Best Starter Fish?
- Thread starter phxjosh
- Start date
U
usirchchris
Guest
Originally Posted by PhxJosh
http:///forum/post/2889814
Don't clowns need coral or something to live in? I am doing a FOWLR setup, no corals yet, brand new setup.
No, they are fine without a host.
http:///forum/post/2889814
Don't clowns need coral or something to live in? I am doing a FOWLR setup, no corals yet, brand new setup.
No, they are fine without a host.
phxjosh
Member
Thanks, I think I will start with a clown fish, should I get a male or female or does it not matter? I might want to get a pair to mate eventually, not sure yet though.
Should I be buying any sort of inverts? The LFS reccomended a clam every 2 weeks after I cycle to feed the inverts, but do I need to buy inverts like snails and shrimp, or do those come from the live rock I have?
Should I be buying any sort of inverts? The LFS reccomended a clam every 2 weeks after I cycle to feed the inverts, but do I need to buy inverts like snails and shrimp, or do those come from the live rock I have?
chasar
Member
What size tank is it. You will definately need to add a CUC, clean up crew, of snails and crabs and such. Are there any fish that you know that you are wanting down the road? Will your tank be a community tank, or aggresive. Clowns are a good place to start, and if you plan on two, get two now. It will make it easier down the road, but if your tank is only a ten gallon you can only add one. If you have a large tank and plan on aggresive fish, then the clown will be lunch.
phxjosh
Member
Originally Posted by chasar
http:///forum/post/2889913
What size tank is it. You will definately need to add a CUC, clean up crew, of snails and crabs and such. Are there any fish that you know that you are wanting down the road? Will your tank be a community tank, or aggresive. Clowns are a good place to start, and if you plan on two, get two now. It will make it easier down the road, but if your tank is only a ten gallon you can only add one. If you have a large tank and plan on aggresive fish, then the clown will be lunch.
I will be using a 55g tank. When do I add the clean up crew, after the cycle or during? Before I add fish?
I am going to start with a single clown fish, and go from there. I am planning a peaceful community tank. Can I start a tank with two clowns, or would that be too much for the tank?
I only plan on having 5-8 fish, depending on what I get.
http:///forum/post/2889913
What size tank is it. You will definately need to add a CUC, clean up crew, of snails and crabs and such. Are there any fish that you know that you are wanting down the road? Will your tank be a community tank, or aggresive. Clowns are a good place to start, and if you plan on two, get two now. It will make it easier down the road, but if your tank is only a ten gallon you can only add one. If you have a large tank and plan on aggresive fish, then the clown will be lunch.
I will be using a 55g tank. When do I add the clean up crew, after the cycle or during? Before I add fish?
I am going to start with a single clown fish, and go from there. I am planning a peaceful community tank. Can I start a tank with two clowns, or would that be too much for the tank?
I only plan on having 5-8 fish, depending on what I get.
chasar
Member
Add the clean up crew after the cycle and before the fish. After a week or so of the CUC in the tank you can add your fish. Two clowns will be fine to start your tank with. The reason I suggest adding two is then you can get two small clowns at the same time. Too often people are adding a clown to a tank with one established clown in it already and they have problems. If you add two females, they can fight til death. If you start by adding two small clowns now, they will establish dominancy and should live happily together. IMO
girlina4x4
Member
Clowns usually start as males while they are juveniles. As they mature, the dominant one will become larger and female. I would guess when you buy them from a store, you are getting juveniles. If you get them from an established tank, they may be a male/female pair already. I also wanted to add, dont get talked into buying an anenome unless you have very strong (ie metal halide) lighting. They need lots of light to flourish. Clowns do not need one to thrive though...
cal559
Member
What kind of lighting you gonna have? Under pc lighting you can keep frogspawns and SOMETIMES clowns will host that coral instead of a anemone...
Oh yeah when you buy your clowns make sure one is a little smaller or bigger then the other one, this way the whole pairing up sequence will happen a little faster...
Oh yeah when you buy your clowns make sure one is a little smaller or bigger then the other one, this way the whole pairing up sequence will happen a little faster...
sk8fergy
Member
I would definitely put a firefish goby in there as well. Its my only fish right now but hes definitely alot of fun. Very active and curious and loves to eat. I fed him 2 minutes after intoducing him to my tank and he went nuts. Just wait and research all the fish you like and go from there. Im also cycling a 55 right now so good luck.
phxjosh
Member
Those fish are cool looking, I might need to add one or two of those down the line. I told my girlfriend we are getting clownfish to start with, and she had a blank stare like WTF are clownfish, but once I told her its the nemo fish, she got excited haha.
So a pair of clownfish after the cycle, then how long do I wait before adding more fish? I am getting a CUC before the clowns, do I need to add more CUC after I add the fish?
So a pair of clownfish after the cycle, then how long do I wait before adding more fish? I am getting a CUC before the clowns, do I need to add more CUC after I add the fish?
sk8fergy
Member
I would wait like 3weeks. Thats why i only have one fish. lol. Im not sure what youll need for cuc but my 29 has like 12 blue and scarlet leg hermits, 2 snails, 1 star, 1 urchin, 1 electric blue hermit, 1 emerald crab, 1 hawaii strawberry crab. It needs more snails but i really dislike snails. I will prob double or triple that crew for my 55 when its cycled. I slowly added my cuc and havent had a problem.
shrimpi
Active Member
finish your cycle.
then add a crab. if it lives after a week, add another crab.
After a few weeks of no crab deaths you can add a fish.
Its essentially a trial and error and 'hurry up and wait' thing when starting a new tank.
Clownfish are pretty hardy, and they should be fine.
Dont get damsels.. even if the lfs recommends them. They are devils... of course you cant even kill them with a bucket of bleach... but they are the devil in disguise! mean little buggers and youll never be able to catch them.
Good Luck
Jess
then add a crab. if it lives after a week, add another crab.
After a few weeks of no crab deaths you can add a fish.
Its essentially a trial and error and 'hurry up and wait' thing when starting a new tank.
Clownfish are pretty hardy, and they should be fine.
Dont get damsels.. even if the lfs recommends them. They are devils... of course you cant even kill them with a bucket of bleach... but they are the devil in disguise! mean little buggers and youll never be able to catch them.
Good Luck
Jess
phxjosh
Member
I am planning on using turbo and other snails, maybe 1-2 hermit crabs, a sand sifting starfish, and maybe down the line a shrimp or two.
I plan on setting up my tank this weekend, hopefully I can find some cheap powerheads so I don't need to order them online, I want the koralia 2;s.
I plan on setting up my tank this weekend, hopefully I can find some cheap powerheads so I don't need to order them online, I want the koralia 2;s.
pete159
Member
sand sifting star fish are a big waste, forget about it.
if you want sand sifting add a bullet goby.
Also you can add as many fish as you want , right away, depending on how strong your bio filter is.
if you had a high ammonia reading during the cycle then you will have a powerful bio filter.
if you want sand sifting add a bullet goby.
Also you can add as many fish as you want , right away, depending on how strong your bio filter is.
if you had a high ammonia reading during the cycle then you will have a powerful bio filter.
phxjosh
Member
Originally Posted by pete159
http:///forum/post/2891778
sand sifting star fish are a big waste, forget about it.
if you want sand sifting add a bullet goby.
Also you can add as many fish as you want , right away, depending on how strong your bio filter is.
if you had a high ammonia reading during the cycle then you will have a powerful bio filter.
Why would most guides say to only add one fish per month then?
http:///forum/post/2891778
sand sifting star fish are a big waste, forget about it.
if you want sand sifting add a bullet goby.
Also you can add as many fish as you want , right away, depending on how strong your bio filter is.
if you had a high ammonia reading during the cycle then you will have a powerful bio filter.
Why would most guides say to only add one fish per month then?
oceansidefish
Active Member
If you want a pair of clownfish add them together. After that add about one additional fish per month. Reasoning is you don't want to overload you bioload all at once. Most fish you can only really keep one of so thats where the general rule comes from. However it really has more to do with water volume etc. In a 55 though 1 per month other than the clownfish is a good thing to stick to. Also firefish really don't necessarily do well in pairs. I would only add one.
You may want to think about a hawkfish and maybe a candy hog. You could also add a wrasse. That would make for a nice community tank.
You may want to think about a hawkfish and maybe a candy hog. You could also add a wrasse. That would make for a nice community tank.