New to salt water.. what fish?

Daniel475 · #1 01-09-2010, 05:03 AM

hey guys im setting up a 30 gallon saltwater tank.. what our some unique salt water fish i can put in there? ive never delt with salt water before

ickmagnet · #2 01-09-2010, 05:23 AM

I was ill-informed when I set up my system and learned the hard way. I just threw in fish there without really knowing anything about them.

The fish that did the best when my tank was new were clowns and damsels. I would maybe get one of each as too many damsels will get crazy aggressive. Also, my coral brand shrimp has been around since my tank started 3 yrs ago.

I wouldn't put anything in there right away. Add some live rock and wait a month or two.

imcosmokramer · #3 01-09-2010, 05:23 AM

what else is going in the tank?
________
Magic flight

edikpok · #4 01-09-2010, 08:42 AM

my livestock in a 29g biocube:

mated pair of black clownfish
yellow wrasse
mated pair of bangaii cardinal
mated pair of shrimps

I wouldn't recommned more than this in a 30g tank. Many people here will claim that I am over-stocked too..... I would start with clowns and damsels as the Magent suggested

Myka · #5 01-09-2010, 02:29 PM

The trouble with Damsels is that they will usually become very aggressive when they get bigger. Some beginner fish for a tank your size I would suggest Clownfish, Orchid Dottyback (others get aggressive, this one is good), Gobies, Pajama or Bluestreak Cardinals, Jawfish. I could probably think of others.

TheKid · #6 01-09-2010, 04:03 PM

Mandarin gobies are a great option as well if you get them onto frozen food, i have personally got 2 in my tank both eating frozen.

ponokareefer · #7 01-09-2010, 05:46 PM

For that size of tank, you can never go wrong with true percula clownfish, skunk clownfish, or ocellaris clownfish. There are different color variations of each that are really nice as well. If you are looking at other types of clownfish, they can get bigger and more aggressive, so you would be less likely to get other smaller/timid fish. As for damsels, they can be great as starter fish, but you will find that they become very aggressive.
For your size of tank, and age, I would stay well clear of mandarins. They recommend much larger mature systems so they can munch on live foods, even if they are taking some frozen foods.

ReefJunkie · #8 01-09-2010, 07:34 PM

Hey Dan,
I have some extra equipment lying around here if you need anything, also you can come by and check out our reef tanks to get an idea of what you're getting into. I am in the process of building a 30 gal frag tank also so by the time you're ready I might have a few frags available for trade or sale. I also have diamond hole saws if you need holes drilled in your tank. Give me a PM and I'll shoot you my #

Eyford01 · #9 01-09-2010, 09:38 PM

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/inde...howtopic=74703

Check out this link, lots of ideas for a smaller tank

Bloodasp · #10 01-09-2010, 09:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by svaningen

Mandarin gobies are a great option as well if you get them onto frozen food, i have personally got 2 in my tank both eating frozen.

Careful with this one though. They are hard to train to eat frozen food. Unless you have a really established copepod population this guys will starve to death. If you do want them make sure you ask the lfs where you are buying it to see if it will accept frozen food.