it I would suggest a 20-30 gallon tank as it will be easier to maintain. Plus with a larger tank you could keep two clowns. Good luck!:)