What Fish are good for beginers?

[blackaero1]

I know I can look at many different websites taht tell me if a fish is easy or not to have or a min tank size for said fish but I want to hear from people that actually have SW tanks. I say this becuase one site may say the fish is a great easy to care for fish while another will say its a little harder to take care of.
I have a 75g tank with sand for the substrate, some rocks, nothing too fancy and no LR. I curently have 2 damsels ad a clown in teh tank and would like to add some more obviously but with my lack of experioence I don't want to atart adding fish only to find out they won't coesist together or are too hard for a beginer to keep. I would like to add a lawnmower blenny, scooter blenny, a colorful tang if possible, maybe a snowflake eel, yellow watchman, a butterfly if possible, a small trigger and another I think I saw that I liked was called a longhorn cow fish. Granted this list is mainly of types of fish I like and I understand taht I can't put them al into a single 75g tank so I'm asking for assistance from anyone wiling to answer. What would be a decent stock list for a 75g tank for a newb (yep, I admit to being a newb when it comes to sw tanks)? My PH is right at 8.0, amm, trites and trates are all at 0. I do regular water changes with about 14 gallons each time. Snails so far have been a mystery for me as I cannot keep them alive. I have 2 in teh tank now that I haven't been able to check on as I've been at work but in teh past tehy would die in a couple of hours. I was using tap water but am now using a RO/DI unit

for all my water changes. I did add Culpisorb to the filter in an attemppt to clean out any copper from when I used the tap water to fill the tank. However snails are not a necessity if there are fish options to control the algae growth.
Sorry for the long winded message, I just want to get this stuff right as early as possible.

 

[reefkprz]

well a step in the right direction would be to get Live rock about 90lbs of it. I know this sounds daunting, but if you want to do it right you will need 1lb to a pound and a half per gallon. buy it slowly if you have to. its the main filtration for marine tanks.

 

[blackaero1]

I understand that LR is a very good thing, but my budget just can't afford it right now. I have added some rock for the fish to swim around but is LR so high on the list that I should get it before adding any more fish? While I enjoy my tank, I would love to have a little more life in it without having to take out a second

[hr]
on my house.

 

[payton 350]

yes live rock has made this hobby successfully easier....take a look into making your own live rock.....and then all you need to do is get a few pieces of actual live rock and seed the new rock.....you could do all this for under a 100

 

[blackaero1]

Originally Posted by Payton 350
yes live rock has made this hobby successfully easier....take a look into making your own live rock.....and then all you need to do is get a few pieces of actual live rock and seed the new rock.....you could do all this for under a 100
Okay, not to sound to much like an idiot here, (like I said, I'm new at the SW thing) but where would I even look to find out bout making my own LR? I have heard that adding LR on top of base rock will allow the base rock to essentially become LR but is that just how simple it is? When you say seed the new rock is that how its done?

 

[xdave]

There is nothing wrong with having a fish only tank. Live rock is a filtration option not a nesseccity. There are many other effective types of filtration. A good canister filter combined with a protein skimmer is effective if properly maintained.
to answer your question, heres a thread on easy fish Easy fish

 

[blackaero1]

Thanks, I do have a canister filter in use, but no protien skimmer. Yet another future purchase. Thanks for the link I'll take a look at it.

 

[teresaq]

look in archives or do a search for diy live rock on this site.. I made 50 lbs for about 30 bucks. looks great, and once its settled you cant tell the differance.

 

[blackaero1]

Okay, I think I've narrowed my list down to a few fish for now. :happyfish I can't imagine buyng more than 3 fish at a time so plese help me decied which 3 would be best to start off with. :notsure:
Longnose Butterfly
Lawnmower Blenny
Yellow Watchman
Sailfin Tang
Humu Humu (Picasso Trigger)
As already stated I'm new to this so any help in choosing the best 3 to add to a tank with 2 damsels and a clown would be greatly appreciated. Also, if my choices are bad ones pease let me know that as well.

 

[sepulatian]

In a 75 the sailfin is out of the question. If the tank is new and you have no rock I would stay away from the butterfly as well. Do you at least have some fake decorations in there so the fish feel comfortable? Damsels are territorial and are likely to harass whatever you put in there. The Triggers are nice but can be aggressive if you get anything small like the whatchman or blenny. Any other fish you like? Sorry to be a killjoy.

 

[blackaero1]

Originally Posted by sepulatian
In a 75 the sailfin is out of the question. If the tank is new and you have no rock I would stay away from the butterfly as well. Do you at least have some fake decorations in there so the fish feel comfortable? Damsels are territorial and are likely to harass whatever you put in there. The Triggers are nice but can be aggressive if you get anything small like the whatchman or blenny. Any other fish you like? Sorry to be a killjoy.

Thats okay man, the reason I asked is because I wanted to make sure things would be good BEFORE I purchase any fish. I do have some rocks, none are LR. I have a base rock taht weighs about 20 pounds, some flagstone type of rock that I have used to build a dual cave type feature and also a decoration that is supposed to look like coral. The substrate is sand. Let me look some more for other fish that I like the looks and price of.

 

[sepulatian]

Well the blenny or whatchman would be ok without the trigger. Do you like coral beauties, royal grammas, candy cane gobies? Look for peacefull to semi-agressive fish that don't get too large and don't feed off of the rocks. Fish that adapt easily and will accept prepared foods. Observe the fish at the lfs and ask the worker to feed the fish that you like in front of you to be sure they are eating well. Have you purchased a quarentine tank yet?

 

[blackaero1]

I don't have a QT tank yet but I am considering a couple of options. I have a 30g freshwater I could turn into a QT tank, but its a focal point in one of my hallways, I could also go with a 10g tank as I have a old one in the garage and it could be hidden a little easier, granted I'd have to clean it pretty good before I consider turning it into a QT tank.

 

[nigerbang]

I dont know about a Humu in a 75...Prolly no Butterflies either, Sailfin...Nope
Lawnmowers tend to starve to death in new tanks...Not really sure about much though just adding my thoughts,
How about a dwarf angel, or lionfish...Well..exnay on the Lion..can tend to be troublesome to get them to eat properly and Poison. fish can not really good for begineers

 

[blackaero1]

I also like the Niger trigger as well, just thought the Humu looked nicer. Are there any Tangs that 1) look nice (colorful) and 2) are well suited for beginners with a 75g tank? As far as the Lawnmower goes, I have no problems putting sheet algae in the tank every other day or so if thats what it takes to keep him happy. I also liked the look of the Racoon Butterfly to some degree but if a 75 is too small then I guess that may be out of the question.

 

[nigerbang]

Not that the tank being small is a concern with me about the Bflys, its more a matter of the age of the tank and I have always heard they are somewhat hard to take care of..I am not a big fan of Triggers being in much less the a 100 or bigger..

 

[blackaero1]

Okay, now I'm starting to think the Butterfly might not be the best choice at this time. Man its a beaut though. Anyway does anyone have any advice on a Bangaii Cardinal? Will they mix well with maybe a yellow watchman or a lawnmower blenny or both?

 

[dskrezyna]

Before getting a Tang I'd suggest you get the other fish first. I agree with others that Butterflies and Triggers wouldn't fit well (size/aggression) in your tank. Do you have any interest in clown fish? I didn't see you mention wanting them. They'd be ideal for your tank.

 

[blackaero1]

I already have one clown fish and want a variety of fish. I like unusual looking and colorful fish, probably mostly the same as every other beginner out there.

 

[blackaero1]

Okay, some more options, still thinking of going with the yellow watchman and Lawnmower. Also like:
Coral hogfish
Scooter Blenny (don't really want to get this and the lawnmower at the same time)
Blackcap basslet
Harlequin Bass
Puffer - not sure what kind or if one would even work in my tank.
After reviewing some suggestions here I'm also starting to like these:
Royal Gramma
Coral Beauty
Dang, this list seems to be never ending who'd have ever thought selecting fish could be so complicated. well, I did know this as I have a FW tank, but FW is so much easier.