Starting fish help!

Oliver

Oliver
Jan 17, 2005
424
0
0
Perth, Western Australia
Hi, i am starting a fish only tank and i am wondering which type of fish i should start off with. Becasue the tank is going to be new, there is the possibility of them dying, so a cheap fish would be appropriate. I have heard that demsels are hardy and a good begginer fish but they are really aggresive! My original thoughts were to start off with two 3 striped damsels, which grow to 5 cm. And later, introducing 2 clownfish, 1 blue tang, etc...

Your thoughts/comments are greatly appreciated.
 
Hi I am new to this myself but this is what happen to us. We cycled with 4 fish out of the ocean that we caught ourself and 1 striped damels. When our cycle was done. We took the 4 fish out and left the damel We introduced 2 clownfish(nemo) within 15 minutes the damel was nipping at them and swimming around like the whole tank was his. We ended up taking him back to the lps. Now I have read in this forum where I could of just put in livesand and added a shrimp aday to cycle. I wish I would of the kids where so upset to see the damel go. He was fun to watch. Good Luck
 
Before giving fish advice it will be important to know what sort fo setup you are looking at having. Size f tank, skimmer, how you wish to filter, reef versus fish only, lighting etc... all of these are important.

And yes, cyclign without fish int he tank is the best way, betetr chance taht your new fish will survive if they don't have to fight off ammonia and nitriet poisoning.
 
I would stay away from Damsels if you're even going to be adding other fish.
 
davi1101 said:
Hey I was not giving him advice I was telling him what happen with me. Thank you


He asked questions about what type of fish to put in his tank. I answered him by saying more info was needed to judge what fish are best for his situation. Try not to assume I was putting down your answer.
 
thanks alot guys, you have been really helpfull, i have got the impression that i let the tank cycle and then just add two nemo fish for instance. I am really excited about starting the tank and i will add the water and stone when the stones are clean. this will be about monday. The tank size is = 4ft, 18 inches, 18 inches. It is about 150 ltrs and i don't know how many gallons that is because i use metric, australia. Becasue this is my first saltwater tank i am only haveing a fish only for the moment, with a kilogram of live rock. But when i get the money i can easily upgrade to a protein skimmer and more live rock/coral.
 
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I would highly suggest getting as much live rock as you can afford at the beginning. It is the best way to filter a salt water tank. Ideally you want 1 -1.5 lbs of lr rock (close to 1 kg) per gallon of tank (your is probably around 40 gallons or so). If you really can't afford too much live rock look into adding dead pourous rock. It will take longer but the dead rock will eventually be seeded by the live rock.

Then you add power heads for water movement. This way you need no filter with sponges and carbon. Adding small critter like hermit crabs and snails and reef safe star fish helps to keep the tank clean. Also a skimmer will help keep the water fresher longer between water changes.

You will need a hydrometer to keep the specifi gravity of your tank steady.

I would do a search in the marine forum section on cycling a saltwater tank as well as for specific equipment types. It will sure cost you a lot less if you start out with the right stuff.
 
thanks, i am starting off with 1 kg of live rock just to get the good bacteria, then as i get more money i will invest in a protein skimmer and more live rock. at the moment i have 2 internal filters that turn the water over about 11 times in 1 hour so that should be ok for a fish only tank. as i upgrade to a protein skimmer and more liver rock i will add 1 more powerhead. What would be a good fish to start off with. I love nemo fish and was thinking of later introducing a blue tank, etc.. i was also considering to but in a few hermitcrabs and snails to get rid of the algea, is a cleaner shrimp also a good idea??
 
Invert are good but I would suggest waiting until you have more Live Rock for them to live in and eat from. I would also suggets doing a fishless cycle prior to adding any fish. The usual method is to add a piece of cocktail shrimp fromt eh grocery store, allow it to rot. The ammonia will build up and the good bacteria in your tank will grow. This will then turn to nitrites and more bacteria will grow, ending with bacteria that produces nitrates. With 2 filters in the tank the filter media will be the primary source of bacteria for the time being. As you add more and more live rock you will want to remove the filter media and use the filters for water turn over, as the filter meida will produce too much nitrate. Nitrate isn't too bad for fish but is very hard on inverts like snails and crabs and shrimp. So test kits are very important to find out how the cycle is progressing. When the tank starts to produce nitratses that measn there is a good level os bacteria starting to form. Before adding any fish you must do a water change and make sure the nitrites and ammonia have gone to zero. Then add the fish in.

A Blue Tang is far too big for your tank, as are all the tangs. Look instead at Dwarf Angels as an alternative, but yes, a pair of clown fish should do well in there. Do your research on the varieties as they are very different, some are very aggressive, others not so much.
 
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