# thinking of doing a saltwater tank?



## rayman (Aug 9, 2006)

any one have any good articles? also what size would be a good one for a firefish and a clown fish and what are some good tankmates for them would a dwarf seabass work?


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## rchan11 (May 6, 2004)

A nano 5g or larger is fine with a clownfish and firefish. Good tankmates are dwarf angel, gobies, blennies, cleaner shrimp, hermies and snails.
check these sites out for info.

www.nano-reef.com
www.reefcentral.com

Here's a pic of my 3g tank. I've a Clarkii clown, a dwarf pygmy angel, red headed gobie and a scooter blenny.


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## rayman (Aug 9, 2006)

that was fast. anyway i was thinking of doing something like a twenty or a 30 gallon what are some species i could put in with them in there?and do i need a amone(spelling) for the clownfish


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## rchan11 (May 6, 2004)

With a 30g, you can go with a wrasse. As with anemone, you'll need at least Power Compact (or else you'll need MH) lighting with 2-3 times a week of feeding the anemone fish or shrimp bits to suppliment lack of photosynethesis.


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## rayman (Aug 9, 2006)

no my question was do they need the anemome. also do i need to use live rock?


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## rchan11 (May 6, 2004)

rayman said:


> no my question was do they need the anemome. also do i need to use live rock?


Captive bred clownfish might or might not host an anemone. Live rock is good for speeding up the cycling process, but you don't need it, live rock or live sand.


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## LouDiB (May 22, 2006)

rchan11 said:


> no my question was do they need the anemome. also do i need to use live rock?


Captive bred clownfish might or might not host an anemone. Live rock is good for speeding up the cycling process, but you don't need it, live rock or live sand.
[/quote]

wow very interesting...I did not know they captive breed SW fish =D [email protected]


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## rbp 4 135 (Mar 2, 2004)

verry few


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## rchan11 (May 6, 2004)

Clownfish can be easily bred in home aquarium. Many members in my Marine Club have bred clownfish and seahorses.


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## rayman (Aug 9, 2006)

i will probaly do the saltwater tank after i get my pike tank up and running and get some money it will either be a thirty or a forty what can i expect to pay for the whole thing (tank,equipment,sand,anything else?)
i need a cleanup crew right?
my stocking list would probaly be like this 
1clownfish
1firefish
1Black-Lined Blenny or red head goby (can i have both?)
anything else?


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## illnino (Mar 6, 2004)

clownfish dont NEED the anenome. they do perfectly fine without.

people have bred the following fish in captivity

clowns
angels(many cross breedings also)
damsels
multiple pseudochrmois
cardinal fish
sea horses
mandarin fish
six line wrasses


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## rayman (Aug 9, 2006)

okay but can you answer any of the above questions i posted?


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## rchan11 (May 6, 2004)

rayman said:


> okay but can you answer any of the above questions i posted?


If you go with 1lb LR per gallon at $5 a lb=$150-$200. PC lighting=$150. LS=$50. Fish=$60 (blenny and goby can co-exist). Clean up crew=$30. Cleaner shrimp=$20. Powerhead=$30. Protein skimmer=$100.

It's not going to be cheap to start up a SW tank. Here's a link for livestocks.

http://www.marinedepotlive.com/

Try to locate a local SW Marine club and buy from members, that's the cheapest way to go.


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## rayman (Aug 9, 2006)

i actually don't want live rock. also can i add anything to my stocking list in a forty? what do you guys think of adding a Serranus tortugaum aka chalk sea bass to the stocking list?


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## kingsnar (Nov 17, 2005)

> Here's a pic of my 3g tank. I've a Clarkii clown, a dwarf pygmy angel, red headed gobie and a scooter blenny.


Are you serious? in a 3 gallon tank?


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## benJii (Feb 17, 2005)

kingsnar said:


> > Here's a pic of my 3g tank. I've a Clarkii clown, a dwarf pygmy angel, red headed gobie and a scooter blenny.
> 
> 
> Are you serious? in a 3 gallon tank?


Exactly my thoughts









Even though it isnt _nessary_, live rock will really help you in making your tank successful. Same with protein skimmer.

Take it very slow, stock lightly, get helpful things like powerheads, protein skimmers, and livercok, large tank, and be well informed and you should have things going great.

Even though it sounds easy, many people break those rules above, thus promoting failure.


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## rchan11 (May 6, 2004)

kingsnar said:


> > Here's a pic of my 3g tank. I've a Clarkii clown, a dwarf pygmy angel, red headed gobie and a scooter blenny.
> 
> 
> Are you serious? in a 3 gallon tank?


As you can tell from my pic, they've plenty of room. In my 26g, I've 11 fish in there. I keep fish successefully and I'm speaking from experience, not from reading what I can and can't do.


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## kingsnar (Nov 17, 2005)

It doesnt matter if they have enough room (which is hard to believe in a 3 gallon tank) the bioload will be huge in a tank that small.


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## rchan11 (May 6, 2004)

kingsnar said:


> It doesnt matter if they have enough room (which is hard to believe in a 3 gallon tank) the bioload will be huge in a tank that small.


The params are excellent and I've in tank caluerpra. If the bioload is huge, all my fish would of died. My fish are healthy and no mortality.
2 of the fish in my 3g are 1" long by 1/4" high. The other 2 are 1"long by 1/2" high. 3 out of 4 like to hide and the clarkii likes to host the toadstool and does not swim much. These are reef fish and not oceanic.


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## benJii (Feb 17, 2005)

rchan11 said:


> It doesnt matter if they have enough room (which is hard to believe in a 3 gallon tank) the bioload will be huge in a tank that small.


The params are excellent and I've in tank caluerpra. If the bioload is huge, all my fish would of died. My fish are healthy and no mortality.
2 of the fish in my 3g are 1" long by 1/4" high. The other 2 are 1"long by 1/2" high. 3 out of 4 like to hide and the clarkii likes to host the toadstool and does not swim much. These are reef fish and not oceanic.
[/quote]

Even though it sounds plausible, would you say that what your doing is good? Do you think it is the best possible environment for your fish?

I'm very suprised and appauled that you would recomend such a setup, IMO that tank is far overstocked, no matter how you word it or what your reasoning. Your 26 sounds overstocked too.


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## rchan11 (May 6, 2004)

Tibs said:


> It doesnt matter if they have enough room (which is hard to believe in a 3 gallon tank) the bioload will be huge in a tank that small.


The params are excellent and I've in tank caluerpra. If the bioload is huge, all my fish would of died. My fish are healthy and no mortality.
2 of the fish in my 3g are 1" long by 1/4" high. The other 2 are 1"long by 1/2" high. 3 out of 4 like to hide and the clarkii likes to host the toadstool and does not swim much. These are reef fish and not oceanic.
[/quote]

Even though it sounds plausible, would you say that what your doing is good? Do you think it is the best possible environment for your fish?

I'm very suprised and appauled that you would recomend such a setup, IMO that tank is far overstocked, no matter how you word it or what your reasoning. Your 26 sounds overstocked too.
[/quote]
I'm not recommending that kind of setup for him, read the thread. 26 in 24g was a mistype, I've 11 in there.


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## rayman (Aug 9, 2006)

does anyone know about the dwarf sea bass?


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## Kohan Bros. (Aug 24, 2004)

ray i wouldnt try any sea bass in that tank your stocking list is already great wouldnt add anything esle, if you really want you might be able to get away with it but that fish is going to need a lot of hiding places for it to not fight over territory with the other fish. also you dont need live rock for say your rock is going to "cure" over the cycling process so things as base rock, dead rock, even lava rock if you like the look would work. any rock can serve as live rock, it dosnt need to be purchesed as live rock to have the same bacteria and organisms. as long as the rock is pourious its good. btw adding live rock to an uncycled tank is just going to kill anything living on the rock.

also dont reply unless you plan on helping the guy, i mean seriously he just wants a question awnsered and all you guys can do is spam it up with your non-sense, hes asking for help no one esle is asking for help on this thread so help him. btw tibs u dont have a salt tank so rly have no reason questioning anyone esle. and most nano tanks bought as that are really well made with built in lights and filtration so i very much bet they could handle the bioload.


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## benJii (Feb 17, 2005)

Kohan Bros. said:


> ray i wouldnt try any sea bass in that tank your stocking list is already great wouldnt add anything esle, if you really want you might be able to get away with it but that fish is going to need a lot of hiding places for it to not fight over territory with the other fish. also you dont need live rock for say your rock is going to "cure" over the cycling process so things as base rock, dead rock, even lava rock if you like the look would work. any rock can serve as live rock, it dosnt need to be purchesed as live rock to have the same bacteria and organisms. as long as the rock is pourious its good. btw adding live rock to an uncycled tank is just going to kill anything living on the rock.
> 
> also dont reply unless you plan on helping the guy, i mean seriously he just wants a question awnsered and all you guys can do is spam it up with your non-sense, hes asking for help no one esle is asking for help on this thread so help him. btw tibs u dont have a salt tank so rly have no reason questioning anyone esle. and most nano tanks bought as that are really well made with built in lights and filtration so i very much bet they could handle the bioload.


I wouldn't exactly say a sea bass like that would be a bad choice, they will gennerally work in most setups.

What does me not 'owning' a salt tank have to do with anything? Does that mean I do not have experience in salt water? No. I work at a pet store and considering my boss hates salt tanks, and I'm the only one who will work on them, I'm the only one that does maintence on our saltsetups (two 55's, four 20's). How will filtration help with a bioload really? Unless he has a protein skimmer, which I doubt, it is really not helping the tank much (I.E. More nitrates).

Anywho, back on topic, sea bass should be ok, not the best idea though.


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## Kohan Bros. (Aug 24, 2004)

wha, just saying why not post how to help someone instead of posting bullshit, this wouldnt be such a bad informantional site if you didnt have to read through a page of bull sh*t to find the awnser


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## rchan11 (May 6, 2004)

For a 30g-40g setup, stick with small fish like clowns, gobies, dwarf angels, hawkfish and blennies. 4-5 fish is a good amount.



Tibs said:


> I wouldn't exactly say a sea bass like that would be a bad choice, they will gennerally work in most setups.
> 
> Anywho, back on topic, sea bass should be ok, not the best idea though.


A Harlequin bass will only get to 2.5-4".


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## jesterx626 (Jul 27, 2005)

rchan11 said:


> okay but can you answer any of the above questions i posted?


If you go with 1lb LR per gallon at $5 a lb=$150-$200. PC lighting=$150. LS=$50. Fish=$60 (blenny and goby can co-exist). Clean up crew=$30. Cleaner shrimp=$20. Powerhead=$30. Protein skimmer=$100.

It's not going to be cheap to start up a SW tank. Here's a link for livestocks.

http://www.marinedepotlive.com/

Try to locate a local SW Marine club and buy from members, that's the cheapest way to go.
[/quote]

Are cleanup crew/shrimp mandatory?


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## rchan11 (May 6, 2004)

jesterx626 said:


> Are cleanup crew/shrimp mandatory?


A cleanup crew is there to consume any uneaten food and keep the water quality high. In a reef tank, sometimes it's impossible to get to a dead fish in the rock work and a cleanup crew will do the job. A shrimp is not really neccessary unless you want to get rid of apstacia, then you'll want a peppermint shrimp.


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## jesterx626 (Jul 27, 2005)

rchan11 said:


> Are cleanup crew/shrimp mandatory?


A cleanup crew is there to consume any uneaten food and keep the water quality high. In a reef tank, sometimes it's impossible to get to a dead fish in the rock work and a cleanup crew will do the job. A shrimp is not really neccessary unless you want to get rid of apstacia, then you'll want a peppermint shrimp.
[/quote]

Ooh i understand now


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## flaredevil4 (Sep 9, 2006)

rayman said:


> that was fast. anyway i was thinking of doing something like a twenty or a 30 gallon what are some species i could put in with them in there?and do i need a *amone(spelling)* for the clownfish


It's anemone:


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