# Saltwater Tank Questions



## Cody (Dec 22, 2007)

I will be getting a new tank in a few months (most likely). I know that sounds like a long time away, but I want to do some planning. I am thinking about using a saltwater tank.

So...here are my questions.

-What would be a good-sized tank for a small saltwater community?
-How many fish/rocks/etc. could I fit in a 20-30 gallon tank?
-What is the rule for how many fish can be in a tank (I.E. Freshwater is 1in of fish per gallon)?
-What are some good starter fish for a saltwater community?
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## Age of Aquariums (Apr 13, 2007)

I can't answer your other questions, but Ocellaris Clownfish are good starter fish. Try to stay away from Damsels, even if the LFS says "they won't fight," they will.


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## caferacermike (Oct 3, 2006)

Well the nest question would be are you interested in corals, snails or crabs? If so that changes everything.

My ideal tank would be a 75g reef ready with about 150lbs of live rock, 120lbs of aragonite sand, a sump of about 40g with a built in 10g fuge, a Euroreef RS135 skimmer, Eheim 1262 return pump, 2x Tunze 6201 stream pumps, 2x 250w DE halides 14K with 2x 96w PC actinics. For inhabitants I'd get 2 maroon stripe clowns, a snake eel, 100 hermit crabs, long spine urchin, 2 bubble tip anemones, several pieces of coral.

It's a lot to think about.

Could you help narrow down if you want a fish only, mixed reef or invert only tank?


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## Cody (Dec 22, 2007)

I would probably use a 29 Gallon Tank, with sand (live or not), and live rock most likely. 

So, based off of that, what could I fit in there?


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## caferacermike (Oct 3, 2006)

Not much.

I'd go for a pair of clowns.

There are several small blennies and small gobies that you could add. You could maybe get away with several small gobies or blennies. Maybe about 4-5 Bangaii cardinals as they tend to not swim much and breed like crazy. It would be easy to control the breeding in a small tank. I'd maybe shoot for a small dedicated frogfish tank. That'd be interesting. Think more along the lines of having a nice reef with lots of hermits, feather dusters, snails, emerald crabs, anemone crabs, shrimps like saron or fire, sea cukes, starfish.. You could pack a lot more inverts int hat tank size than fish. So a pair of clowns with some nice corals and lots of inverts might be interesting.


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## Cody (Dec 22, 2007)

caferacermike said:


> Not much.
> 
> I'd go for a pair of clowns.
> 
> There are several small blennies and small gobies that you could add. You could maybe get away with several small gobies or blennies. Maybe about 4-5 Bangaii cardinals as they tend to not swim much and breed like crazy. It would be easy to control the breeding in a small tank. I'd maybe shoot for a small dedicated frogfish tank. That'd be interesting. Think more along the lines of having a nice reef with lots of hermits, feather dusters, snails, emerald crabs, anemone crabs, shrimps like saron or fire, sea cukes, starfish.. You could pack a lot more inverts int hat tank size than fish. So a pair of clowns with some nice corals and lots of inverts might be interesting.


Mhm, thanks for the ideas. I have always liked clowns, even though they are probably the simplest of all saltwater fish.

I can only fit about a 29 gallon (or less) tank for my room, and I have always liked saltwater, so I want to try it out. I will probably get this for my birthday in May (Or I could save up some cash).

About how many pounds of Live Rock/Coral would I need to buy?


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## Cody (Dec 22, 2007)

Before I forget...

Would be able to put 2 clowns and like a Yellow Tang/Purple Tang/Yellow-tailed damsel in the same tank?

And how much does a pound of live rock sell for?


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## SeaSerpant (Dec 9, 2007)

A pound of live rock could range from 1$ to really really high. i would buy it online or something. it would cost less.


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## Cody (Dec 22, 2007)

SeaSerpant said:


> A pound of live rock could range from 1$ to really really high. i would buy it online or something. it would cost less.


I found a site where it is $117 for 40lbs of rock... :shock: 

Hmm. I have a Great Barrier Reef Store near my house, I could see how much it is there.
What is the difference between cured rock and uncured rock?

Any answers on the 2 clowns w/Tangs or Damsels?


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## SeaSerpant (Dec 9, 2007)

well tangs from my knowledge need to be in a 75gal tank minimum but i don't really know. thats what i would expect.


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## Cody (Dec 22, 2007)

SeaSerpant said:


> well tangs from my knowledge need to be in a 75gal tank minimum but i don't really know. thats what i would expect.


And Damsels?


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## SeaSerpant (Dec 9, 2007)

The yellow tail damsel would probably do fine but may need a bit more space but it'll would do fine with the clown fish. these kind of fish are the kind that like anemones.


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## caferacermike (Oct 3, 2006)

You could run the pair of clowns but I would not add a damsel to that mix as there will be fighting. I wouldn't add any tang to a 30g tank. $117 for 40lbs is about average for online, watch the price of shipping. Buy uncured if you can wait. It'll need about 3 weeks of time to cure in your new tank. Buy cured if your tank is up and running. Since it will eb a new set up I'd save some cash on uncured rock and let the whole thing cycle for about 2 months. You can generally find cured Fiji for about $3 a lb so you probably won't see much of a difference in prices on cured or uncured Fiji.

Keep in mind tha clowns can be very territorial as they are just damsels. You might pull off another goby like a firefish with them. Anything more would be pushing the system itself. I'd really look into getting a bunch of small gobies so you can see them interact with each other instead of just sitting on a piece of coral or an anemone. I always suggest a clown/pistol shrimp pair for small tanks.


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## Cody (Dec 22, 2007)

caferacermike said:


> You could run the pair of clowns but I would not add a damsel to that mix as there will be fighting. I wouldn't add any tang to a 30g tank. $117 for 40lbs is about average for online, watch the price of shipping. Buy uncured if you can wait. It'll need about 3 weeks of time to cure in your new tank. Buy cured if your tank is up and running. Since it will eb a new set up I'd save some cash on uncured rock and let the whole thing cycle for about 2 months. You can generally find cured Fiji for about $3 a lb so you probably won't see much of a difference in prices on cured or uncured Fiji.
> 
> Keep in mind tha clowns can be very territorial as they are just damsels. You might pull off another goby like a firefish with them. Anything more would be pushing the system itself. I'd really look into getting a bunch of small gobies so you can see them interact with each other instead of just sitting on a piece of coral or an anemone. I always suggest a clown/pistol shrimp pair for small tanks.


Okay, clowns, inverts, live rock and sand. I will probably do that. or just do some sort of freshwater community. I would like to try saltwater though.

1 last question - How many pounds of live rock should I get for a 29 Gallon? 20-40?


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## caferacermike (Oct 3, 2006)

Well see you still have avoided answering the million dollar question. We keep asking you what you want from the tank yourself. If all you desire is a few fish, that can be accomplished with very little effort. If you want a full blown reef that will take a bit more effort. For a fish only with some rock, I'd say about 1lb per gallon. However if you want to keep costs down and run a canister filter for your bio and mech you don't need any live rock, so long as it is only full of fish. Add inverts or corals and things change.


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## Cody (Dec 22, 2007)

caferacermike said:


> Well see you still have avoided answering the million dollar question. We keep asking you what you want from the tank yourself. If all you desire is a few fish, that can be accomplished with very little effort. If you want a full blown reef that will take a bit more effort. For a fish only with some rock, I'd say about 1lb per gallon. However if you want to keep costs down and run a canister filter for your bio and mech you don't need any live rock, so long as it is only full of fish. Add inverts or corals and things change.


I just want to have a pretty simple saltwater tank that catches one's eye and looks good. I want to fish to be happy. I wouldn't mind adding some inverts if it makes the tank more lively.


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