Topic: Never had a saltwater Aquarium....

[sunnycomet]

Hi,

I have a 30 gallon that I never used but the people who owned it before me had used it. I will sell it. Anyway, on to my long post with lots of questions.

I plan on buying a 50 gallon tank for SALTWATER fish! Now don't laugh but I have 4 bettas and when I was younger had a ten gallon tank with freshwater fish in it. So I am clueless on owning a saltwater aquarium. I know noone that owns one and am known as the crazy fishlady. So I am on my own with the exception of you guys.

I want at least one clownfish and I want a live coral reef setup. Of course I know nothing about clownfish or coral reef setups...but I promise not to buy it until I have ALL of the infomation, I learned that from my bettas....but that's a different story.

First I need to know about coral reefs. What are the requirements for them? What are the best type for begginners? Can they all live together or only certain reefs can live together?

Now for the clownfish. I know there are many types of clownfish so asking what type of other saltwater fish will go with them is pointless. So I will buy my clownfish first then I will be able to tell you the type and you should be able to tell me what saltwater fish will get along with my clownfish. Just a question, How many clownfish could I put in a 50 gallon without it being overcrowed? Thankyou.

[sunnycomet]

Well, I went to the petstore this morning before work and I realize how expensive a saltwater aquarium is. But good news, in a week the guy will have a shipment of 55 gallon tanks with lights, stand, and a filter already built in. It will cost either $399 or $499. So I will probably get that asap....of course I have to my Christmas shopping first....

Hoping I will have enough left over for my tank....

lol

It will take me a LONG time to setup this aquarium.....

I saw a beautiful clownfish (forget the breed) and a coral beauty fish that were in the same tank that I fell in love with. $60 each. lool

[Perfectblue]

Hello.

First I would like to recommend a couple books that will help you, The New Marine Aquarium by Michael S. Paletta and The Conscientious Marine Aquarist by Robert M. Fenner.

Although reef tanks are beautiful they are one of the more difficult saltwater setups to maintain. They generally require more equipment, money and time compared to a FO(Fish Only) or FOWLR(Fish Only With Live Rock) tank. Reason being is coral have special needs such as higher lighting, flow and feeding. That is why a recommend going with either a FO or FOWLR.

When it comes to what equipment you need I wrote a small article on the types of equipment and a little information about each one. 

http://www.petfish.net/forum/index.php/topic,53881.0.html

You list either a 30 gallon or 55 gallon as the two options for the setup. Both sizes would work very well as your first saltwater tank, I wouldn't go any smaller. With the larger water volume it will be much easier to maintain stable parameters. It will also give you more options for stocking.

Now about stocking. Depending on the tank size you go with I would try to keep a low bioload considering this is your first tank. Small to medium sized fish that have peaceful behaviors would be the best bet. Clownfish are very nice, I would look into Ocellaris or Percula. They are both reasonably small, only 3-4" in length and are peaceful. You can even keep a pair if you want. The problem with some larger species of Clownfish such as Tomato and Maroon is that they are much more aggressive. Not to mention it is more difficult to determine their gender which makes pairing risky as two males will fight.

I really like Gobies and think their great fish for beginners. There are many varieties of Gobies that can be kept in a 30-55 gallon tank. They are peaceful towards most tankmates, but try to avoid mixing multiple gobies as they may fight. Blennies generally don't coexist with Gobies well mainly because they inhabit the same areas.

Some Wrasses, Firefish and Cardinalfish would work well. When it comes to keeping any animal its best to do plenty of research to make sure you are providing the best environment.

Hopefully this helps you get started. If you have any more questions just ask. 

[shadowcat330]

this may or may not help you, im new to salt water tanks as well, but your fish tank your looking at right now, well if you dont need a stand like you allready got one or you got a nice sturdy desk like I got my 55 gallon spare/hosptial tank sitting on on of my dads work benches thats made for heavy duty tools that he never uses. but erg on to the point, Last week I went to walmart they got for 125 or maybe it was 150 dollars they have a 55 gallon starter tank comes with heater fileter theameter pretty much everything you need for a freshwater setup so that might save you a little money. me still being new to salt water cant tell you much except your going to need a power head to circulate the water to make a current, im not sure how many you will need for a 50-55 gallon tank but your going to need one with a flow rate of about 900 gph-1000 I got a 1200 for my 75g tank and iv been told ill need more than one, and the type of power head that i got cost 70 dollars so its like erg lol not to mention the cost of live sand and live rock its crazy I got into the hobby thinking i could convert my tank for as low as 120 dollars but i never knew live rock was so expensive