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 Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 7:26 pm
but i have no idea where to start. plus im a college student about to quit her job so it probably wont be anytime soon lol.
but any advice on what fish are best to start with and how big of a tank i need is always loved.
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Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2009 3:11 pm
best beginner tank for saltwater is 55 gallons
if you cant do it that big then you might wanna wait till you can >_<
if you ARE able to do a 55 gallon tank then we can talk! (you can pm me if you want for faster responses) you cant do any coral right away unless you have LOTS more money to spend
and it can get expensive with just fish >_O
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Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2009 10:19 am
as i said, it isnt planned for anytime soon, but i would like to go ahead ans start some research. not to mention im new to doing things right in freshwater tanks so this will be years into the future
so 55gal is the best to start with? what can go in it? could saltwater puffers go into a tank that size?
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Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2009 11:37 am
certain puffers can go into a tank that size. they need to be small though. no porcupine puffers...you are also VERY limited on what you can add to your tank when you wish to keep an aggressive fish like that. you may only be able to keep 1 fish in a 55 gallon tank.
you know how they say in freshwater (even though its bs) 1 gallon per inch of fish? well in saltwater its more like 10 gallons per inch of fish
the biological filter is VERY VERY important in saltwater tanks. if you upset this filter by over loading it or doing something else weird you will kill EVERYTHING. so you must be very light on fish unless you have aggressive skimming and other kinds of filtration. you also have to take into consideration the space a fish need to swim. some fish that are only 1 inch long NEED a 55 gallon tank because they need the space to move despite the small size.
another thing is you can only usually keep one of a certain fish
so one psedochromis one kind of damsel one kind of tang and if a fish needs to be in a school you need a 75 gallon tank or larger.
but in a 55 gallon tank this is what i think would be more appropriate for a beginner in saltwater ^^ (this list contains suggestions for a tank that will NOT contain invertebrates of any kind. adding inverts will shorten your list)
dwarf seabass
pseudochromis/dottyback
dwarf angle
gramma
jawfish (can be kept in a small group and require deep substrate >2inches)
hawkfish
cardinal fish (can be kept in small groups...dont move a lot)
false percula clownfish (can be kept in pairs. do NOT need anemone)
certain wrasses
blennies
gobies (be careful! some dragonets are called gobies and dragonets are poor fish for even experts to keep)
dartfish (can be kept in small group or pairs)
now all these fish cannot go into the tank at the same time of course. you would have to pick a few that you really like from this list :3 so say you want all cardinals...well you can keep a large group but nothing else (because the bio filter) but say you want a pair of clowns, a dwarf angle, 3 cardinal fish and a gramma.....that would work well :3 all these fish are small and fairly peaceful (can become territorial of their little nook or burrow)
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Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2009 1:42 pm
thanks for all the info. i would be fine with just having one fish in a large tank like that, and i understand that even if an animal is tiny it may still need loads of space.
i have never heard of any of those fih on your list. my saltwater knowlage is quite low. ill look into all of them though.
i also know that alot of saltwater fish are wild caught. are there any that are captive bred?
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Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2009 2:47 pm
weird you never heard of any of those >_O VERY VERY common fish
there are actually MANY that are captive bred
almost every false percula clown is captive bred as well as many others.
oh and for puffers
the only kind you would be able to keep in a 55 gallon is something called a toby. not only are they a bit uncommon but they are also smaller (4-6 inches) AND look nothing like puffers XD but you could still only keep just one any puffing is VERY stressful and any nipping may cause puffing
dog face puffers and porcupine puffers get too large (over 12 inches some)
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Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2009 8:35 pm
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