Saltwater Starter Fish

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rba718

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Mar 15, 2008
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Miami, FL
I'm planning on setting up a wide 40 gallon Saltwater tank. It's going to be meant for a Maine Lobster.

It'll be my very first Saltwater tank and up until now I know little to NOTHING about Saltwater fish. So I'm going to take this STEP by STEP and use up as much patience as I can muster.

Anyway, what are good inexpensive Saltwater fish that can be used to cycle a tank?
 
Also also, I know I'm going to need a chiller for the tank, but what about a filter? Can I use any kind of regular filter or do I need something special for a saltwater setup?
 
You would probably have better luck with this thread in the marine/brackish forum.
 
You are going to need to cycle the tank for at LEAST 8 - 10 weeks. Damsels are usually pretty hardy fish that are great for this. Considering the fact that you haven't done salt water, I'd go searching for an eheim wet/dry canister for a filter. Or you can use an emperor 400. I'm probably going to get bashed for that, but I've been running one on a 55 for 2.5 years and I've never had a problem. You will need a protein skimmer as well. You know you need a chiller. Power heads on each end of the tank. The more water movement the better. Substrate should be live sand, to start the cycling. I use ARAG- ALIVE. It's great! Live rock will also get your biological system going too, but isn't 100% necessary. Lobsters are very sensitive to nitrites/nitrates. Your system is going to have to be totally cycled when you put this guy in. Buy a saltwater test kit, and test once a week untill everything reads 0. Never get impatient with a saltwater tank, impatience leads to death. :) Good Luck!
 
For the price I would use a specklefin grouper. Tough. They can even go brackish. And when the tank is done cycling it's easier to catch one fish than many damsels. And if you use live sand and Bio Spira the tank should be cycled in 3 weeks.
 
craig;1789715; said:
For the price I would use a specklefin grouper. Tough. They can even go brackish. And when the tank is done cycling it's easier to catch one fish than many damsels. And if you use live sand and Bio Spira the tank should be cycled in 3 weeks.
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Agreed!
 
why not just toss in some table shrimp or fish meat? hang it off some string or wrap in mesh, produces the ammonia and you dont have to waste a couple bucks on a fish you dont want.
 
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