Interested in starting salt water tank

[darknbaldy]

I am very much interested in starting a salt water tank. How big should it be I think I have a 50 gallong tank available. If you could get back with me to let me know what I need.
For a reference here is what I chose from the site.
2X Percula Clown - Aquacultured $29.98
1X Antenneta Lionfish - Venomous $19.99
1X Orange Linkia Star $17.99
1X Blood Red Fire Shrimp $22.99
1X Premium Live Keys Sand - 20 lbs $59.99
2X Florida Condi Anemone - (NG) $13.44
Sub-Total: $164.38
What do you think? Is this a nice starter tank?What else would I need that you see I don't have?

 

[daniel411]

Welcome to the board and to the hobby.
Have you had fresh or saltwater aquariums before? Look at the book Conscious Marine Aquarist in the dry goods section. Its a great introduction into the hobby. Research and patience are important in this hobby.
-50gallons is a good size to start off with. Allows a bit more flexibility.
-The lionfish as it grows will most likely snak on a percula clown, IMO.
-Linkia Stars are very sensitive, likely to die in home aquariums, and to thrive require a mature system. Roughly, a thriving, healthy, diverse reef with much live rock thats been up for a year without any major changes.
-I've never had a condi anemone, however most anemone's are quite difficult to thrive. I'm not sure but I believe thats a very hardy one.
What else are you planning on having for substrate? 20lbs. isn't very much sand. Unless you're just trying to have a small layer covering the glass. Live rock is always good to add.
What type filtration and lighting are you looking at?
What do you think? Is this a nice starter tank?What else would I need that you see I don't have?

 

[yae4volcom]

First of all, even though I'm not saying it is bad to think ahead or anything, but I would worry more about the tank and what kind of filteration you will want to use on it. Then, ask yourself if you want a Reef tank (corals, shrimps, reef-safe fish) to decide what kind of lighting you will want and what kind of fish you can get.
A 50 gallon sounds like a good size to me.
Livestock:
2x Percula Clowns -Sounds good
Antenneta Lionfish - Im pretty sure they eat smaller fish
1x Orange Linkia star -Hard to keep and die often
1x Blood Fire Shrimp -Easy to keep + cleans fish
2x Florida Condi anemone - Anemones are hard to keep but clowns can host with other things as well.
1xFlorida LS -I think if the tank is empty and you are not using base sand you will need more. What about the LR?

 

[007]

First off Welcome to the world of saltwater fish!
I think that the first thing that you will find is that this hobby is worse than cocaine . . . . it sucks you in and you can't get out!
Thats a good thing though!
For starters, a 50 gallon tank will be just fine for a SW tank. In fact its probably one of the more common sizes. If you got one, use it.
A note on using a used tank: Make sure that it is properly cleaned prior to using it as well as check for any leaks. Tanks that sit for a long time can develop leaks in the silicone.
Now . . . before we get to living things, lets get your tank up and running to prepare for living things.
You will need:
A Tank
Powerheads for water movement
Lots of LR and LS (there are expensive ways and cheap ways to do this part)
High powered lighting (have to go metal halide if you want an anemone)
A sump and/or refuigium
A protein skimmer
A system pump
Now there are a few other essentials along the way, but you will find that out as soon as you begin to investigate these things above.
Now if you only want a fish tank and not a reef tank than you can skip the lighting. Fish don't need high powere lights.
Another note: this hobby is notoriously expensive so be prepared, but I assure you that it is well worth it.

 

[darknbaldy]

Thanks for the insight. I don't know anything about filtration or lighting. What would be good to start with. I don't want anything to expensive because I am trying to get my wife to go along with the idea of this saltwater tank, she had a freshwater tank & all of her fish died off. So, anything that would be good for a beginner that is inexpensive.

 

[daniel411]

To choose the proper filtration and lighting, and not spend a fortune. Look around and decide what kind of tank you want.
If you want to take care of a full blown reef or have anemone's, you're need potentially 2-300 for lights. If you're happy with fish and maybe a few hardy low light corals, than you can easily pick up lights much less.
For filtration there are canister filters, which are great for saving money and learning the hobby. They are notso good for reefs, however for mostly fish only systems they can be fine.
Wet-dry's and/or refugiums can be purchased for around 150-200 and are generally the preferred form of filtration by alot of people.
Theres the natural filtration method of which requires alot of liverock, live sand, adding live stock slowly, possibly less fish than other systems.
Look around, pick up a book, and you're get an idea on what you want.

 

[bang guy]

Welcome!!
I agree with the book. It really should be your first purchase and will save it's value many times over in the future. Saltwater aquariums are expensive to setup correctly and if not done properly will either fail or be even more expensive.
Get the book and read it... your wife too... it might get her hooked on the idea.

 

[fshhub]

the advice so far seems pretty god with one thing that i would like to elaborate on:
the lion, may or may not eat your clowns depending on boththeir sizes, they will eat anything they can fit in their mouh(or die trying to)
now, if your clwons are large there is a possibility that it wont. However, they alos like to eat shrimp and crabs so your shrimp are also in some danger as well.
hth

 

[calvindo]

wanted to say welcome! i guess everyone answered your question already.

 

[don424]

All the replys's you've gotten are right on...........best advice I will extend to you is prepare yourself for a very addictive and sometimes expensive but worth it hobby. I've been very taken by it. If you're not obsessive compulsive now, there is a great chance it will happen to you at some point in this hobby. If you're married...................prepare yourself for some abrasive language from your spouse unless she's sharing in the hobby with you...............(they hate the facat you pay more attention to the tank than them)!
Patience...patience...patience, I can't stress that enough........I know-I been there-done that... and still learning every day. You don't want to know what I've spent on this hobby.
K.I.S.S. it as far as your tank goes. Get the best equipment you can afford upfront for the kind of tank you want to have.
Beware...there is a lot of snake oil in this hobby as far as vendors/manufacturors go. I caught a person last year on forum
board who kept tootin' his horn about how he/she was using a certain product(which I won't name) and how great it was and he/she swore by it. Well, turns out this person was a rep for a major manufacturor of aquatic equipment that is used in a certain kind of tank. When I smoked this jerk out and sent a private email, he/she dropped out of sight from 3 message boards.
But the boards around are great. Talk on them, join a couple of them. EDUCATION is key in this hobby........you can get 10 different opinions on one subject. But that's part of the fun of it. Maybe, as you get experience, you'll come up with an idea or practice that nobody ever thought of or did, and it works. You can share that with all of us and we're(and the fish & corals) are better off.
Keep this in mind.....you are recreating an all natural environment artificially in a closed system. Picture yourself in a 10x10 glass room and that's as far as you can go in any direction. Unless you have everything you need for to satisfy your needs for survival, you won't be very happy or survive very long.
If you can commit to the regular upkeep and maintenance that is necessary for the survival of of your tank inhabitants, and are will to continuously educate yourself, GO FOR IT! It's very rewarding, but if you can't or won't commit now, DON"T DO IT UNTIL YOU CAN. Wait awhile and really think about it. Too many fish & other creatures die because of a hobbiest's non committment. Enough said by me.
Good luck & welcome to an absolutely great hobby!