Ready to Start Picking Stock...

[stepho725]

Okay so I am definitely going to be getting a 20-29g tank to start my first SW tank.
I will have real Red Sea salt and gorgeous live rock and sand from a local store.
I will not have a filter because the guy says I will only need a powerhead and the live rock & sand will do all my filtering for me.
So - anyways ...I want to get my boyfriend psyched by showing him some of the creatures we will be able to choose from.
The lfs was in the middle of moving tanks around so they didn't have lots to show me but the guy was saying seahorses and cow fish at which I laughed cuz I know they are very difficult to keep. So could I maybe get a couple of ideas from you all of fish I can actually keep in a Nano?
Thankssss!

 

[marty20]

Hey congratulations on taking the leap but I would suggest running a hob filter on it just because I like to run the carbon for the water polishing. Just a suggestion. Next you could use liveaquaria.com as a good source of ideas and great pictures to show him. If you're going to have corals too it can help explain their care requirements. Its all up to your personal preference on stocking though. Have fun

 

[stepho725]

Hey congratulations on taking the leap but I would suggest running a hob filter on it just because I like to run the carbon for the water polishing. Just a suggestion. Next you could use liveaquaria.com as a good source of ideas and great pictures to show him. If you're going to have corals too it can help explain their care requirements. Its all up to your personal preference on stocking though. Have fun

Oh this guy says he is anti-any chemicals and does all natural so it replicates natural waters as much as possible. And he said this sand will keep my water crystal clear. Of course i could always go against his wishes if i choose....
So I can add fish from Fiji and fish from Hawaii in the same tank? Just curious if I need to start with a geographic area first or just whatever I want?
How difficult are scallops?

 

[marty20]

Oh no don't get me wrong the love rock and sand are extremely important in maintaining a healthy tank but I run the carbon as like a bonus I guess. I have never kept scallops because I heard they will make a mess of the sand bed and in a small tank it'll be really annoying only seeing sand clouds instead of fish. About the geographic areas its okay to mix as far as I know as long as they are compatible personality wise. The parameters are for the most part the same for fish.

 

[stepho725]

Oh no don't get me wrong the love rock and sand are extremely important in maintaining a healthy tank but I run the carbon as like a bonus I guess. I have never kept scallops because I heard they will make a mess of the sand bed and in a small tank it'll be really annoying only seeing sand clouds instead of fish. About the geographic areas its okay to mix as far as I know as long as they are compatible personality wise. The parameters are for the most part the same for fish.

Thanks for your help. I will take a look. About how many fish can I add? And how about inverts?

 

[marty20]

I love inverts. I have my starfish and hermit crabs. I even have a couple.snails. and also I feel that fish is something you have to judge based off your fish and their actions. Slowly stocking your tank will help to allow the tank to handle the bioload. I guess if I really had to give a number I would say no more than 4 fish in a 20 gal and that's if they are all smaller

 

[stepho725]

I love inverts. I have my starfish and hermit crabs. I even have a couple.snails. and also I feel that fish is something you have to judge based off your fish and their actions. Slowly stocking your tank will help to allow the tank to handle the bioload. I guess if I really had to give a number I would say no more than 4 fish in a 20 gal and that's if they are all smaller

Yes I've been doing a huge amount of research. I basically spent the day yesterday reading up on nano systems.
Thanks again for your help!
I think I will go with a pair of ocellarius clowns, a firefish, and a goby of some sort....I am probably going to go with a 25-29g.
Still searching CL for a great deal but if not then my lfs has layaway soooo we'll see!