Help out a Saltwater Noob =]

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T

tohey

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Nov 6, 2008
32
0
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Victoria, Melbourne
Hi,

I've been a longtime reader and have been keeping freshwater fish for a few years now. I have never really posted much before, but now's the time =]

I just recently purchased a 3ftx1.5x1.5, 6mm thick, and 1cm thick base.

I've got a PL light ready at 200Watts at 10,000K.

Planning to fill it with Live Rock and Coral sand as the substrate, and use an Internal Power Filter for water movement to pick up any debris. Power Filter is rated at 1500lph.

I'm just looking for some ideas on what I could stock this tank with?

I'm from Australia, Victoria if that helps at all.

I want a peaceful, or at least, not so aggressive community FOWLR setup.
I'm a noob (for marine tanks) so don't want to get too exotic and expensive as of yet.

Thus I've looked at a few possibilities that I'm interested in so far:

Blue mandarin (Synchiropus splendidus)
Long nose butterfly (Forcipiger flavissimus)
Pacific Sailfin Tang (Zebrasoma veliferum)
Rock Skipper Blenny (Salarias fasciatus)
Tomato Clownfish (Amphiprion Frenatus)

Are these compatible with each other? Are there any other forgiving/hardy (I can't guarantee top water quality as a noob, but I'll try my best) community fish I could get for my setup?

Thanks!
 
Your from Australia so you have a bigger seletion than most of us could only dream about, I dont know how far you are from the great barrier reef but its alot closer than most of us, so I would say you should be able to get some really badass fish for cheap...
 
Hi Addikted2Cichlids,

I'm still a fair distance away from the great barrier reef, unfortunately.

The trouble is knowing which fish I can get.
I have no idea about what to look out for though, compatibility, aggression, requirements etc.

If anybody can at least set me in the right direction or give me some examples of what I could keep that would be great.

Thanks =]
 
Thanks for the link, very handy.

I just couldn't work out what the Blue Mandarin is classified as.

Also Nudibranch, are they compatible?

If I chose the following, can anybody please let me know if I would have any trouble?

Blue Mandarin
Long Nose Butterfly
Rock Skipper Blenny
Clarkii Clownfish - or - Tomato Clownfish
Nudibranch
Kunchir Wrasse

Thanks for any help.
 
you have alsmost the same tank as me, so your stock list would be similar to mine. i also ran a fluval 4+ internal with no negative effects for about 8 months, untill i was given the 405.

i currently have a longnose hawkfish, a fuzzy dwarf lionfish, and an engineer goby. i do a 25% WC every other week, i run a skimmer (not needed on a lightly stocked tank), a fluval 405 with no media just sponge, and a few powerheads for extra flow. i have a good base of sand, and 10Kg+ of live rock. i should really have more rock but money is tight so....

id put loads of rock in your, it really helps with filtration (its basically all you've got :))

things like clownfish/damsels are really good beginner SW fish. they're hardy, easy to keep, will take all manner of foods, generally stay small too as SW fish go... they can get nippy though, so add them to the tank last if possible.

id also check out things like green chromis (look good in a shoal), firefish, dottybacks, 6 line wrasse, and hawkfish too. all are easy to care for and have loads of personallity. i have a longnose hawkfish and he's great. its a real character and everyone always looks for him first in my tank.

gobies and shrimp should also be on your list, both are easy to keep as long as you keep on top of things. also get some hermits and snails too. i'd go for blue leg hermits (generally less aggressive to each other), and a mix of turbo snails (for the algae), and nassarius snails (to burrow in the sand and consume uneaten food)

i would avoid butterfly fish for now. they are generally very picky eaters. i'd also avoid mandarin gobies, and scooter blennys, they need rediculous amounts of live food. to much for 'nano' tanks like yours and mine can provide.

nudibranch can also be difficult to feed, some will only eat a certain food, some will only eat coral. dont get one of those ones... :)
 
Hi bromie88,

Thanks for your input. Appreciate it :D

Yeah, I'll make sure I put in a good amount of live rock.

I've kept damsels before... but only shortly and don't exactly like them because they're so aggressive so I'll personally steer clear of them in this tank.

I really like Clownfish, my girlfriend keeps them and they look quite amusing to keep. Hers are the Occelaris type. So I won't copy her.. and get something else. Clarkii or Tomato.
One question in regards to Clownfish, are they better off in pairs or can I just buy any 2? Or is 1 better, if not a pair?

I'll try get some Firefish, they look cool :)
I'll take your advice and avoid the picky eaters, I do like the interaction of feeding time and don't want to have any trouble with that :grinno:

The butterfly fish however, I was told by my LFS that they've readily learned to accept pellets. Hopefully I can look into keeping one.

Again, many thanks.
 
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