My First SW Tank - Stocking Advice

[Nave]

I started here getting advice on my FW tanks, I finally got that one up and running, cycled and fully stocked. While I was at the local pet store I started looking at some of the SW fish/inverts they had, and decided that I wanted one of those too. FW setup in my room and SW setup in the living room. I havent decided the size of the tank yet but will be no less than a 55 gallon. Ive been reading on what all I need to buy to go with it and how to set it up, what I need help with is what I will stock it with when it is finally done.

Here is what I Know I want so far.

Percula Clownfish Pair
Black & White Percula Clownfish Pair
Boxing Crab
Gold Coral Banded Shrimp
Fire Shrimp
Rose Bubble Tip Anemone

And a few other misc inverts like hermit crabs, snails and starfish.

What other fish can I get to go with what I have on my list so far? and any suggestions on any other inverts that would be good in that tank?

 

[roka64]

WELCOME TO THE SW SIDE!!

Please do not cycle your tank with live animals.

I wouldn't put two different species of clowns in a 55G. Keep in mind the anenmone should be housed in a mature aquarium. The CBS could possibly take out the fire shrimp or any other shrimp. This http://www.etropicals.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?siteid=43&pCatId=1283 shrimp will probably go great with your fire shrimp. I like the pistol/goby shrimp combo.
Hit the home page here and cliick on live aquaria and browse the SW fish/inverts. I think yo can get a few ideas there and post what you think you might like.

 

[stevefromga2000]

like roka said, the anenome will require not only a well developed tank of at least 6 to 8 months, but also a very good lighting source. i just want to make sure that you are aware of some of the extra costs involved in the saltwater world. once everything is set up, man is it worth it!!! and i also agree, i would only put one pair of the clowns together. if you are getting something at least 55g, maybe a tang or something would be a colorful addition to you stock. there are also a ton of gobies that are really cool looking that you can choose from. good luck and hth

 

[Nave]

awwwww so got to choose between my clowns huh, that sucks, really like both kinds, I can go without the Coral shrimp, just really liked the way it looked. Im gonna make the tanks however I need to to house all species in the tank, try to meet the right conditions for all. Im really wanting a few differnt anemone in there so will do what is needed to make them thrive.

Any other fish suggestions that would go with my clowns? was wanting a blue tang to kinda go with a Nemo theme but need a much larger tank than I think I can get.

 

[roka64]

Clowns don't always host anemones, the could host or never host. It is better for you to browse and come up with a selection, like you already did, otherwise you may, quickly be overwhelmed with, "you should get this" replys....

 

[stevefromga2000]

have you checked out this website???

http://liveaquaria.com

go there, and then look at fish, marine fish, then check out the fish for beginners. there are lots of colorful fish there. also, the website does a pretty good job at explaining some basics for each fish. roka is probably right, you will get overwhelmed pretty quick with everybody elses opinions if your not careful. check out that site and see what you can find. and about compatibility, the site has a little chart that shows all the compatibilities of each fish together.

 

[Nave]

ok will do some more broswing and come here with a bigger list of what I want to see if anyone thinks there are any that shouldnt be there. Im not wanting the anemone just for the clownfish, I like the way they look, want them to be part of my SW community. If the clowns like any of them thats fine, if not that is too. Im really wanting the Boxing Crab that holds the small anemone. From what I can tell they are hard to get though. Ok well I will post alil later with a list to see what everyone thinks.

 

[melosu58]

I agree that you`ll have to choose between the clowns. I have two different type clowns in a 125 and they fight all the time. Just imagine in you 55. How about a Yellow eye Kole tang. They are really nice and hardy

 

[austinsdad]

Can ya fit a 72 (bow) or 75g tank in your allocated space??

 

[Nave]

actually the more I think about it the more I am thinking of going with a bigger tank, atleast a 75 gallon, will be using different types of live rock to create a bigger diversity ion my tank. I want an awesome setup. If I have to choose between the clownfish I think I will go with the black and white one.

 

[Devilishturtles]

Not to sway you from from your anemone choices, but some people find them very hard to keep. LPS branching corals can get you *close* to the same look and most LPS corals are fairly hardy. Look into something like the torch coral, frogspawn, hammer, etc.

Again, no guarantee a clown will host any of these, but clowns can also host these corals.

Best of luck with the tank.

 

[Nave]

what is the rule for stocking SW tanks, FW has the inch per gallon thing, what would SW be?

 

[roka64]

what is the rule for stocking SW tanks, FW has the inch per gallon thing, what would SW be?

It depends on your inhabitants. Some fish like to have lots of room to swim. I have hear 1 inch per 5Gallons, but again, it depends on what fish you will be stocking.... Personally I like to tell folks, here and see what their advice/experiences are and if I have anymore room.

 

[Nave]

I will be checking ebay for all of my supplies including the tank itself, I have seen many tanks over 100 gallons for less than $150 that includes alot of the suplies I need. Once I have a better idea of how many gallons I will have I will come back to get help sytarting at the very begining with the cycle, since it is a bit different than FW, I wanna make sure I do everything right to keep from having any problems.

 

[Innovator]

Here's some tidbits for your 55g; Ryukyu Islands Biotope

x1 Pair: Amphiprion ocellaris
x1: Centropyge nox
x2: Nemateleotris decora
x1 Pair: Sphaeramia nematoptera