New to Saltwater

[kopczynski]

I have had success with many freshwater tanks so I have decided to take the plunge into saltwater. I bought a 60 gallon tank and a fluval 306 canister filter. I am planning on doing a fish only tank with live rock and sand. I will probably buy a power head/ circulation pump to help with the current. I am planning on stocking the tank with
1 lemonpeel angel 1 yellow eye tang 1 pearlscale butterflyfish 3 four striped damsels 2 firefish 2 ocellaris clowns 1 bicolor dottyback 1 brittle sea star fancy and 1 six line wrasse. I would obviously not add these all at once and the lemonpeel would be last. Any thoughts or suggestions to help me get into saltwater fish would be great.

 

[shista]

This seems a little overcrowded.. I honestly would take the damsels out because they are pretty aggressive, especially the striped. And in my experience dottybacks and royal grammas always pick on firefish because their colors are similar, but you can take the chance and be successful with them too

 

[kopczynski]

Im new as i said before but is the ratio of inches per fish 1 to 1 like it is in freshwater tanks because if it is different i might consider taking out the dottyback to prevent any future problems. thanks for the help.

 

[tonysi]

Ya salt water is different than fresh, the whole inch to a gallon doesn't apply. The butterfly and tang need plenty of room to swim around, a 60 gallon isn't gonna cut it for them when they get some size to em.

 

[kopczynski]

Okay, other than removing some of the fish is there any thing equipment wise i need to get the tank going other than a filter heater and circulation pump? Thanks for all the help.

 

[tonysi]

No prob. A skimmer would help as well. But filtration is the biggest obstacle in marine tanks, you want a filtration system that would be total overkill on a fresh water tank of the same size.

 

[kopczynski]

Okay I'll probably boost the filtration and is a circulation pump that does 1150 gph ok or should I get a more powerful one?

 

[tonysi]

A couple of 1150 should be ok. You just want no dead spots where junk can build up.

 

[kopczynski]

If I was to replace the 3 four striped damsels with 3 yellow tailed damsels is that a better option?

 

[kopczynski]

I am also thinking of taking out the fire fish and the dottyback to prevent it from being over crowded. Thanks again for all your help.

 

[silverado61]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kopczynski http:///t/397262/new-to-saltwater#post_3540536
If I was to replace the 3 four striped damsels with 3 yellow tailed damsels is that a better option?
Damsels as a rule are very territorial against any other fish no matter what size. I've heard of a couple people on here that have been bitten to the point of drawing blood.

 

[tonysi]

All damsels are pitas and so called "evil" but yellow tail are the friendliest I guess you can say. Just a lil warning about the damsels, you will most definitely have to take every last rock out of the tank and then spend about 30 mins or so in catching it to take it out of your tank if problems arise.

 

[kopczynski]

OK thanks the only reason I has the damselfish was to cycle the tank for the first week and a half or so

 

[bang guy]

Just fyi - the fish food you are feeding your Damsels will cycle your tank exactly as efficiently as the Damsels. The food is just easier to control.

 

[kopczynski]

Does that mean you don't necessarily need the fish to cycle it? I have cycled tanks in the past and I always have used one or two fish.

 

[bang guy]

No, you do not need the fish. You only need the ammonia that the fish produce. A pinch of fish food every day will produce the exact same amount of ammonia.

 

[kopczynski]

That is great to know. Do you have a color full suggestion that is semi aggressive that could replace them?

 

[kopczynski]

I changed the stock list a little can anyone let me know if there are any problems with it?
1 lemon peel angel
1 yellow eye tang
1 pearlscale butterflyfish
1 six line wrasse
1 brittle sea star
2 ocellaris clowns
2 bicolor dottybacks
1 green mandarin
Have you had any problems with the mandarin because it says moderate care, and does it need a reef because I am doing FOWLR.

 

[bang guy]

It's your tank so I'll not fault you if you disagree but these are my opinions:

I believe you will have a low probability of success with the Pearlscale Butterflyfish and Green Mandarinfish.

 

[bang guy]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kopczynski http:///t/397262/new-to-saltwater#post_3540568
That is great to know. Do you have a color full suggestion that is semi aggressive that could replace them?

Cycle your tank completely and let it mature a few weeks once cycled while still ghost feeding. After that add the Ocellaris pair.