stocking a 30 gl?

[king of ninx]

hey,
i have a 30gal tank with just one green chromie i have had other fish but had gicen away to friends cause of size. so what would be a good setup? i would like some clown`s and maybe a Anemone or two and a hippo tang. maybe a mooris idol. and as far as the clean up crew i will need some to. if u can help please do . thanx
king

 

[carrie1429]

For a 30 gal you will have to have something a lot samller than a tang or a moorish idol. Tangs will get large and need at least 75 gal. Some smaller fish I would reccommend are royal grammas, gobies (such as firefish), and clownfish are always a good hardy fish. How long has your tank been setup for?

 

[king of ninx]

ok thanx, my tank have been set up since 12-24-02 i will go with some clowns but what about the Anemone yes no? and also a clean up crew? please help if u can

 

[carrie1429]

Your tank is well established enough for an anemone but they require a lot of care, excellent water conditions, intense lighting. What are your water conditions and what kind of lighting do you have? For false or true percs I would reccommend the purple tip sebae anemone. This anemone is fairly hardy and a great host for most clownfish. For a clean up crew you could have turbo/astrea snails, blue/red leg hermits, cleaner shimp, peppermint shrimp, small britlle star or other kind of star. Your supposed to have about 1-2 snails and hermits per gallon but I think around 10-15 of each (snails and hermits) should be fine for a 30 gal IMO.

 

[king of ninx]

my water is ph 8.2
ammonia 0
nitrite not sure
nitrate 0
I'm now using two 250watt 20k MHs for lighting. is that good enough or should i get more or what? and about how many clowns r good for a 30 gal 2or 3 with another fish? or ius that to many. the most fish i had ever had in this tank r two puffer and a tigger for about a month then i had to give it to my friend with a biger tank.

 

[lesleybird]

Hello,
I only have a small tank also due to size of the tiled area in the front entry hall by the bathroom. I just can't see me keeping a fish tank in a carpeted area with me being so messy with the water. Anyway, my favorite is a pygmy flame angel that will only get to three or four inches. She is so beautiful. Other beautiful pygme angels are nice in a small tank but they say you can only keep one pygme angel per small tank as they fight with their own for territory. Another problem in a small tank is that the number of fish you can keep is small if you go by the standard that I have read in a lot of fish books of 2 and 1/2 inches of fish per gallon. You have to account for their full grown size. I love my new scarlet skunk cleaner shrimp as they are so beautiful and don't hide like the peppermint shrimp that I have had. They are a lot more expensive, but worth the extra money. Lesley
Oh yes, in my new 40 gallon stretch hex tank I have a two damsels, one pygme flame angel, a six line wrasse, 10 micro hermits, two scarlet skunk shrimp and 6 turbo snails. I think that is all the life it can safely handle. Lesley

 

[katfish]

500 watts of MH over a 30 gal

[hr]
GEEZ
How many gallons do you lose a week to evaporation?

 

[king of ninx]

not very much

 

[dattong]

two 250w MH over a 30g tank ! You must have placed them 12" or more above the water surface to have "not very much" water loss.
I would keep some small fish like: clown, firefish, sixline, bicolor or midias blenny, fire shrimp and cleaner shrimp. Small fish look adorable in a small tank, especially a small reef tank.

 

[gene52569]

In my 29 gallon, I have=
1 Snowflake eel
1 Yellow tang
1 Brown Powder tang
1 Sand Sifting Starfish
1 Brittle Serpent Starfish
a few Hemit crabs
2 Crown Snails
2 Horseshoe Crabs
2 Dominoe Damsals
2 Three Stripe Damsals
2 Chocklate Starfish
3 hunks of Live Rock
Plants in the background
4 inches of live sand that i took from Florida (out of the water)
1 170 gph power head
I started this tank 6 months ago and I am a newbie. Eveyone seems happy in the tank. My nitrites and Nitrates are 0. I started saltwater 1 year ago with a 3 gallon and have been moving up as I learn. Time to go bigger. All my fish are currently small but they will grow.......
Eugene in Northern Georgia

 

[dattong]

Gene,
OMG you have 7 fish in a 30g and 3 of them gonna get real big later on. I hope you gonna buy a real big tank in the near future to stock the powder, yellow tangs and the snow flake (100g to say the least). They may seem to be happy now because they're small as you said, but I don't think they're doing well in the long run in such a small tank. I hope you're not gonna get flamed!

 

[gene52569]

How big does a Snow Flake eel get????????

 

[dattong]

I've seen one at T&T Aquarium (my LFS) about 4" in diameter and 3-4' long and they've sold it 8 months ago. Most people here on this board would not suggest you to keep tangs in a 30g tank. They need tank from 75g up to have a happy place to roam.