Newbie Inc!

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Raibaru

Registered Member
Aug 9, 2006
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Sup all,
This is my first post on these forums. I've skimmed over the first few pages and didn't really get any of the stuff I'm looking for so figured I'd make a post. I'm sure you guys get these kinds of posts often so just bare with me.

Anyway, I'm a newbie to the hobby and still in the research phase for my first salt-water tank. I've decided on going with clown fish for my first experience with a marine aquarium.

I'm curious if you guys could suggest some links to informative articles/websites for people in my shoes still doing research and such. Also some books you guys found helpful would be great!

I'm also curious if there is a reason most everything I read about clownfish describes them in pairs? Is it not a good idea to own just one clownfish?

Lastly, I've read a great deal saying to shy away from 10 gallon tanks for salt-water fish as a beginner due to having problems keeping them balanced. How significant is this? Obviously the number of fish is limited when dealing with a 10gallon, but intention was only on a single clown fish, anenomy(sp), a pair of cleaner fish (Neon Goby's that I hear are good for setting up the tank prior to introducing the clown fish?) and maybe a cleaner shrimp. Is even this to much for a 10g tank? I only ask because I had planned for it to rest on my computer desk. But I doubt the desk could support a 20g tank.

As a side note, these are the tanks I was leaning on:
-Eclipse 12gallon
-Aquapod 24gallon

Any thoughts on either of these?

Well that's it and I thank you all for any and all information you're willing to provide. I hope to be a regular to these boards and I hope each time I will be more knowledgable than the last!

--Rai
 
There's nothing wrong with a lone clown, it's just that a pair will usually look better (this aplies to almost any fish, fresh, salt or brackish) and one of them will be a male (and have better cloration), while it would be impossible to keep a male clown alone (becuase the dominant clownfish in the tank will change it's gender to female).

I personally would just do the clown and a few shrimps (cleaner and pepperemint shrimps come to mind for this position), 5 blue leg hermits and 10 astrea sp. snails for a 10g tank. one clown and the two neon gobys seeems like a bit much fish wise IMHO (I prefer aprox. 10 gallons per fish, sometimes more, sometimes less) for a 10g. Not saying it can't be done, just be prepared for possible algae problems and extra money spent on salt for water changes.

The anemone is not a good idea at all becuase:
  • they have very poor survival rates - by buying one you would just be suporting the killing of many anemones, yours may live for a long time but the one the store orders to replace it most likely die in someone elses tank.
  • Almost all clowns found in fish and pet stores are now tank raised or tank bred, have never even seen an anemone and are just as likely to host in corals that are similar to or aranged to look like an anemone.
  • They are predatory to anything that doesn't host in anemones. Your neon gobys and cleaner shrimp will most likely become lunch.
  • They need LIGHT. 70 watt halide(s) or a lot of 96 watt power compacts are pretty much your only minumum lighting options - both of wich will cost quite a bit of $$$ and will of course be super bright to the eye.

A 10g is possible for a beginer, but you have to stay on top of water parameters (test twice a week instead of the usual once a week, until the tank stabalizes completely), and do more maintenence than you would on a larger tank (water changes would be done weekly instead of the usual monthly for larger tanks). You also have to remember that smaller tanks are a lot less forgiving when it comes to mistakes, so you have to be carefull that you don't mess anything up and know how you can mess something up.

I would lean towards the 24g aquapod out of the two you mentioned - it's more volume, I'm pretty sure you can keep the end of the heater abover the water line (so there's less/no chance of water getting in the tube) and it comes with everything you will need to set it up as a reef, while the eclipse hood would make it impossible to get proper lighting for most corals.

Some articles I highly recomend you read all of if you want your tank to go smoothly:

The Marine Aquarium For newbies


anemone article (incase you still want an anemone)

SW Collection and Care Issues--Article

Information and how to assess it

Feeding Marine Fish

Marine Water Changes

Reef Keepers Frequently Asked Questions

The Common Clownfish

Understanding Anemones

I still got more for you to read! Will post the links to them in about an hour or so.
 
What about for the 24g tank? Would you say 2 clowns, goby, shrimp are fine for this?
 
Raibaru said:
What about for the 24g tank? Would you say 2 clowns, goby, shrimp are fine for this?
Click to expand...

Yup, that would work. However the shrimp, crabs and snails (the last two are only if you want them, however there both benificial) don't add nearly as much to the bioload as would a similar sized fish, just to let you know.
 
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