Originally Posted by
CpeshalElimpix
I just purchased a 24 gallon tank at a local aquarium shop and set up about 12 pounds of live rock and i have live sand. I just introduced a damsel to my tank and he seems to be doing well. I am just curious what kind of fish i should aim towards from somebody who is more experienced at this than i am. I wanted the Hawaiian spotted puffer due to its size and it says its easy and peacefull. Then i wanted two Percula clownfish and a possible a hippo tang but i wasn't sure exactly how large it would grow. My step dad has a 120 gallon tank but dosn't offer me any help at all. I also wanted a few anemones for the clown fish. Is any of this reasonable? Will any of this work? Any help is appreciated very much, thanks ^^
P.S. When i begin purchasing fish, i will most likely give the damsel back to the shop.
welcome to the boards!
first off, return the damsel asap, it is cruel to the fish becasue when it is in the stressful environment of a cycling tank it ... well.. stesses the fish out... so first things first bring the damsel back to the store and put in a piece of raw shrimp. let the raw shrimp sit in the tank for about 3-4 days and then remove it. the shrimp will prodce ammonia, (same as fish waste will). ammonia is toxic to the fish. the ammonia will allow bacteria and algae to grow in the tank that converts ammonia to nitrite, and then to nitrate. nitrate is the least toxic of the 3 in the nitrate cycle. once this bacteria is established then you can start adding fish. this is called cycling a tank.
next thing, you will want to pick up another 10 lbs of live rock because that is what is necessary for the tank. rule of thumb is 1-2 lbs of live rock per 1 gallon.
the hippo tang is a nono, they will grow to be very large (not to sure but somewhere around a foot) and they are swimming fish so they need at least 6 Ft of swimming space
as for the anemones, i am not a fan of anemones for a few reasons.
-they require mature tanks of at least 6 months
-if they dont like where they are in the tank, they will float around in the tank and sting all your corals along the way
-they require very strong lights which are expensive (but also necessary for many other cool corals)
i dont know anything about the hawiian spotted puffer, maybe someone else can fill you and me in on that
there is my bit of knowledge, welcome to a great hobby