I need help with compatability...

[duke12]

I'm going to get a sixline wrasse to help control pyramidellid snails. I have microhermits and trocus grazer snails in my reef tank. Will it harm them?
Also, I wish to have a mated pair of maroon clowns sharing a long tentacled anemone. Will the anemone harm my hermits and snails.

Finally, what do people think about bristleworms, I have heard that they are detrimental as well as beneficial... which one?

Thanks

Welcome to TheReefTank. 6 line "should" be ok with trochus, not sure on micro hermits. Feed it well and probably. What size tank are you wanting to keep a pair of maroon clowns in?
Are you looking at a mated pair or 2 and hope they get along? Personally considering the size maroons can get I wouldn't go less than 55g and real light on the other fish, maybe gobies or blennies that perform reef tasks.
The clowns will get territorial and may not tolerate other fish, heck they may not tolerate each other They dont need an anemone. that opens up a whole new bag of snakes. There are lighting issues and then the whole ethical dilema of taking host anemones from the wild and the impact it has on generations of fish that could have hosted with them had they been left alone. If you want to see the symbiotic relationship in action there are other corals that may be adopted that arent as difficult to keep. The main problem is there are never any guarentees as to hosting and mating etc

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I thought I was me, but we were wrong
email: geeflipr@internetcds.com

[duke12]

Thanks geedoug for the info. I have a 75 gallon tank with compact fluorescent lighting, 100 pounds of live rock and forty pounds of live sand. I was planning on getting two juvenile gold striped maroons and hoping that they would form into a mated pair, however, if you feel that purchasing a mated pair would be better, I could easily do that. I'm interested in the other corals that you said would possibly be adopted by the clowns. Could you give me some examples?

just curious on the pair. Mated opairs are expensive, trying to pair them can be hit or miss. If they dont get along it came be brutal on hte smaller males.
Various clowns have hosted in Sarcophyton leathers, bubbles, anchors, frogspawns, again its hit and miss

------------------
I thought I was me, but we were wrong
email: geeflipr@internetcds.com

[digitalfish]

I think the reason that maroon clowns are expensive in mated pairs is because they are different from other clowns in that they aren't sexually di-morphic, they get stuck with what they were born with . I haven't got the Joyce Wilkerson book to hand (but I can heartily recommend it if you're looking at clownfish), but I'm positive that's the case.

Regarding the anenome - as geedoug said - a whole bag of snakes - if by a long tentacled anenome you mean the atlantic or condy ones - they are meant to be hardier than the average anenome, but as they are not clownfish hosting ones in the wild, the chances of it being accepted anyway are not worth the risk if all you want it for is to go with the fish.
If you want it for it's own sake, well that's another thread I think....

(Plus, the two tomato clowns I have are a little partial to one of my powerheads, so even if I wanted I doubt they'd move )