new marine tank

[Elliott Wright]

Hi,i have setup a 75 litre micro reef tank which is run on a red sea prizm protein skimmer,three internal power filters ,a Rio power head a heater and liverock.the tank has been setup for two months and i now feel ready to add fish and corals
the fish i intend to keep are all easy to look after
x1 firefish
x2 percula clownfish or x1 maroon clownfish
x1 yellow tail damsel
x1 coral beauty (although not sure if it is easy to keep)
i would like your advice about order of stocking and advice
about corals which can tolerate low lighting
any advice would be great as i want to get it right first time round
many thanks.

[kreblak]

Stock the clown and the dalsem last, as they are the most territorial. I'm not quite sure about this, but I think that 75 litres comes out to about 20 gallons. If that is right, then you will be overstocking the tank with that many fish. Try cutting back to two or three fish, and keeping their size down.

[Slappy*McFish]

I agree. The Coral Beauty will be a bit cramped in a tank that size as well.

[mogurnda]

I agree. You can probably fit 2 of the fish on your list (except the coral beauty, which is probably not going to work at all) into a tank of that size.

How much light have you got? Even "low light" corals will need 50-80 watts in that tank. Some excellent choices might be green star polyps (pachyclavularia), "yellow polyps" (parazoanthus) or mushroom aneomes (corallimorpharians)

Keep asking questions, we all want to help you get it right the first time.

[Elliott Wright]

do you think think the maroon clown will get on with the purple firefish?are these fish easy for a begginer

[kreblak]

Don't know about the purple firefish, but Clownfish are excellent beginner fish. They are tough, strong swimmers, will eat most anything you feed them, and you can get tank raised fish (I highly recommend this) that are used to the aquarium environment. Clowns have a lot of personality, too. Sometimes they aren't too bright, like when they host with inanimate objects in your tank, but they make great additions to any aquarium. Maroon Clowns especially are fun to watch, IMHO.

[Elliott Wright]

i have decided that i want to keep a maroon clownfish a purple firefish and a Mandarin fish, can i add the clown and the firefish at the same time .

[ben72227]

if you're a beginner, then i would advise that you not get the mandarin fish, as they are challenging to feed and they require a well established tank.

as for the purple firefish, that would be okay, but be aware that they are extremely aggresive.

the Maroon clownfish would be okay, but they get to be about 6 inches long.

if i were you, i would stock the following fish : either a percula clownfish or a yellow tail damsel and one of the following: royal gramma, (orchid, springer's, or Sankey's) dottyback, or a golden/canary wrasse.

Hope this helps

[Elliott Wright]

thanks alot for all your help

[kreblak]

Ben is right about the Mandarin. They eat only live copepods, and therefore must be placed in a mature tank with lots of live rock and a thriving copepod population in order to do well. I know someone who tried to keep a Mandarin in a newly set up 90 gallon tank with 150 lbs of live rock. The copepods had not become established, and the Mandarin starved to death within a couple of weeks.

I also agree on adding a yellowtail damsel. Mine is a total wuss as far as aggression goes, and is brilliantly colored. He is tough, and eats frozen and flake foods. If you do get a dottyback, be prepared for aggression problems. I have heard that Orchid dottybacks are not so mean, but my skunk is a jerk.

[Elliott Wright]

i have lots of little white insect like creatures in my tank are these copepods?if they are would it make keeping a Mandarin easier?
also would it be safe to add a purple firefish and a maroon clown on the same day

[kreblak]

Those little white insect creatures sound like copepods. Dottybacks and Mandarins love those things. My dottyback has completely stopped eating flake and frozen food in favor of the 'pods in my tank. He is getting huge (for a dottyback :rolleyes: )

If you are going to add the firefish and the clown to the tank, then it might was well be at the same time. Expect some aggression as both fish establish their "territories." However, it should abate as the fish settle in. If you add one fish first, then that fish will claim the entire tank as his territory, and you'll have real problems between them then.

[mogurnda]

Sounds like you have 'pods. The mandarin will finish those off rapidly, and then starve. I would love to have one, and have a very large pod population in my 20, but know that it would clean them out and have nothing left.

I wish I could answer your question about adding the two together. My feeling is that you will be asking for trouble trying to keep anything with a maroon in a tank that size, whatever order you add them in. I haven't done the experiment, so it's just a hunch.