saltwater or reef?????

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zach119

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Apr 24, 2005
Messages
168
Location
rockford illinois
i know there is a few different types of tanks i can set up! what kinds are there and could someone please describe them to me and what would be the best setup for a 30 gal tank and just a couple of fish?
 
there is Fish Only (FO) which is exactly what it sounds like, Fish Only With Live Rock (FOWLR) which is fish and Live Rock, and Reef which has Corals as well. Let us know what type you want and well try and help you out.
 
i want to get a snowflake eel prolly a clownfish that looks like nemo lol and i saw this fish at the lfs and it was really need it was about 5 inches long and verytall and it seemed to go to the corners of this tank and i would see it -puff up a lil bit and literally blow the corners of the tank and then it would search for food and grab it but it was not a puffer fish i think it was a triggerfish im not sure though but i would like one of those too and thats prolly it cuz i only have a 30 gallon tank ya know...
 
First off, if you get a snowflake eel he will eat your clownfish, you need to decide if you want a preditor tank (lionfish, eel, trigger), or community tank (clowns, gobies, tangs). You are severely limited with the amount of fish you can add. You can probably get away with a couple of clowns and gobies. To get a good idea go to www.liveaquaria.com and look at the fish, try and stay with marine fish for begginers. The good thing about liveaquaria is they tell you the recommended size of the tank you should have, for example, most tangs are 50-75+ . I beleive in a 30 gallon you can get away with a dwarf angel which is pretty cool. Also look at the compatability chart to get an idea of what you can keep together. Also check out the articles section of this forum, and read as many threads as you can, you dont want to jump into this. I researched night and day on this forums for at least a month before buying anything. As for equipment you are gonna need powerheads, heaters, protein skimmers are recommended, and some sort of filtration, i use liverock and a deep sand bed as my filtration method, some uses some sort of filter, really depends on where your heading. If your serious about this i would get a bigger tank, i got a 50 and am already regretting not getting a bigger tank, plus you success would be better witha bigger tank, more fish, and a better variety of fish you can add. Good luck and keep us posted.
 
you know how in fw tanks u need a filter to agetate the top of the water to oxygenize it? its not the same with sw?, where you dont need surface agitation for the fish?, ive been reading alot of people say they dont have any filters in their tanks, all they use is lr
 
i dont have any filter in my tank, i have 50 lbs of Liverock, it is a natural filter, it is recommended to have 1-2 lbs per gallon. You do need movement however, i beleive it 10x the amount of gallons you have, therefor i got two maxijet 1200 powerheads that pump 295 gph each, so for 50 gallons that is more then enough. HTH
 
i just reallly like that eel and this 30 gallon im getting for free just until i move out of my house im only 20 and planning on moving out soon so id like to the hang of the saltwater tihng before i move out then i plan on getting like 220 gallon tank so id like to get a hang of the hobby of keeping saltwater fish
 
well this is def. the place to learn, this is where i learned. I think snowflakes are cool as well, but i would scratch that idea, i just checked and they need a minimus size of 50 gallons. As suggestions for you i would get some liverock, maybe two clowns and a dwarf angel. HTH.
 
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