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Hey everyone!
Okay, I want to set up a 30 gallon tank. It'll be my first salt water tank, and I want to start with just fish and live rock, but maybe later add an anenome and some coral. I haven't decided on what type of filtration or lighting I want to use, but what I'm really lost on is stocking. I've read so many different things on how many inches of fish per gallon, and which ish will fit in a 30 gallon tank that I'm extremely confused. The fish I'm considering right now are:

2 percula clowns
purple firefish
royal gramma
3 stripe damsel
mandarin

I realize I can't have all of these fish, and that if I did get a mandarin it wouldn't be until a year or so after the tank is set up, but besides that, any good combination suggestions would be appreciated. Also, how many gallons would a tank to need to be to house all of these fish plus and minus a yellow tang.

Then for lighting, I think I'm going to start with florescent lights, and if I decide to upgrade to a reef, I'll buy metal halide lights. How many watts of florescent lighting do you think that I need, and do I need a canopy, or can I wait until I buy the more expensive lights to purchase one?

Then finally for the filtration, I think I want to include a protien skimmer(if you think I need one for a 30 gallon), a HOB filter for the big pieces of stuff, and 1 or 2 powerheads. I would really appreciate advice on what brands of equipment you think work well. I've seen so many that I'm not sure which to pick!

Thanks so much and sorry I've got so many questions


Last edited by saltygirl21 at 07-Dec-2004 22:04

I would drop the damsel,it will just become a problem.

The Manderine will need alot of live rock to provide enough food.I am going to get one in a few months and I should be up to 125lbs of live rock by then,"including the refugium contents."

The Tang should go in a 100g or better.I have one in a 75g and I feel like he would enjoy the extra room since its such an active swimmer.

I would suggest two small clowns and either the Firefish or the Royal Gramma for the 30.
You don't need a canopy right away but the Firefish are jumpers so you could use egg crate for now.
FO or FOWLR 1 to 2 watts per gallon will do fine.

Last edited by fishheadfred at 08-Dec-2004 05:15

Some of the cardinal fish are nice addditions. They are peaceful to the point of being shy and cool looking. A good small goby would be nice and they are fun to watch and will help move the sand around.

From what I've read/heard stay away from the manderian fish. It takes a ton of LR to keep them healthy and well fed otherwise they slowly starve over a few months

One of my LFS actually has a few in their coral tanks but won't sell them for just such a reason.

Most damsels can be aggressive and thus might limit your choice of fish or cause eventual problems.

The clowns are often recommended, but IMO after the Nemo movie they're a bit of a cliche. I think that there are other cool fish to get. (I have nothing against clownfish, I just get tired of hearing EVERYONE saying "it's Nemo" everytime they see one.


Last edited by webbstock at 09-Dec-2004 16:40

That mandrin isnt goin to work unless u setup a fuge, 90% don't accept prepared foods, the eat the stuff that is on LR, but that can quickly be gone, u need a system to feed ur system, something fish can't get into, im talking refugium with LR and macroalgae to seed ur main tank with constantly feeding the mandrin. If not he will die in a couplemonths. But he is a great fish i mean i would love to have one too but my lil 30g is just a tad small to setup a fuge, well i could but its gonna be on pedestal stand and not really place to have fuge that can keep cats out of

Since no one has touched on the lighting, I thought I would put my two cents in. I would not recommend the flourescents, but rather PC's. For a tank of 30 gals., it would not be that expensive, and you would not really have to upgrade if you decided to go to a reef system. Many people recommend the T-5's and VHO's, but I always thought that for the price, you can't beat the quality you get from the PC's. With the PC, you would be able to get the 50/50 (one half tube is 10K, the other is Actinic) tube, of up to 96 watts.

John

Yes, the Mandarin needs a tank size of at least 90gal, and established at least 1 year before putting one in the tank.

As for you tank, I would suggest the clowns, if bought as a pair only. If you get two seperate clowns, they may already have turned female, and they will fight until one dies. If you are not going to have an anemone or some kind of coral they can house themselves in, I would more suggest you get just a single clown fish for that tank. Then I would not suggest the damsel, as they can get rather large for that tank, 5 inches, and they can become very aggressive as they get older/larger. So, I would suggest 2-3 of the fire fish, or 2-3 of the royal grammas.

HTH....

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There is always a bigger fish...

yea, but she's not keeping corals, not yet anyway. Butyeahe's right in order to keep things living on LR gonna need some goodlighting a min. of 2-3w per gallon. Lookon ebay can get some cheap lighting there.

mandarines can be trained to take prepared food, they do not need huge tanks to live if they are well trained to take other prepared food.

My lfs proved it to me by actually showing me their mandarines eating frozen brine shrimp...as long as the food lands on the floor, they will go for it

Most all mandarins will eat anything you put into the tank. The problem is they will still starve. The reason is, they need copapods to survive. The tank needs to be large in order to house enough copapods to keep a continuing source of these for the fish to survive. Mandarins will live for months on prepared, frozen, or feeze dried foods, but will eventually die due to lack of nutrition. With the proper set up, and proper required foods, a mandarin will live for many years in a tank.

In the end, it is up to you as to wether you want to attempt such a fish, live or die.

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There is always a bigger fish...