Beginners Questions

[Fish121]

Any help/advice is appreciated.

I have an older 10gallon aquarium from a freshwater setup i had about 5 years ago and am really trying to get into saltwater.

1. What is the chance of running a successful 1 clownfish only aquarium with maybe a cleaner shrimp added later. I would cycle it for months before adding any of the fish. (Reason i dont want to start with a bigger tank is to make sure i enjoy the hobby as i would more than likely upgrade to a 20 gallon by the end of the year).

2. I have heard many many many things about lighting. Has anyone had experience growing the simplest coral or anemone with a light under $100?

 

[lmforbis]

I wouldn’t wait to upgrade. A 20 isn’t very expensive (probably the cheapest thing in the set up) and will make the likelihood of success much greater. Use the 10 gallon with a sponge filter and some PVS pipe as a quarantine tank. You want to quarantine the fish for 30 days prior to adding it to the tank. It seems most fish nowadays are coming from contaminated systems. You can’t treat the diseases in the display tank. Best to start wit QT and treat what ever pops up prior to adding it to the display tank. Most fish diseases are parasites that can be treated easily in the correct environment. If the parasite gets into your display it takes ~10weeks for it to die off in a fishless tank.

1. A single clown would work well. You will likely need more than a month to cycle, 6 weeks is more realistic. The cycle is done when the water chemistry says it is.

I have grown corals under the Chinese black box lights. Google Mars aqua led. They are around $100 depending on the seller. They are powerful lights and you’d need to hang them high initially and gradually lower them. I’ve grown hammer coral, Duncan coral, star polyps, zoanthids, etc under them.