Hi, I am currently considering trying to set up a saltwater tank. I have no real experience taking care of fish and have been told by some that a saltwater tank is too difficult for a true newbie.
So far it seems that the most important stage of setting up a tank is the initial design and ensuring that you have the time and money to actually take care of your fish. I would like to eventually be able to have a larger tank 75 gallons or more designed around an eel but thought that I should probably start out small since I really do not have much of an idea of what I am doing.
So a here comes the questions...
1) How much time does a saltwater tank take to maintain properly, and can it be left alone for periods of a few days? I tend to travel every other weekend and I do not really have anyone to fish sit.
2) How expensive is the initial startup? I am not looking to skimp and want to make sure that I can afford this hobby.
3) What kind of maintaince fees am I looking at? Is there a signficant increase in the electric bill?
I am thinking to start with a 30-40 gallon sized tank, and have started a list of fish that I might like to have.
The fish I am currently considering are:
Carpenter's Flasher Wrasse
Spotted Cardinal Fish
Firefish
Multicolor Lubbock's Wrasse
Banded Possum Wrasse
Fridmani Pseudochromis
A few questions about fish:
1) How many fish can you have in a 30 gallonish tank? I read about the 1 inch per gallon rule but I think I might have misunderstood. Does it mean that I can have a total of 30 inches of fish?
2) The Wrasse are of the same species will that be a problem? From what I read their temperaments are passive.
I would also like to have some corals, the ones I am considering are:
Zoanthid Mushrooms
Button Polyp Green
Yellow Fiji Leather
1) The Zoanthid Mushrooms, and Button Polyp Green are listed as semi aggressive will they be ok together in the same tank?
Well this is basically where I am at on tank design and thoughts, I tried to pick fish and coral that were listed for beginners. I really do not know what else I need to add to this tank besides living rock, so please help me out if you can! Any advice would be greatly appreciated, this looks like a great hobby but I want to make sure I know what I am getting into!
On a final note, if some of this information is listed somewhere else on the site and I have missed it I apologize for the redundancy.
Thanks!!
So far it seems that the most important stage of setting up a tank is the initial design and ensuring that you have the time and money to actually take care of your fish. I would like to eventually be able to have a larger tank 75 gallons or more designed around an eel but thought that I should probably start out small since I really do not have much of an idea of what I am doing.
So a here comes the questions...
1) How much time does a saltwater tank take to maintain properly, and can it be left alone for periods of a few days? I tend to travel every other weekend and I do not really have anyone to fish sit.
2) How expensive is the initial startup? I am not looking to skimp and want to make sure that I can afford this hobby.
3) What kind of maintaince fees am I looking at? Is there a signficant increase in the electric bill?
I am thinking to start with a 30-40 gallon sized tank, and have started a list of fish that I might like to have.
The fish I am currently considering are:
Carpenter's Flasher Wrasse
Spotted Cardinal Fish
Firefish
Multicolor Lubbock's Wrasse
Banded Possum Wrasse
Fridmani Pseudochromis
A few questions about fish:
1) How many fish can you have in a 30 gallonish tank? I read about the 1 inch per gallon rule but I think I might have misunderstood. Does it mean that I can have a total of 30 inches of fish?
2) The Wrasse are of the same species will that be a problem? From what I read their temperaments are passive.
I would also like to have some corals, the ones I am considering are:
Zoanthid Mushrooms
Button Polyp Green
Yellow Fiji Leather
1) The Zoanthid Mushrooms, and Button Polyp Green are listed as semi aggressive will they be ok together in the same tank?
Well this is basically where I am at on tank design and thoughts, I tried to pick fish and coral that were listed for beginners. I really do not know what else I need to add to this tank besides living rock, so please help me out if you can! Any advice would be greatly appreciated, this looks like a great hobby but I want to make sure I know what I am getting into!
On a final note, if some of this information is listed somewhere else on the site and I have missed it I apologize for the redundancy.
Thanks!!