possibly to start first saltwater tank. nano

[Tkey3425]

Cardinals need a min of 30 g because there schoolers and get larger the clownfish

Yeah ive never had a tank smaller than a 55 and have a 180 gallon I'm not to up to date on the nano fish.

 

[cgthebeast]

Yeah ive never had a tank smaller than a 55 and have a 180 gallon I'm not to up to date on the nano fish.

No prob, I prefer nanos to tangs. They have some crazy colors, especially when it comes to gobys

 

[Tkey3425]

I keep some nano fish in my tank I just never had to worry so much about tank size.

 

[cgthebeast]

I keep some nano fish in my tank I just never had to worry so much about tank size.

Ahh, I have a small SW so that's why. Mines a 25 g so I can't get the larger tangs or angels.

 

[Dyl1234]

What I would recommend is a few pounds of live rock roughly 5 pounds and about 15 or so pounds of dry rock. The live rock will eventually seed the dry rock, just give it time. You can save money this way. And BRS has good prices on their dry rock. I am not sure about the fish. I am currently letting my 20 gallon cycle.

 

[carey]

You could also go with very tiny fish and have a couple. Maybe a watchman with a pistol shrimp and a couple clown gobies, they are very cute and are mostly "perchers".

I have 2 clown gobies and a citron goby, another interesting goby thats not always in everyones tank.

I would say go to Aquarium Fish: Tropical Freshwater Fish and Saltwater Fish for Home Aquariums and look under the nano fish section, they have a ton of good ideas and will list the tank requirements as well as any special needs of the fish. I spent and still spend hours looking at fish on that site. LOL

 

[piao liang yu]

What I would recommend is a few pounds of live rock roughly 5 pounds and about 15 or so pounds of dry rock. The live rock will eventually seed the dry rock, just give it time. You can save money this way. And BRS has good prices on their dry rock. I am not sure about the fish. I am currently letting my 20 gallon cycle.

But if i understand correctly, if i get 16 pounds of live rock the tank would be cycled from a biological filter standpoint correct? or do i need to wait until the crushed coral is established? i understand that filtration for saltwater is more for mechanical purposes and does not cycle like freshwater to establish beneficial bacteria in the filters because the biological filtration is already present in live rock???

 

[Tkey3425]

I wouldn't do crushed coral. I'd buy a 20lb bag of Fiji pink live sand from carribsea Especially with gobies since they sift through the sand and burrow.

 

[cgthebeast]

But if i understand correctly, if i get 16 pounds of live rock the tank would be cycled from a biological filter standpoint correct? or do i need to wait until the crushed coral is established? i understand that filtration for saltwater is more for mechanical purposes and does not cycle like freshwater to establish beneficial bacteria in the filters because the biological filtration is already present in live rock???

Yes but it's best to still do the shrimp cycle method just to be safe

 

[Mebbid]

For a CUC I would suggest that you stock it as you need it rather than any basic suggested plan. For example: I have 2 turbos, 5 astreas, 3 cerith, 2 nassarius, and 3 hermits for my 20g with 10g refugium.

As for fish, the gobies are good options as well as shrimp. You could possibly do a porcelain crab in there as well.

Other fish to look at: Harptail blenny, Tail spot blenny, white blenny, and firefish.

 

[piao liang yu]

Ok, well I did not realize I would have such stocking limitations with a 16 gallon, but it does make sense. I have been looking into a 29 gallon biocube or even a 40 gallon tank in general. The biocube would have built in filtration. The 40 would have an ac70. what type of stocking options would be possible for either of these situations?

 

[Mebbid]

With a choice between the 2 I wouldn't hesitate to go with a 40 breeder for a reef tank. Also, I would skip the AC70 and just go with powerheads / live rock for filtration.

Also, in a 40b you have a bunch of options

gobies
Blennys
Reef Safe Wrasses
Clowns
Cardinal Fish
Chromis
Basslets
Mandarin (If the tank is WELL established with TONS of pods)
Jawfish

Or you could skip most of those and get a dwarf lionfish

 

[piao liang yu]

With a choice between the 2 I wouldn't hesitate to go with a 40 breeder for a reef tank. Also, I would skip the AC70 and just go with powerheads / live rock for filtration.

Also, in a 40b you have a bunch of options

gobies
Blennys
Reef Safe Wrasses
Clowns
Cardinal Fish
Chromis
Basslets
Mandarin (If the tank is WELL established with TONS of pods)
Jawfish

Or you could skip most of those and get a dwarf lionfish

so i take it that even a 40b would not suffice for a blue tang? My goal is to have at least a clown and a blue tang. Mostly because my nieces and nephews would really dig it, but to be honest, i am a bit of a nemo fan as well. My issue is space. If i go with a 40b (that is 36" right?) I would need to tear out a book shelf. A 29 biocube would work no problems, but I reckon that really does not open up many stocking options?

 

[Mebbid]

so i take it that even a 40b would not suffice for a blue tang? My goal is to have at least a clown and a blue tang. Mostly because my nieces and nephews would really dig it, but to be honest, i am a bit of a nemo fan as well. My issue is space. If i go with a 40b (that is 36" right?) I would need to tear out a book shelf. A 29 biocube would work no problems, but I reckon that really does not open up many stocking options?

Sadly, Tangs really need a 6ft long tank. Less than that and they usually get stressed out and die. A 29 would open up quite a few options as well, nearly as many as the 40 breeder.

 

[Tkey3425]

The 29 should be the same length as a 40B just not as deep front to back if I remember right. But that's a definite no on the blue hippo. I didn't even want to quarantine mine in my 30 when I got it so I took the risk and put her in my 180 display tank.

 

[Mebbid]

The 29 should be the same length as a 40B just not as deep front to back if I remember right. But that's a definite no on the blue hippo. I didn't even want to quarantine mine in my 30 when I got it so I took the risk and put her in my 180 display tank.

Yikes, that's quite a risk. I'm going to go out of my way to get baby tangs just so I don't have to worry about the size of the QT container. If I'm not mistaken the 29 biocube is a 20" cube compared to the 40b with a 36x18 footprint

 

[Tkey3425]

I didn't see we were talking about bio cubes. Sorry and the only other living animals in it were inverts so if ick broke out it wouldn't affect anything but her and she would go to QT anyway but I got her as a rescue. A guy had her in a 40B and she was 7" when I got her. She hit my 180 and for the first week was like a FW Oscar she would just float in the same spot. Now she races my tomini tang from side to side and hole to hole. About 9" now after two years.