New to marine... Help!!

[Sixkidz]

Hi all, I will be taking delivery of my new 50 litre marine tank on Saturday... The tank has been set up with live rock, a couple of hermits and a couple of snails, the previous owner is leaving these in the tank which has be set up for six months (he has upgraded!) he did have a couple of fish in the tank but these have been transported to new tank... Could someone tell me how long to leave the tank for before introducing any new fish?? What fish are good to start with? Do I need more clean up crew? Son what's a clown fish, is this a good fish for a beginner? One or two fish at once? Any advice will be gratefully received

 

[Dano.]

First of all congrats and welcome to the hobby! Really the clean up crew size depends on the amount of fish you plan to have in the future, i.e. more fish poo more that needs to be cleaned up. Clownfish are a great starter fish they are very hardy. If you want a pair you should introduce them to the tank together, hopefully when they are little. They will pair up and one will become the female and the smaller one will be the male. Firefish are another great starter fish. Just remember that when you start adding fish to your tank you want to make sure they are suitable to be around the fish you already have so attached below is a compatability chart. As far as how long you wait to add fish, you should read up on the nitrogen cycle so there is another link below. if the tank was moved properly it might not have to recycle, but might want to observe the ammonia, nitrates, nitrites for a week or so to make sure your all good to go. Hope the info helps!



Saltwater Aquarium Fish Compatibility Chart

What is the Nitrogen (Cycle) Cycling Process? - The Nitrogen Cycle in a Marine Saltwater Aquarium

 

[joy13]

You will need to get a liquid test kit for nitrates, nitrites and ammonia. It is difficult to say when you can put fish in your tank safely. When your ammonia and nitrites reaches 0 to test it I always feed the tank a little for a few days to see if it stays at 0 then do a water change and add my first fish. A clown is a good beginner fish but your tank is only half half the size it should be to keep on. You can check on gobies but they don't swim in the water column. Nano Fish

 

[CleverBs]

50 liters is only 13 gallons and depending on how much rock you have and what not you will probably end up with about 10 gallons at most I would think. Not enough room for clowns IMO and if there were clowns there wouldn't be able to be other fish in it because they are a type of damsel and are rather aggressive especially in a small system like that. I have 2 in a 25 gallon tank and the only fish they leave alone is my scooter Blenny.

 

[Sixkidz]

Thanks for all your info, I will upgrade to a bigger tank in say 6 months this will be just will I learn what to do and to make sure I am comfortable with it, I have some testing strips so as suggested will keep testing water and feed to tank for a couple for weeks to make sure everything is stable, was only looking at a couple of fish maximum due to size of tank... I will no doubt be back on here asking for more help when I get stuck, thanks guys!