hoopy
New Member
Hi all. I've always been interested in marine aquariums, but have never been able to participate due to a lack of either time or money. Now I can finally take the plunge. I've done some research and reading and talked to the local petstore people and would like some unbiased advice from some experts that are not trying to sell me something.
I'd like to do a reef-tank set up involving live rock, coral, inverts and of course some fish. First, is this too advanced for a beginner? Am I fooling myself in thinking I can do a set-up like this or is it possible for a devoted beginner that gets good advice?
If it's possible, is the following a workable set-up:
About a 75 gallon tank. Large enough to keep the water temp and quality more stable than smaller tanks. I've been warned against doing anything smaller than 55 gallons and anything larger seems like overkill for what I need.
A selection of live-rock, live-sand etc to build the reef and a crew of creepy-crawlies like snails, hermit crabs, etc for the basic reef-keeping chores.
Some varieties of the more hardy corals, sponges and anemones.
The fish population:
1) Any of the clowns. I love the clown/anemone relationship and that to me is the #1 priority in doing this. I'll pick out the strongest variety of anemone I can find and choose a species of clown that's compatible like a bubbletip/tomato clown relationship. If possible perhaps 2 clowns of different varieties, but I'm not sure how that would work since they seem to be more compatible with completely different species rather than with other clowns. So if that's not a good idea I'll settle for the single clown.
2) A single dwarf angel, preferably a lemonpeel or coral beauty.
3) A cleaner wrasse
4) A hifin cardinal
5) A lawnmower blenny
6) Maybe 3 or 4 green chromis since they're happier schooling.
I of course understand that I can't add all that at once and need to introduce things over a period of time, but that's more or less what I hope the finished product would be like. Is that a compatible end result tank or will those fish not get along with each other and the inverts? And more importantly, is that doable or am I just heading for a very expensive disaster?
Any advice will be appreciated.
I'd like to do a reef-tank set up involving live rock, coral, inverts and of course some fish. First, is this too advanced for a beginner? Am I fooling myself in thinking I can do a set-up like this or is it possible for a devoted beginner that gets good advice?
If it's possible, is the following a workable set-up:
About a 75 gallon tank. Large enough to keep the water temp and quality more stable than smaller tanks. I've been warned against doing anything smaller than 55 gallons and anything larger seems like overkill for what I need.
A selection of live-rock, live-sand etc to build the reef and a crew of creepy-crawlies like snails, hermit crabs, etc for the basic reef-keeping chores.
Some varieties of the more hardy corals, sponges and anemones.
The fish population:
1) Any of the clowns. I love the clown/anemone relationship and that to me is the #1 priority in doing this. I'll pick out the strongest variety of anemone I can find and choose a species of clown that's compatible like a bubbletip/tomato clown relationship. If possible perhaps 2 clowns of different varieties, but I'm not sure how that would work since they seem to be more compatible with completely different species rather than with other clowns. So if that's not a good idea I'll settle for the single clown.
2) A single dwarf angel, preferably a lemonpeel or coral beauty.
3) A cleaner wrasse
4) A hifin cardinal
5) A lawnmower blenny
6) Maybe 3 or 4 green chromis since they're happier schooling.
I of course understand that I can't add all that at once and need to introduce things over a period of time, but that's more or less what I hope the finished product would be like. Is that a compatible end result tank or will those fish not get along with each other and the inverts? And more importantly, is that doable or am I just heading for a very expensive disaster?
Any advice will be appreciated.
