i am finally moving to salt...lil help

[sbuse]

i am on a very tight budget...i have a 20gal that i have had running as a feeder tank and now it will be my first salt tank...i have cleaned it out with only tap water...i have a biosystem 75 with the built in skimmer for filtration...that was going on a freshwater tank, but i cleaned it aswell with water and i will be getting new media...i also have a stealth heater for the tank...

my questions

what sand should i get(the most for my money)?

should i have live rock?

would i need a powerhead?

my planed stock was 2 clownfish for the kids and a dwarf flame angel...what else could i put in for me?

would a manderine shrimp that i saw at the lfs work with the stock?...i think that was its name same pattern as the manderine golby and could i have one of those?

thanx...i will be looking at sand tomarrow to see what my options are at the lfs...

 

[sbuse]

i got some instant ocean and some live crushed coral today...i might get one more bag as they were 10lb bags and i would like a little thicker bottom...

my light is a 'aqua rays' freshwater or salt water f15t8-ar-fs 15w...is that good for anenimis for a pair of clownfish...thinking of adding a dragon wrasse, a flame angel, some purple and fire dartfish maybe some bennies...along with some shrimps and crustations...i will be having some live rock, but i am not sure witch ones i will get...

that stocklist work?

and light?

 

[TheCanuck]

Please keep in mind you dont even have the tank size for 2 clowns. So even two clowns would be pushing the limits.

You should use live sand from petsmart thats super cheap. Remove the crush coral or take it back. Crushed coral causes problems and doesn't look as nice.

Get some live rock

A powerhead is only needed if you have dead spots

Light doesnt matter unless you want corals or anenome. i would do 6-8 watts of light per gallon if i went with any corals/underwater plants.

Live rock is always good idea.


"""i am on a very tight budget"" <---thats never a responsible time to start a SW tank.

Ill follow this along.

 

[sbuse]

Please keep in mind you dont even have the tank size for 2 clowns. So even two clowns would be pushing the limits.

You should use live sand from petsmart thats super cheap. Remove the crush coral or take it back. Crushed coral causes problems and doesn't look as nice.

Get some live rock

A powerhead is only needed if you have dead spots

Light doesnt matter unless you want corals or anenome. i would do 6-8 watts of light per gallon if i went with any corals/underwater plants.

Live rock is always good idea.


"""i am on a very tight budget"" <---thats never a responsible time to start a SW tank.

Ill follow this along.

the stuff i got is actually called...'carib sea arag-alive' 'live aragonite reef sand'...it was $1/lb...would that work or is that what you were talking about?

i will be adding live rock...i thought a 20gal was fine for a pair of clowns? they don't get big and i would try to gat a male/female pair....if it is more asvisable to have one clown would it work like this

1x clown
1x dragon wrasse
2x fire dartfish
2x purple dartfish
1x manderine golby
1x banded shrimp
x amount of small inverts

my budget is really set by the wife and she was watching me post so...i have more expence ability then she would like me to...

my filter has 350gph

any other tips?

 

[TheCanuck]

you understand dragon wrasses get larger than 14 inches correct?

The sand is fine..

I don't understand your stocking, you should look up each species you are listing and look up the min tank size. Then do a google search of how many can go togther in a specific area. Such as freshwater fish... 1 55 gallon for 1 oscar and 100gallons for 2..... some Clowns can reach up to 7-8 inchs. It sounds like you have not done any research at all and just want to throw together a salt tank. Don't cut corners, otherwise your budget will be 3x the amount it should have been in the first place doing things correctly

I wouldn't have even wasted time setting up a 20 gallon, if you want fish in it. You need a 125 atleast for all the fish you listed

learning the compatability of fish is good too. I wouldn't put such delicate fish such as firefish with a clownfish( in a 20). Sorry but little "nemo" doesnt stay small and will kick some ass. Including your paycheck


LOL at mandrin goby. Man you gotta do some research. Those are near impossible to keep alive and require a tank of atleast 5years plus experience. My lfs can't even keep them alive. You would need pods to feed them, you understand you can't even feed them right? your tank has to grow their food. O boy you have some reading to do, and some cash saving.

But if you must do something now, i would recomend spending 100-200$ on a mated pair of clowns(most clowns at the store will kill each other if there are just two and they are not male and female, and not idiot there will know the difference)and putting them ONLY in the tank

Or buy 4 dartfish call it a tank.

 

[sbuse]

you understand dragon wrasses get larger than 14 inches correct?

The sand is fine..

I don't understand your stocking, you should look up each species you are listing and look up the min tank size. Then do a google search of how many can go togther in a specific area. Such as freshwater fish... 1 55 gallon for 1 oscar and 100gallons for 2..... some Clowns can reach up to 7-8 inchs. It sounds like you have not done any research at all and just want to throw together a salt tank. Don't cut corners, otherwise your budget will be 3x the amount it should have been in the first place doing things correctly

I wouldn't have even wasted time setting up a 20 gallon, if you want fish in it. You need a 125 atleast for all the fish you listed

learning the compatability of fish is good too. I wouldn't put such delicate fish such as firefish with a clownfish( in a 20). Sorry but little "nemo" doesnt stay small and will kick some ass. Including your paycheck


LOL at mandrin goby. Man you gotta do some research. Those are near impossible to keep alive and require a tank of atleast 5years plus experience. My lfs can't even keep them alive. You would need pods to feed them, you understand you can't even feed them right? your tank has to grow their food. O boy you have some reading to do, and some cash saving.

But if you must do something now, i would recomend spending 100-200$ on a mated pair of clowns(most clowns at the store will kill each other if there are just two and they are not male and female, and not idiot there will know the difference)and putting them ONLY in the tank

Or buy 4 dartfish call it a tank.

i was told the dragon wrasse wouldn't get over 4", clowns at 3.5" for a max(that was after some looking around)...dwarf flame angels i was told top out at 4" i saw alot of my info from liveaquaria...the wrasse was from the lfs and they said that it would top out at that (i know you should take their info with a grain of salt)...they have a mated pair of true ocellaris clowns from a drop off/trade in...i know the guy that had them and he has has a spawn with them...the manderan golby at this lfs has been there for a year or so and it is the same one...

i have been doing some research and i haven't bought any fish yet and i wont till i am done researching...i am planing on changing my 55gal over to salt after my sa lung and fire eel are out of it...

i never follow any of the freshwater rules and make my own with high success...i have been doing fresh all my life, but never done any salt...my kids want 'nemo' and that is my leaverage for the switch...the mantis shrimp i have looked up and they wouldn't work i now know for this set up...

i am looking at fish combatibility charts and min tank sizes with my fish selections...i may have to just do the clowns and wait for the other tank to do more...

i looked at the mins for everything but the wrasse as i just saw that and was told 4"...i read that dart fish do best in small groups and a 20gal was the min tank...clowns i read that you can mix with caution and the min tank was 20gals...flame angles were mixable with clowns and min tank of 30gals...

most of the info i have is from liveaquaria as that is what comes up in most of my searches...

 

[sbuse]

i would be getting an occellarisor percilla clown and i read that they top out at 2-3.5"

 

[TheCanuck]

a pair of occell clowns would be the best choice for your tank


Live aquaria states you can house a 4ft shark in a 2ft wide tank thats only 5ft long ......


Glad to see you are doing research, you just don't have a good source.


When they say min tank size, thats for 1 of the fish. You can't overstock like you can with freshwater. When it says minimum tank size its best to go with only 1 per that. Like 1 clown per 20gallons. 2 can do well in a 30 but a 40 is better. I would start out with the clown pair, and then get the 55. Then you can mix around the stock and have all the ones you listed except the mandrin dragonet goby.... or the wrasse.

 

[FishNCash]

Ocellaris would be a gatre choice and they come in platinums and panda if you want something exotic. With a salt setup you can never overstock on fish or the bio system wiill crash. Go with live sand if you want a nice display. I had a 12g nano salt but decided my passion is still with fresh.

 

[sbuse]

a pair of occell clowns would be the best choice for your tank


Live aquaria states you can house a 4ft shark in a 2ft wide tank thats only 5ft long ......


Glad to see you are doing research, you just don't have a good source.


When they say min tank size, thats for 1 of the fish. You can't overstock like you can with freshwater. When it says minimum tank size its best to go with only 1 per that. Like 1 clown per 20gallons. 2 can do well in a 30 but a 40 is better. I would start out with the clown pair, and then get the 55. Then you can mix around the stock and have all the ones you listed except the mandrin dragonet goby.... or the wrasse.

i did find that odd on the sharks as as some point in the future i will do a salt tank for sharks and moreys...it would be like my planned arapima setup for scale...

Ocellaris would be a gatre choice and they come in platinums and panda if you want something exotic. With a salt setup you can never overstock on fish or the bio system wiill crash. Go with live sand if you want a nice display. I had a 12g nano salt but decided my passion is still with fresh.

i have seen the black ocells and i like them, but i know my kids wont let it down that i got the 'wrong nemo' and since this one is for them...it will be a good jump into salt for my plans for some fishes i want to have...


i have heard that inverts don't count for the bio-load is that true?