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What would be the best size tank for a beginner SW aquarist? 55 Gallons sound ok? Should I go bigger? Should I go smaller? I would really liek to not go much bigger than 55 gallons though. I have seen 60 gallons, that woudl be ok but thats abotu it. I REALLY want a Clownfish, a yellowhead jawfish, some neon gobies, and whatever else you guys think woudl go well in a 55 gallon tank.

Glad to see another aquarist with an interest in the dark side.

Hmm...the best size tank for a beginner SW aquarist. Thats really all opinion. The thing is, no matter which size tank you choose, ultimately you're gunna wish you had gone bigger.

The best way to pick your tank size is to determine which type of set up you want to do. If you're going to do a fish only tank, a 55 isn't a bad size at all. If you're going to do a FOWLR or reef set up, you def. want to go bigger, considering a 55 gallon isn't wide enough for a big rockscape.

I think nice size tanks are 75's and 90's...but that's just my opinion.

Clownfish, neon gobies, and jawfish are all pretty common and easy to take care of. They should be fine in a 55 and up I believe. But if I'm not mistaking, jawfish really like to burrow and dig, so you're prolly going to want a deep sand bed and lots of hiding places.

Have you done any reading or research on saltwater aquariums? There's a couple of good articles on this site, *cough* General Marine Forum *cough* and there's plenty of excellent books out there too.

May I recommend:

Reef Inverts by Anthony Calfo and Robert Fenner

The PocketExpert Guide to Marine Fishes by Scott W. Michael

The Book of Coral Propagation by Anthony Calfo (and Nate, since I'm sure you're reading this...do you know when volume two is being released???)

There's a few others I like, but I'll have to sift through my library first so I get the titles right. That should get you started.

-Formerly known as the Ferretfish

Very good post Liana

The Foxface is a great fish, but would need to be transfered to a larger tank before it reached its adult size of almost 10 inches...In a 55g tank it wouldnt leave it much room to comfortably turn around.

Have a look through http://marinedepotlive.com/. They have a lot of species and their profiles, while not in depth give a good guide on what would work in your tank based on size of the fish, size of the tank, water quality, and experience levels needed to keep the fish.

1-2 Yellow Head Jawfish
1-2 Yellow Watchman Goby

Putting both of these sand dwelling creatures into your tank might cause some problems with territory. Myself, I would go with a pair of Blue spotted jawfish if it was my tank. Also remember that with jawfish you should have a substrate of 6 inches depth minimum, with different substrates mixed so they can build their burrows....sand, crushed coral, oyster shells, and some smaller pieces of live rock rubble. Without the mix,their burrows wont be sturdy and may cave in on them

Last edited by DarkRealm Overlord at 05-Nov-2005 18:08

Some ideas...! For stocking:

A cool looking, hardy, and largish fish (that also has venomous spines, but its okay I promise) are foxfaces from the rabbitfish family. They're a great beginners fish, and make a nice display IMO.

Another fish I really like, and I think you will too, is the blue/green reef chromis. This is a schooling fish, so the smallest number you should have is 3. They're usually very sweet, have great color, and are very hardy. I think they'd be a great addition to your tank! Cheap too.

Another smallish fish from the damsel family I like is the Talbot damsel. That's the common name we use at my work, idk if it's the most common common name in the trade though. They're pink and yellow, and very pretty.

The sixline wrasse is another cute little fish, bursting with color. They love eating pods and little reef bugs off your live rock. I would make this fish one of the last additions to your tank.

Have you considered any of the dwarf or pygmy angels? The coral beauty and the flame angel are some really pretty fish, that go for reasonable prices in most places. Angels aren't always 100% reef safe though, so if you're thinking about corals...

Some common and cool inverts I'd look into are sally lite foot crabs, emerald green crabs, blood shrimp, cleaner shrimp, coral banded shrimp, brittle stars, serpent stars and snails. Google some of these, or find them in a book. They're all pretty hardy providing you can give them the proper tank conditions.

If you end up getting corals, you're going to have to make sure the lights you purchase for the tank are strong enough to support them.

HTH a bit...




-Formerly known as the Ferretfish

The Neon Gobies: I jsut really like the way they look, then again I also like neon tetras, and cardinal tetras. I guess I just like those little delicate fish.... Go figure. I am going to research all these guys as soon as I finish researching the tank set up itself. Like I said, I am COMPLETELY new to SW tanks. I am sure that there are other fish that I would be interested in, I just haven't found one that "floats my boat" in a matter of speaking. I also know that the neon gobies are cleaner fish and would be good for the tank and other fish in the tank as well. That is another reason I wanted them. I was going to put some inverts and such in the tank but I found out thats a little more difficult than I thought, so I decided to stick with a FOWLR tank for right now. I am sure I will end up putting something like that in there in a few months. I really don't want to do too much at once and screw things up. I have a tendiency to dive into things without checking them out first and I do not want to do that this time.
I will definitely be researching all the fish I plan on putting in the tank so no worries baout that. Is there another fish you suggest that would be better than the Neon Gobies?
I know this is really a lot of small fish in a big tank, but I figure that would be the safest way. Plus I jsut really like these guys! I like lots of smaller fish in a larger tank. That is just the way I am. I do that with my FW tanks as well. In my 25 gallon I am going to have 2-3 schools of smaller tetras in there and a school of cories.... I am having some trouble with my FW tank at them moment so I am trying to fix things before I go any further.
Would I be able to put any more fish into this tank eventually? I would like something else liek the clowns, maybe a different type of clown? Is there another type of fish that actually swimss around since I have the goby and the jawfish hangin around in the sand and the little gobies swimmin around and the 2 clowns swimmin around. What else could/should I put in there? Eventually I want to add some coral. I really like the mushroom polyps and things like that so please keep that in mind. I also want to add maybe a starfish(depending on how difficult these guys are to handle, I haven't looked into them yet) and some other inverts liek snails and some shrimp. Is there anything you think would be good to start with in these categories?



Christina

Neon blue gobies just never fare well IMO. They're so tiny, delicate and fragile when they come in...half the time they never make it, and even if they do, you'll almost never see them in a four foot tank, so why bother?

Why dont you pick something else that you'll get to see a little more? Are you interested in any other fish?

And have you done your research on jawfish?

-Formerly known as the Ferretfish

I am looking for his books still, I saw one today at an LFS i went to today but the book was like 35 bucks. I am going to look on half.com or somewhere like that.

BTW I think I have a list of the fish I want in my tank

2 Black Onyx Percula Clowns
2 Neon Blue Gobies
1-2 Yellow Head Jawfish
1-2 Yellow Watchman Goby

Any suggestions on this list?
Any Suggestions on anytihng else for that matter...



Christina

I would still recommended Calfo's books. You can buy them online for a good price at Amazon.com He's the God of this hobby, and the only person I'd venture to call an expert.

-Formerly known as the Ferretfish

Ok, I have Saltwater Aquariums for dummies. What do you guys think about The Idiot's Guide to Saltwater Aquariums?



Christina

Would they live in a cave? I guess what I am trying to find out would be, do they have to have something liek coral, which I am not planning on having anytime soon or an anemone or a cave or something else to live in, or can they just live in the water without that stuff?



Christina

Clownfish don't need anemones to thrive. In fact, oftentimes captive-bred clownfish will refuse to host in an anemone. They do not recognize it as neccesary for their survival. Wild clowns cannot live without a host anemone, but clownfish are typically not in danger of predation in a fish tank. An anemone-less clown will sometimes take a coral for a host, but other times they'll just find a non-living refuge to call home.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

Will the clownfish be ok without an anemone? Don't they need them to make a home? What else could I use for that besides an anemone? Do they live caves or anything like that? I am VERY new to the "Dark Side" I am trying to learn.

As for the LR i will proabably just start with 55 lbs and see how that looks then add more after I get an idea of how it looks. Matty your tank is AWESOME looking. I hope mine looks that good when i get mine up and running. I am planning on having a jawfish just like yours in my tank.
I will probably start a post when I start mine up so you guys can help me out some more. Please keep the information coming!

By the way, I forgot to mention that I did read the post on starting up a marine tank thoroughly before i made the final decision to go for this. I am looking for the books you suhhested in this post and a few some other people suggested in other posts.


Christina

I would love to have an anemone for my clownfish as well.

Then plan on buying metal Halide lighting(read as $$$$$). Anemones need a great deal of lighting to do well in captivity.

How much LR do I need for a 55 gallon tank?

As much as you can afford. You can't really overdo live rock, unless it starts to take away from the actual volume of water. A very general rule is about a pound per gallon. This doesn't apply to very dense or very porous rock, however. I first purchased 30ish lbs of LR for my 30G tank - then ended up buying another 15 or so lbs. because it still looked empty.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Ok, I took my first major step. I purchased a 55 gallon aquarium on Ebay. I also went an bought the Dummies Guide to Salt Water Aquariums. I heard this is also a goo dbook. I could not find the books you suggested yet, but I will keep looking. I have always been fascinated by fish, especially SW fish. After reading the first 2 chapters of the book last night, it was late I made myself stop because I knew I had to get up and come to work in the morning. I have decided on a FOWLR tank. I didnt not even know what this meant until last night I woke up and it hit me in the middle of the night. DUH! Anyway, I have some ideas on some fish so far. I will not actually start up the tank until a few months from now I want to make sure I know enough to start. Like I said before I DEFINITELY want clown fish. I would really like to have a jawfish and some neon blue gobies as well. If anyone has any suggestions or objections on my choices please let me know now, or forever hold your peace . Eventually I woulf like to add a few inverts but after reading that book I decided I do not want to take on too much at one. I would love to have an anemone for my clownfish as well. How much LR do I need for a 55 gallon tank? Like I said I am going to plan ALL of this out before I even start so I just need to make some lists.
BTW Thank you for all your help so far!


Christina

Now that gymnastics season has wound down, I might actually have some time for free reading. I'll think about it.

I haven't finished the reef notes series yet, I'm about half way through. I love Sprung, his writing is so comical.

The last book you said...I dont own that one. I see a new addition to my library. I'll order that later this week.



-Formerly known as the Ferretfish

True, I do have to say that you have poured a lot of time and energy into researching...but finish the book! The whole book is good, and you find something new and interesting in it all the time. Ive read the whole book probably a dozen times and still find stuff that I didnt catch when I read it before.

Another book that is a good read is Ultimate marine aquariums by Paletta.....Its only interesting to see how varied a successful tank is set up and ran.

No! I did finish it...I just skipped parts that didn't interest me, so I could pay more attention to the ones that did. For example...I dont really need to know how to build my own coral greenhouse...gimme a break I'm 16. You gotta give me props...how many other 16 year old girls do you know that even have HEARD of that book, more or less own it, or have read it?!

...

Yeah that's what I thought.

-Formerly known as the Ferretfish

shame on you for not finishing it! Geesh

Ohh good. Please do!

I'm not sure I even finished the first one all the way through now that I think about it...I concentrated more on the parts regarding SPS and clams.

pssstt...nice ava

-Formerly known as the Ferretfish

Book 2....dont know when it will be out, but I will ask him when I talk to him next

Hey anyone out there that is jsut REALLY bored and would want to come over and take me out to get all the SW supplies I would need to start up a SW tank? No?... Darn!

Well then can I get everyone to pitch in and give me some ideas? What are your favorite SW products? I wanna know whats the best and the worst from everyone PLEASE!!! I REALLY want to start up a SW but I need your help!
What would be the best size tank for a beginner SW aquarist? 55 Gallons sound ok? Should I go bigger? Should I go smaller? I would really liek to not go much bigger than 55 gallons though. I have seen 60 gallons, that woudl be ok but thats abotu it. I REALLY want a Clownfish, a yellowhead jawfish, some neon gobies, and whatever else you guys think woudl go well in a 55 gallon tank. I do not have anything yet because I want to do it right! Please help me out!!!



Christina