Small tank

[fishnewb]

Im new to salt water tanks/fish i am interested in getting a few fish i dont want anything big only like 3 fish such as porcupine puffer, Purple Pseudochromis,Cleaner Shrimp, can these fish be together?? What will i need? I want a small tank. I dont have very much money or a lot of room. How much am i looking to spend?? If properly taken care of how long with these fish live?

 

[yimmy]

Welcome to the boards & hobby!
I'm 14 and I'll tell you it's not the cheapest hobby. The Porcupine puffer is an awesome fish but will get huge. As juviniles they will need at least a 125gal and will eventually need a bigger tank. The bigger the tank the easier it is. The bigger the tank the less the problems spread, the smaller the tank the quicker. With big tanks you don't need to do waterchanges as much as you would with a small tank where you would be doing small weakly changes. There are 3 main types of tanks:
Reef Tanks-have corals & anemones but require special lighting, a lot of water movement, and certain fish such as triggers, puffers,buttefly fish, most angels, and lions will eat the coral.
FOWLR ( Fish Only With Live Rock)-This tank needs less filtration and consists of peaceful community fish
Aggresive/Predator Tank- In these there are puffers, lion fish,eels,triggers, and many aggresive fish. They will eat shrimp and all other small fish
Many companies sell setups which are called nano cubes (check out the nanocube forum) and they have everything you need except a heater (runs for like 20$) the sand, live rock and your fish. A 24gallon tank would be the size I would look at if you have room and it's nice and small. It will cost like 250$ and will come to be about 350$-400$ after you put in rock and water. For that sized tank I would do weekly waterchanges of 5gallons and more when you test the water and it's dirty. Total it will be 1-2hrs a week depending on your fish and special needs. Many of these fish vary in how long they live. Fish which are breed in tanks are hardier and live longer, fish from the ocean get a bit more stressed because they need to get used to captivity. Fish can sometimes live 10years. In a 24gallon tank I would get Live Sand, 20-30lbs of LR "Live Rock". You could have a few small fish and a cleaner shrimp. You could go with 2 clown fish, a purple psuedochromis and a cleaner shrimp. You could also get a buch of corals in there to. Welcome to the hobby & feel free to ask more questions.
Yimmy

 

[mopar9012]

i would say 29 gallons is good for starting and you dont want something too big... i have no idea about the fish though. but i can tell you that when you first start out a tank you need to wait a while before you add fish. my LFS store told me to come back in a couple of days for a fish after i added salt, the fish i got soon died.

 

[ophiura]

A porcupine puffer needs a very large tank, IMO and is not compatible with the purple pseudo and, depending on the personality of the puffer, it may make a meal of the shrimp.
I am afraid that this is an "expensive" hobby and there are few ways to really cut costs. You need to come up with a budget for what you can afford first. That is really very very important, also keeping in mind taht it is a long term expense. You must do water changes and that costs money, as does food. Unlike freshwater fish, they are not flake food fish for the most part.
If you would settle for a smaller type of puffer such as a valentini, you might be able to get away with something like a 30g, IMO. Check the newspapers and local reef clubs for used equipment, which is the best way to save $$.

 

[fishnewb]

"You could go with 2 clown fish, a purple psuedochromis and a cleaner shrimp" That sounds good. So im looking at like 400 bucks. So im looking at around 400? Well i guess i gotta start saving cause i have about 200 right now. Can someone list everything i would need for a 24 gallon. Please and thank you

 

[yimmy]

For a 24gallon nano this is what I would do
You'll need the nano cube which will include lights and filtration, you might need a heater if it doesn't include one
You'll need at least 15lbs of LR to start
25gallons of SW
Live Sand or CC "crushed coral"
and water
The set up will be 300$ but depending on your fish & everything it will be 400$. It will cost a few bucks a week for water and food but nothing major. My 95gal FOWLR costs me 10-15 a week. Good Luck, just remember to reseach because that will help you out the most.

 

[fishnewb]

i gave away a very large tank a while back and now i regret it. it was atleast 75 gallons. Yes i said gave away...

 

[fishnewb]

How many fish can a 10 gallon have..

 

[ophiura]

Well, it depends on the fish, but realistically maybe 1 small fish.

 

[fishnewb]

Are Marineland BIO-Wheel Aquarium Kits (These aquarium kits feature superior 3-stage filtration, reliable performance and easy-care convenience. Each kit features a patented BIO-Wheel biofilter that removes toxic ammonia and nitrite. The 10-gallon kit includes a tilt-up safety hood; the 20- and 29-gallon kits feature daylight fluorescent lighting. Each Marineland BIO-Wheel Kit includes a scratch-resistant glass tank, aquarium heater, filter system, water conditioner, flake food and fish keeping guide.) 29 gallon is 130 is that an ok price?

 

[fishnewb]

anyone no if thats a good price or not???

 

[yimmy]

I think thats a pretty good price. It's still going to come to be around 300then when you get all your rock and fish. Are you doing a reef tank or a fish only?

 

[chipmaker]

I dont think that price is too good, but then its going to be different in different areas. A 12 gal setup, around here in the lfs is less than $90 and they currently have the large 25 or is it a 29 gal model for $150 which includes everyting you need, right down to some sand and live rock heater, hydrometer and a few other goodies.......Oh, and on the 12 gl sized tnaks, they will substitute free of charge a 10 gal AGA tank in its place if you prefer an all glass tank.....I think they charge $10 more if you want a AGA tank on the larger setup. This is the Eclipse system your talking about right.I have problems with remembering who makes what and all of the associated names with a major company anymore.......