Beginner At Saltwater!!!!!!!!!!!

[swimrnum1]

HI,
I have just gotten into the salt water fish craze. I have been researching for about two weeks now. I had freshwater fish for about 1 1/2 - 2 years. i have about a 35 gallon tank the dimensions are 18'' deep 24.5'' side to side and about 17'' back to front. The tank is in a half octagon shape. I know that this hobby is very expensive. My tank has an underground filter, and a uv light, i know i am going to have to buy an additional filter . By just browsing i have noticed that i am leaning towards these fish:
coral beauty
true percula clown
black percula clown
royal gramma
cardinal????
tang????
butterflies???
some kind of starfish??
i would definetely like to have the clowns in there please someone tell me what if any of these fish would be compatible together or able to fit in my tank
i would just like to have a few coral and rocks in my tank
Please offer any help possible
thank you

 

[dedwards]

Personally I wouldn't use the undergravel filters. They trap waste and cause many issues. A good sandbed and plenty of Live Rock will be a lot better. I'm not familar with many SW fish but you can't generally mix species of clown fish or they will fight. Tangs are out of the question because they get too large for a 35g tank and need a lot of swimming space. That's all that I know about. Others might be able to help you with other fish.

 

[dacia]

For your clownfish, I think that it would be best to either get 2 perculas or 2 black perculas rather than 1 of each. They might fight each other if you get one of each.
Are you planning on having corals? If not, I would get a chocolate chip starfish. They are easy to keep and fun to watch in fish only tanks. However they do eat corals. If you want corals, I would recommend a brittlestar or a serpent starfish. Most others such as linckias and generals need more space than your tank has.
If you do want to have corals, then you should have at least 1 pound of live rock per gallon. In fish only tanks, you don't need to have that many.
Also, you will definitely need to get a different filter, and possibly a protein skimmer. Wet/dry filters are useful without the bio-balls that can keep your nitrates high. I have an HOB filter for carbon and a phosphate sponge along with a protein skimmer on my 30 gallon reef. UGFs are useless in SW tanks. They trap detritus and are havens for nitrates, phosphates, etc.
I would also suggest getting a sand bed. You can start out with Southdown playsand from Home Depot and seed it with your live rock. Sand beds are excellent for filtration and can harbor lots of great stuff such as snails, pods, and conchs.
What I would do is put sand in the tank, then add saltwater. After the sand settles (can take a week or so) set up your filter, skimmer, heater, powerheads, and light system. Then add your live rock. Now you can cycle the tank (and you can do so using the rock and NO FISH). Test the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels daily until the cycle is complete. When it is, then add your cleaner crew (snails, starfish, conch, crabs, etc). After about a week or 2, add fish SLOWLY. If your lights are adequate, you should be able to start adding corals a couple of weeks after that. Be sure to go SLOW with lots of patience and test your water all the time. During the cycle, your pH will be out of whack and algae will grow, but once the cycle is complete and your cleaners have been added, the pH should stay around 8.2 and your algae will go away.
Good luck and welcome to the board! :happyfish

 

[gilpil]

Also the general rule is 1 inch of fish per gallon. So you will want to look at the adult sizes and figure out what kind of fish you can have that way also. This will give you about 7 inches of fish to stock with.

 

[saltynewbie]

swimrnum1-
first, the tang and the butterflies will get too large for your tank, and the coral beauty will need more swimming room to be happy.
second, let me suggest an excellent book for beginners.. its called The Conscientious Marine Aquarist by Robert M. Fenner. i would definately check this book out if you are considering starting a saltwater tank. it will answer alot of questions you have! and by all means continue to ask questions, research, and learn as much as you can. good luck!

 

[pontius]

Originally posted by SaltyNewbie
swimrnum1-
first, the tang and the butterflies will get too large for your tank, and the coral beauty will need more swimming room to be happy.
second, let me suggest an excellent book for beginners.. its called The Conscientious Marine Aquarist by Robert M. Fenner. i would definately check this book out if you are considering starting a saltwater tank. it will answer alot of questions you have! and by all means continue to ask questions, research, and learn as much as you can. good luck!
I agree with everything there. plus, the gramma may be too territorial in a tank that size if put with more peaceful fish. I would recommend a pair of perc clowns and a pair of bangaii cardinals and assorted molting inverts (shrimp and crabs). the tangs and butterflies are definitely out of the question. there probably ARE some dwarf angels that could work, don't know. I know my coral beauty likes a lot of room. possibly a pygmy angel, but i've read they are pretty territorial too.

 

[swimrnum1]

thanks for all of your help. im definetely going to have to keep researching. Dacia what would you recommend on the clownfish 2 of each kind?
and could someone please explain what Cycling is?
thanks

 

[greatfullreefer]

Originally posted by Gilpil
Also the general rule is 1 inch of fish per gallon.

This would be a freshwater equasion, utilizing it in a salt water tank you would be waaaay overstocked.

 

[dacia]

I have a 20 gallon tank with 2 percula clowns (Nemo and Marlin, of course...I thought naming one CORAL would be a death sentence

)
You could get a pair of black and white perculas, although they are a bit more expensive than the orange and white ones.
Just make sure that which ever you choose, you get both at the same time. Sometimes clownfish of the same species will fight if you add them to the tank at different times.
As far as which color you choose, it's up to you. Both are hardy and both are fun to watch.
"Cycling" is basically bacteria in your tank carrying out the Nitrogen Cycle. It starts off with ammonia in the tank (possibly from brand new live rock, dead cocktail shrimp, pure household ammonia, or a poor little damsel fish's poop if you are a sadist). Bacteria will "eat" the ammonia and convert it to nitrite. More bacteria will convert this to nitrate. Cycling a tank represents the time it takes for your new system to cultivate enough of each kind of bacteria to deal wtih ammonia and nitrite which will naturally occur when you add livestock. Cycled tanks have no ammonia or nitrite and will have as little nitrate as possible. These are all toxic to fish and corals. Plants and algae feed on nitrate. This is a very basic description. If you search on this website you will find much more info concerning cycling. I also hope that you will not cycle a tank using a poor defenseless fish! It would be like pouring toxic waste into a person's lungs since all that toxic ammonia would be going through the fish's gills!

 

[dacia]

Oh yeah...and for saltwater, the general rule is actually more like 1 inch of fish per 5-6 gallons. That is not an absolute, but it is easy to go by if you have little experience to know when to stop buying fish.
1 inch per 1 gallon is what I use in my goldfish tanks, never heard of it working in SW tanks.

 

[lefty]

Originally posted by Dacia
Oh yeah...and for saltwater, the general rule is actually more like 1 inch of fish per 5-6 gallons. That is not an absolute, but it is easy to go by if you have little experience to know when to stop buying fish.
1 inch per 1 gallon is what I use in my goldfish tanks, never heard of it working in SW tanks.
The goldfish tank I saw at ***** the other day was awful. They had a 55g literally packed with goldfish. They had almost no room to swim around in.

 

[swimrnum1]

based on results i have gotten from other threads this is probably what im going to go with:
black percula clown
true orange percula clown
royal gramma
cardinal fish or pygmy angel
chocolate chip star??????
im not goin to get live coral but maybe some live rock and i will get some fake coral that some guy recommended at my lfs
what do you think