Ready for fish

[angiorn]

Hi all, my 30 gallon half-moon sw tank is cycled and ready for fish. My largest live rock has at least 6 or 7 kenya tree sprouts on it. I know that I can only have a few fish. I am looking for opinions and suggestions for which fish and what order. I am an absolute beginner, so not too expensive. I really like the tribal blennie, not a fan of damsels and am considering true clowns so that someday I can add a frogspawn. I have Marineland led's, a Marineland canister tank 360, a Koralia powerhead 750 and a heater. I have 35lbs of live rock and 40 lbs of live sand. I don't have the specific testing #'s, the fish store tested for me and said I am ready to go. Added more live rock yesterday to bring total to 35, now waiting one more week to make sure all is stable. I figured I'd spend that week researching fish....so fire away! Thanks, Julie.

[joy13]

These are some of my favorite fish for a tank that size royal gramma, sixline wrasse, filament wrasse, midas blenny, tail spot blenny, clown goby, or firefish goby. Remember it isn't the size only you need to consider but the bio load my clown is a messy eater compared to my royal gamma so I consider the clown as a bigger bio load even if they are about the same size.

It is best to get your own test kits for ammonia, nitrates and nitrites so you can test anytime you feel the need. API makes a good liquid test.

[angiorn]

I do have a kit that tests for ammonia, phosphates, nitrate and nitrate, calcium. Need one for ph, tho. Just haven't put them to use yet...didn't see the need until there were some fish. Is the max number of fish really between 3 and 5? My ideal list would be the tribal blenny, 2 clowns and a school of chromis...not sure how many?

[angiorn]

OK...I have rearranged my rock, hopefully for the last time! It has been soooo hard given the shape of my tank. Only a few parts of rock are touching glass, but it is very stable. Still looking for fish and in what order...thanks, Julie.

[angiorn]

Tested water today, zero nitrates, ph 8.0, phosphates 0.25, calcium 360, zero ammonia. I don't have a spectrometer yet, so I don't know the salinity. Temp 77-78 degrees.

[carey]

It's looking good, can't wait to see some fish in there!

[sdergar]

It looks good but you definitely need to check the salinity. And test for nitrites as well. Don't rush as you will only get disappointed. Do you have a qt setup?

[angiorn]

Lfs tested nitrites for me, said OK. I am stopping in tomrrow for more testing supplies and another powerhead. I have been reading about qt tanks, but don't have one yet. My plan is to add my first two fish, then when I do my first water change, swipe a piece of lr and use that water to start qt tank, if that's absolutely necessary. I can understand the need when you have a very large display tank, but not so sure for a pair of clowns and some chromis.

[kurtyboh]

yeah I dont think I'll have a qt either, extra work for hopefully not adding any more fish after my initial few

[carey]

Hiya Julie.

i don't have a SW qt right now myself. My qt became a regular tank for a paralized cichlid. lol

I think you should pick up the testing kits for the nitrites just so you don't have to rely on the LFS. The master kit is pretty cheap but I think you already have some testing kits?

[angiorn]

So, my tank is no longer empty! I have a few green chromis, a royal gramma (thank you, Joy) and a fire shrimp. Carey, I liked your black and white clowns so much that I have my store on the lookout for me. Just waiting on the blenny, I like the canary one or a scooter, not sure which, but no good choices at the lfs today. Pic to follow when they stop hiding!

[Swimzebras]

Scooter blenny probably a bad idea, I believe they are as picky as mandarins, so I'd go with a canary cuz they're not too tough.

[carey]

Cool. Looking forward to seeing the new fish! I'm thinking royal gramma myself but I'm hearing aggression talk about him. :-(

[Rosenweiss]

Originally Posted by angiorn

Tested water today, zero nitrates, ph 8.0, phosphates 0.25, calcium 360, zero ammonia. I don't have a spectrometer yet, so I don't know the salinity. Temp 77-78 degrees.

Quick question: I'm really only familiar with freshwater, but are you sure you should have 0 nitrates in a fully cycled tank, even with saltwater...?

[Swimzebras]

It's surprising......I'm not sure why that is, are you sure there was a cycle? Does you test kit work?

[carey]

Interesting catch....i didnt notice that. Either theres a test kit error, she is really really good with pwc's or theres a cycling issue. Maybe they are just really low.

My api kit doesnt register my nitrates but my red sea does cause it goes down to smaller amounts

[Rosenweiss]

Wow, saltwater definitely seems more complicated than freshwater. o.o There doesn't seem to be much of a noticeable difference between no cycle and a completed cycle! Also, and this may sound stupid, if you don't want a noticeable level of nitrates in a SW, why do you cycle? I thought cycling was specifically for creating good bacteria, which registers as nitrates.

[carey]

But if there werent nitrates there would be ammonia and/or nitrites. Each tank has to build up a healthy colony so that the job gets done. Zero nitrates are possible but unlikely. There usually is some un detectable amount or else you would have ammonia and nitrite spikes. At least this is how i see it.

[Rosenweiss]

Ohhh, good point... the ammonia would build up, I suppose. But that's only after you have fish in it...

[joy13]

Originally Posted by angiorn

So, my tank is no longer empty! I have a few green chromis, a royal gramma (thank you, Joy) and a fire shrimp. Carey, I liked your black and white clowns so much that I have my store on the lookout for me. Just waiting on the blenny, I like the canary one or a scooter, not sure which, but no good choices at the lfs today. Pic to follow when they stop hiding!

The canary blenny isn't as hardy as a midas blenny, they look very similar but the midas looks like it is wearing eyeshadow and always smiling, that is how my sons friend describes mine. A scooter blenny isn't a good choice for most tanks since they need live food very few will eat prepared foods.

I really like your tank.