New aquarist

Way to much x out tangs and triggs, no emp a coral beauty will be fine X the damsles there little devils Id get a pair of false percs they do better maybe a goby

Butterflys are not my expertice

WOW.....I'd like to say welcome to SWF BUT I am sad to say that what you have there is very unrealistic

1st...initial cycle could take 4-6 weeks

NO TANGS in a 46 or 55 g tank at all

some of your list have some serious compatibility issues...even your invertebrates are not compatible

I suggest you do some reading on the actual fish themselves...you will also need very good lighting to have some of the corals you listed

I would do more snails and a few hermits

Quote:

Originally Posted by meowzer 

WOW.....I'd like to say welcome to SWF BUT I am sad to say that what you have there is very unrealistic

 

1st...initial cycle could take 4-6 weeks

 

NO TANGS in a 46 or 55 g tank at all

 

some of your list have some serious compatibility issues...even your invertebrates are not compatible

 

I suggest you do some reading on the actual fish themselves...you will also need very good lighting to have some of the corals you listed

 

+1. I think I would recommend reading some books and doing lots of research.

+1 I think you should go to freshwater its easier and for the beginner it doesnt sound like youve even looked up any of those fish

I wasn't sarcastic....and I did try to give you some advice

Sorry about the sarcasim i was in a bad mood i had to get 5 snails to come out of the filter then feed then a snail fliped over and i had to flip it right side up gos i neep a net or egg crate to go on top

Hi,

Welcome to the site...don't give up on us yet.

Still trying to help so here goes.

 a. Fish
 i. Ocellaris Clownfish x1* (wife, daughter, son) GOOD CHOICE
 ii. Yellow Tang x1 (me kinda)  NO..YOUR TANK IS TOO SMALL
 iii. Blue Tang x1* (daughter)    NO..YOUR TANK IS TOO SMALL
 iv. Spotted Cardinalfish x1* (wife) GOOD COICE
 v. Orchid Dottyback x1* (daughter)  GOOD CHOICE
 vi. Blue Velvet Damselfish x1 (me) NO..EVIL FISH THAT WILL DRAW BLOOD WHEN IT BITES YOU
 vii. Domino Damselfish x1 (wife)    NO..EVIL FISH THAT WILL DRAW BLOOD WHEN IT BITES YOU
 viii. Humu Picasso Triggerfish x1 (probably not going to work in the tank) (wife)  NO..YOUR TANK IS TOO SMALL..NOT REEF SAFE
 ix. Spotted Mandarin x1 (wife)  MATURE TANKS ONLY (I YEAR OLD) AND ONLY IF YIOU HAVE A REFUGIUM
 x. Emperor Angelfish x1 (an angelfish of some kind, but what?) (me)  NO..YOUR TANK IS TOO SMALL ..GO FOR A DWARF ANGELFISH INSTEAD REEF SAFE IS IFFY

xi. Copperband Butterflyfish x1 (a butterflyfish of some kind, but what?) (me) GOOD CHOICE..HARD TO GET TO EAT FROZEN FOODS
b. Invertebrates
 i. Fancy Brittle Star x1* (wife) GOOD CHOICE
 ii. Bumble Bee Snail x2 (daughter)  NOT REEF SAFE
  1. Other snails for cleaning (are they needed if there are 2 in there already?)*
 iii. Feather Duster x2 (more or less ?)* (me)  GOOD CHOICE
 iv. Red Flame Scallop x1 (wife, me)  NO..THEY STARVE
 v. Harlequin Shrimp x1 (probably not going to work in the tank) (wife, me)  ???????? I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT THESE
 vi. Shrimp x2 *
  1. Scarlet Skunk Cleaner Shrimp or VERY GOOD CHOICE
  2. Camel Shrimp or  NO
  3. Peppermint Shrimp  VERY GOOD CHOICE
 vii. A hermit crab (is it needed for cleaning what would be left behind after the above cleaners?)  I LIKE TEM BUT THEY ARE MEAN LIITLE CRITTERS TO SNAILS
c. Coral ALL GOOD CHOICES FOR CORAL..YOU WILL NEED VERY GOOD LIGHTS.
 i. Some kind of Brain coral (me)
 ii. Some kind of “tree like” coral* (wife)
 iii. Pulsing Xenia* (me)
 iv. Tongue Coral (daughter)
 v. Daisy Polyps (me)

Hope this helped

I believe harlequin shrimp are the ones that have to be fed LIVE starfish....

Quote:

Originally Posted by spanko 

Hi,

I don't know where you find the cool stuff you post...very helpful, small but great.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by meowzer 

I believe harlequin shrimp are the ones that have to be fed LIVE starfish....

Hi,

Where are you finding the smileys?  Anyway, no wonder I know nothing about them..AAAHHHH

Flower, if you click on it it will open in a new window larger. (does for me anyway.)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flower 

Hi,

 

Where are you finding the smileys?  Anyway, no wonder I know nothing about them..AAAHHHH

On the toolbar...click on the smiley face


 

Quote:

Originally Posted by spanko 

Flower, if you click on it it will open in a new window larger. (does for me anyway.)

YUP...It did for me too

  LOL...I gave up looking there days ago...So I can wave again...

Thanks!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Monsinour 

Hello there everyone.  It is good to see that there is a good source of information out there other than my local saltware fish boards.  I am so new to this hooby that my fingers havent even pruned from being in the water that I dont have yet.  I have been reading the various threads on here and the "what you wish you knew then that you know now" thread is a real eye opener.  I have read up on plenty of online sites and forums and have gathered up advice from the LFS.  But now is the time to procede with the plan.

 

I will have a 46 to 55 gallon cube style tank with a sump/refugium underneath it.  I have no idea really where to go from there.  I have read all that i can on how to start up the tank and whatnot.  I know that patience is a virtue and i am not looking forward to the 1 to 2 weeks of cycling water and live rock in the tank.  I am aware that this wait will only benefit me in the long run.  I have many questions and seek all the advice i can get, even if it is contradictary to what i have heard and read.

 

The most common advice i have read is to make your "pie in the sky" wish list and then start to narrow it down from there in regards to livestock for the aquarium.  So that is what i would like to accomplish with this thread.  I will then ask all of my followup questions and refer back to this thread when needed.  So without further adu, here is the list of inhabitants I would like in the tank.  Items marked with a * indicate "must haves {as long as they dont mess something else up}."  The people in parenthases idicate who wants that item.  This is important for removal purposes as we want to be as fair as possible when removing items from the list.  Like most new hobbists, i am sure this list comprises of an "over stocking" condition, but that is why i am doing this.  I need to know what has to come off the list and why.

 

 

 

 

 

Please post your opinions here even if they are contradicting information elsewhere.  Any information is good information.

Well, you're off to a good start. At the very least, you've researched some.

Now for the bad news: you still have more research to do and some of you *must haves are "can not haves" unless you go bigger, MUCH BIGGER. so let's see if I can help this along based on what you're desired fish are.

Since you stated that you want corals, you need reef safe fish, something Large angels (such as the Emperor you listed) and Triggers are not. Camel shrimp are not reef safe, do not confuse with Peppermint shrimp, they look very similar, but peppermints are reef safe.. Despite what Flower stated, bumble bee snails ARE reef safe, I have many in my tanks. I think they're a great little addition, they can get into places that other, larger snails can not. Tangs are OUT of the question unless you go with a minimum of a 75G, and even this is a huge stretch. I'm an advocate of the "no tang in less than 100G" rule.  A mandarin will be fine down the road, but not right away, don't add one until you're tank is really mature, and you either have to have a refugium OR seed the tank with copepods, even if you get them to eat frozen. Harlequin shrimp need to be fed live, Chocolate Chip Starfish, which are not reef safe. They're cool/beautiful shrimp, but trust me, they're not worth the hassle. Flame scallops usually don't last very long in captivity so don't bother wasting your money, again, a cool invert, but not practicle. They're very difficult to keep and even experienced hobbyists have issues with them. Skip the damsels. They get big and mean and will kill every other fish you have in your tank and then turn on each other. Most butterflies are not reef safe either

So based on your stock list, here's what I'd recommend:

Fish:

2 Ocellaris Clownfish

1 Flame Angelfish OR Coral Beauty Angelfish (you could try a lemonpeel for the yellow color that you're giving up by not having a yellow tang, but they are not considered as reef safe as the other two listed)

1 Mandarin (see notes above)

1 Flasher or Fairy wrasse (one that stays 5" or smaller, I'd recommend the Carpenter's Flasher or the McCosker's)

3x Firefish or 1 Royal Gramma and 1 Blenny (Look into the Midas, they're fun fish)

Inverts:

2 Skunk Cleaner Shrimp

3 small peppermint shrimp

10 nassarius snails

10 Trochus snails

5 bumble bee snails

5 astrea snails

10 hermits (if you dont do hermits, just bump up the snail count)

Brittle starfish x 2

Feather dusters (as many as you'd like)

Corals:

everything you listed is fine. Start with something easy, google Beginner corals.