Couple questions from a new aquarist

[krux]

Hello all.
Just spent an hour or so looking over this board.... and there seems to be a lot of valuable information present.
I bought a 30 gallon saltwater fowlr setup last week and have read everything I can find from my lfs, as well as on this page and a couple others in an attempt to make sure that my first try is sucessful. Having had many freshwater tanks, I have some familiarity for many of these topics but I'm always looking for more. now for the questions:
#1 most of my other hobbies have had sites set up where people can exchange and sell used equipment. It has been a great place to see not only what is available, but also occasionally find something nice that isn't carried in your area. does anyone know about such a site for this community?
#2 does anyone have any links to sites that have some stocking suggestions by volume? I have seen in a couple posts that in a 30g tank you want to only pick 4 or so fish, but im also interested in lists of compatable fishes that are happy together.... not too aggressive toward each other (i only want happy fish).
#3 does anyone know of a site that has a newbie board so that i can track down all the answers to the questions that i will probably be asking, without making all of you read and answer the same questions for the 400th time.
#4 finally i do plan on moving in about a year, which is why im keeping this tank small. does anyone know of a fish rescue organization that might want to take my fish (there isn't a lfs that takes em back in my area) or that might need me to take someone elses fish when they need to get rid of them for some reason. I can't believe that people would be willing to dispose of their fish... so they have to go somewhere.
Thanks again for listening.... i am enjoying reading all of the messages, and feel free to post or email me with any recommendations for a first time owener of a saltwater tank.

 

[michaeltx]

I am not to sure about #1 and #4 but #2 and #3 you at it LOL this is one opf the better BB that I found while surfing the net and I kinda stayed but people here as you said are very informative..
hope this helps
Michael

 

[jacksonpt]

Originally posted by krux:
#2 does anyone have any links to sites that have some stocking suggestions by volume? I have seen in a couple posts that in a 30g tank you want to only pick 4 or so fish, but im also interested in lists of compatable fishes that are happy together.... not too aggressive toward each other (i only want happy fish).</strong>
If only it were that easy... it depends a lot on the type of fish you have. Larger fish that need lots of room to swim require very large tanks, while small fish that don't do much swimming need a relatively small tank. Large fish that don't swim much might need a smaller tank than a small fish that does quite a bit of swimming. It also depends on how your tank is set up, what kind of bio load it can handle. General rule of thumb is 1 fish per 10 gallons... but depending on the above criteria, sometimes you can get away with 1 fish per 5 gallons.
<strong>
#3 does anyone know of a site that has a newbie board so that i can track down all the answers to the questions that i will probably be asking, without making all of you read and answer the same questions for the 400th time.</strong>
feel free to ask newbie questions here... we're happy to help out. Just do a search for your question before you ask... almost every question asked on these boards (and other boards) has been answered before... it's just a matter of finding the info.
<strong>
#4 finally i do plan on moving in about a year, which is why im keeping this tank small. does anyone know of a fish rescue organization that might want to take my fish (there isn't a lfs that takes em back in my area) or that might need me to take someone elses fish when they need to get rid of them for some reason. I can't believe that people would be willing to dispose of their fish... so they have to go somewhere.</strong>
Can't help you here... sorry.
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[cyn]

The search feature here is great! You just type in what you are interested in and it may take a while, but it spits out the posts that are related to what you put in. I used this feature alot in the beginning and even now when I have a question. That is why I do not post much, I find the answers via the search. If I am unable to get the answers by search, then I post my silly questions. HTH,
cyn