new 30 gallon long

[bubbagump]

hi all! Well i am setting up a 30 gallon long. For the fish i would like to get a dwarf fuzzy lion, a tomato clown, a scooter blenny, a hawk of some sort, and a common clown. for filtration i will have an emporer 400, a seaclone skimmer, a power head 175 gph, 25 lbs of live rock at first and will slowly and some more pieces at will. and a dsb consisting of southdown play sand and live sand mix. is the filtration over kill or not enough? Will the fish list work? Could i add another fish?

 

[koiman6]

I think that the fish would be fine but why two clowns? You would have to put them in at the same time but other than that the fish will be fine. Protein skimmer is always a good choice and the emperor is a good filter but why the powerhead? Is it gonna be a fowlr or are you planning to make it a reef? Also if you have 25 lbs. or more of live rock I would cut down on the fish. If you are considering a reef take out the lionfish because they are not good reef canidates and if you want shrimp or crabstake out the hawk because he will make quick work of them.

 

[bubbagump]

well what about only getting one clown and and adding the fish slowly and live rock until i get about 40 lbs of it?

 

[bubbagump]

how do i go about cycling the tank?

 

[koiman6]

well generally you use damsels to cycle your tank. When my tank was cycled i removed them and returned them to the lfs. Not every store has a return policy but you could also try to cycle the tank with clownfish. It is risky and you may lose it but it is a 50/50 chance best bet is with the damsel. I f you want to keep the damsel you could buy chromis because they are peaceful damsels but they are schooling so you would probably need 3.

 

[tvan]

Buy some fish food or frozen brine shrimp add to the tank and wait the cycle will start. Please don't use live animals. The food or shrimp you you will use anyway. Thats how I started the cycle on my 265g. HTH Tom

 

[bubbagump]

well i finally got my tank today!!!! waiting for my dad to finish the stand. we are about 3/4's of the way finished. nest week i plan on getting some live rock ect and i am going to order my filters ect. tommorow

 

[bubbagump]

so what do i do concerning a clean up crew? i think i am going to get a spotted hawk. the spotted hawks at my lfs are kept with hermits and snails and don't seem to bother them at all.

 

[ckkihei]

Please, please, please before you spend any time deciding on fish take your time and learn about cycling your tank and then learn as much as you can about managing water quality. I too have a 55ga setup and waited for 2 months before slowly adding my fish. Patience is the key to success. By all means research and learn about fish compatibility before you begin stocking, but IMO try to focus on water management first.