I'm trying salt

First topic message reminder :

I have been trying to learn more about salt water and corals and such..... but I think to learn I need to do....
I'm thinking of doing a tank with mostly corals and stuff and possibly one fish.... some relatively hardy stuff to start with.
I need help deciding on a good tank size, I have 10, 20g, 20 long or 30 available for this. I will probably go the cheaper route and seed base rock. Not sure when this will happen but I would like to know how involved a tank like that would be. I'm sure I could get a few low end frags and a bit of live rock to start with. This would be a slow tank, no rushing I want to learn as I go. I know I will need to spend a bit on lights and a skimmer...... and what else would be needed for a reef tank? and what size would be best to start with, I need a balance of cost and stability size.

http://www.usafishbox.org/show-and-tell-f51/my-former-reef-tank-t3732.htm

was 60g

I will start it with live rock and sand so the cycle should not be long at all.
I would rather go ahead and start with fish I would keep, I know damsels get mean....
The fish I may be wanting but have yet to look into them much; watchman goby, mandarin goby, mystery wrasse..... Flashing tile goby I wish I could afford one!
Are there any good starter fish that don't get mean when they grow up?

I started with a foxface and he is doing fine. I got him for 10 bucks though. I thought damsel @ first but nitty told me the same thing, start with fish you want. If you look online more and more sites recommend not to start with damsels unless you truly want them. The reasoning is today's chemicals and salt mixes do a much better job getting a tank ready. I let my 55g sit for a week with only rock and water then got the anemone and the 3 fish I have. I just drip acclimated everyone for 45 minutes and then put them in.

Fyi, I got my water from a watermill express. 15 cents per gallon. I just mixed myself. All of them wuse the ro/di system.

u can get some occelaris clowns!!
all u need is a pair!! of em!!!
thats wat i got! they get mean but only towards eachother!!
the less dominant clown becomes the female!then the agression goes away!!!
i can get em for 10$ each:)

No clowns for me! unless my kids drive me insane begging for one....
I haven't seen a foxface I like yet.....
how are the bengi cardinals on hardiness? They look pretty neat.

once I get all the bits and pieces gathered I will be stocking this tank very very slowly, like 1-2 things every week or three..... so there will be plenty of biological catch up time.

Bangiaa can be touchy at times ,plus most in the pet trade are wild caught so there is extra strain there , only eat live and if you can train them frozen foods.

These eat frozen mysis shrimp... I know that because I have been the one feeding them the past few days, I can see if they are wild or tank raised....
I can put them on the later list any how

frozen mysis was the first frozen food I got mine to take

so what is a fun colored, purpleish preferably, first fish?

orchid dotty backs look nice......?

mandarin gobies!!!!
but their really hard to keep alive they say!!
or get a fire fish!! their awsome too theyre purple and yellow i think

A manderin is defiantly on my list! Theirs one in the frag tank at my lfs I've had my eye on.

I had a mandrin back in the 7o's and loved that fish. Kept him for 2 years then got rid of my tanks when I moved out of state.

A mandrin needs live pods, a few can be convinced to eat frozen ,so make sure your tank is well seasoned with healthy pod population before buying. Other than that they are a awesome little fish for a reef tank.

Ok so hes on the add later list.....
So I still need a first fish that's small, mild mannered, reef safe and fun colored....?


Do I need a lid on the tank?


so far I have; 40g breeder tank, metal stand, korilina fan, and a 36" dual satellite power compact light with acetic and daylight bulbs

I still need; to drill the tank, find a sump/refugium with protein skimmer to fit in it, probably another korilina fan, bucket of salt, hydrometer, live rock, live sand....

I may go a little shy on the live rock and get some fun shaped base rock in there as well. Because the cheaper the live rock the less fun the shapes are.

clown fish are fun and cheap!
firefish also
Chromis are awsome lil guys!!!!!! (Many different kolors and stay small!)
their are a million different types of gobies that have different kolorz on em and are cheap!!
their are some gobies that pair up with certain types of shrimp, and share the same burrow!!! its awsome!!!!
im trying for a yellow watchmen goby with a pistol shrimp combo:)

u needind a lid on the tank depends on the fish you get....fire fish,clowns,and alot of others are well known jumpers. gobies wud be kool to start off woth becuz they stay on the sandbed all the time!
if ur only going with like 1-2 fish ull be ok without the lid but alot of ppl leave their lids off for a more clean look im actually thinkin bout doin that.

so whats the Dealio here fern??? any progress??updates??

I decided that I really don't have the time to do salt right. My 7 year old son seems fascinated with salt so I plan on starting him with a 29g with some cyto moorii grow outs soon and if he does very well with them I will start gathering salt equipment and let him play with salt instead!

That sounds like a good idea tho, keep the hobby rolling on the family!!

so what you gone do with the Koralias then? lol

I'm sure the koralia will be put to use somewhere and the light is now on my discus tank.