Hey im new here and setting up my first Saltwater tank

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ConvictMan05

Medium Fish
#1
Nov 8, 2005
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#1
Ok i went to petco today and bought all the supplies it is a big hexagon tank.

The guy reccommended these 2 fish

Clownfish ( i want these for sure lol)

Heniochus

I really like both of them and i have everything so the setup is going to begin today. I got this sand its called Natures ocean bio sand it says add fish as soon as u put it in but the guy said to wait 48 hours before putting anything in it but im thinking like a week....

Any tips are appreciated. What type of clown do u reccommend i like tomatos and basically all of them


Thanks

Caleb
 

M

Mushroomman

MFT Staff
#2
Jan 16, 2004
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#2
heniochus butterfly... What size tank is it?

Usually people wait a month or so before adding any fish to allow the tank to fully cycle.

What kind of equiptment are you running (skimmer?), do you have live rock
 

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wayne

Elite Fish
#3
Oct 22, 2002
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Whoa tiger, natures ocean bio sand is not the be all and end all.

Heniochus get pretty big, so you're going to need a pretty large tank (75+). Tell us more about what you have. I would be very wary of trusting anything a person from Petco tells you.
 

1979camaro

1979camaro

Ultimate Fish
#4
Oct 22, 2002
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#4
my first word of caution would be go into this with an excellent understanding of what you are doing...if you rush in without a good sound theoretical understanding you will have a lot of problems

i would reccomend you read some of the sticky posts at the top of this forum as there is a lot of good beginner info there. you should also get ahold of (buy, library, etc) New Marine Aquarium by Mike Paletta as it is a great introduction to the SW world.

i wouldn't rely on the petco guy to get you through this.

a couple more equipment questions: how big is "big" and...are you planning to make this a reef tank? or fish only?
 

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ConvictMan05

Medium Fish
#5
Nov 8, 2005
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#5
The tank

It is a 50 Gallon Hexagon tank. I am kinda not sure i dont want live coral i was thinking like a couple pieces of coral and fish. But no i dont have live rock the guy said i wouldnt need it with the sand. But if i need it i will run back down to cranberry (hour drive) and buy some from a different store. If the Heniochus wouldnt work what would u reccommend to go with a clownfish i want bright colored attractive fish. And if i was looking to get an annonemie what kind would i get? I dont really want stung by it tho lol. Im gonna order a protein skimmer here today. But let me make sure i got the food things i need for clowns. Frozen brine shrimp pellets and marine flake food.


Thanks
sorry about all the questions just want to get it started right.
 

KahluaZzZ

KahluaZzZ

Superstar Fish
#6
Jun 12, 2004
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#6
True and False Percula clowns are very colorful and peaceful fishies.
the guy told ya you wouldn't need rock 'cause you have sand ?? Hmmm...if you had plenty of rocks you wouldn't need sand IMO. Bare bottoms can be easier. So if you have your sand only, you'll have a detritus trap without other biological filtration. The anemone requires good light and aren't easy to keep. Pink tip anemones and carpet ones seems to be popular and clown friendly. BTW clowns do not need anemones. You can't put any fish/inverts until you tank has cycled and hope it'll be ok.
For more info on the nitrogen cycle, please follow this link :
http://faq.thekrib.com/begin-cycling.html
Seriously don't rush ( i did and i had probs ), don't trust this guy at the store
and read the basics. The book mentionned by Camaro is great. He gave me the same advice last year and it was worth it. Also, the conscientious marine aquarist by Bob Fenner is great too, but the hardware section of the book is a little out of date..but the high point of this book is : it points out all the questions you can have..It also tells ya what do you do when you have problems, what could you buy, how to aquascape, what fishies you should get in different setups. Excellent for planification.
Also, a great FAQ site : www.wetwebmedia.com
 

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ConvictMan05

Medium Fish
#7
Nov 8, 2005
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#7
Hey

Ok i will put live rock on my list. But yeah im wondering what will go with true percula clowns but what else can i have? I need to get my doctors foster and smith book and look. Would i be able to add hermit crabs to my tank?
And i will take my time.

Thanks

Caleb


P.S. U guys are very helpfull
 

1979camaro

1979camaro

Ultimate Fish
#8
Oct 22, 2002
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#8
we are here to help :)

you can certainly have hermit crabs in your tank eventually, but all this talk of animals is really putting the cart before the horse. i cannot stress how important it is that you get your basics taken care of before you get animals. it is very premature to be looking into fish food, etc.

the process really needs to go something like this:

tank/equipment -> mix saltwater/get used to the process of maintaining salinity, etc -> live rock/sand -> cycle (wait) -> cleanup crew -> wait -> fish (slowly)

once you have your basic equipment going and your live rock added then it is time to start looking into what fish you may want to keep. broadly, however, most fish can be kept with the percula clowns though you will probably have problems if you mix clowns
 

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wayne

Elite Fish
#9
Oct 22, 2002
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Hermit crabs would be fine, and you'll likely end up with a bunch to clean up algae.

There is an absolue stack of fish choices, but that tank is really too smal for a butterfly. Dwarf angels (Centropyge ) are my fave recommendation, but there are hundreds. Check out some books, websites before buying anything.
 

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ConvictMan05

Medium Fish
#13
Nov 8, 2005
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#13
Hey

i got he salt and water mixed up and the filters running....And the heaters not on but its gonna be. But the sand is in the waters in its starting to clear up the saltinity is at 1.019???? How do i raise it up like 0.001 or dosent it matter? I decided to get true percula clowns and hermit crabs and mabye a start fish. WHat type of starfish would u reccommend?
 

FroggyFox

FroggyFox

Forum Manager
Moderator
#14
May 16, 2003
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#14
You have the fish already?? Or thats what you decided on what you'd LIKE to get when your tank is finished cycling?

Did you get your live rock yet? You're going to want that at least a month before getting fish...

To get the SG up...you add more salt mix... You might want to wait a day or so to test again and make sure that was your real result because it can take quite awhile for the salt to mix in properly (most people age their water change water for 24+ hours)

and just to echo dbacksrat, which skimmer did you decide to go with?
 

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sparker

Medium Fish
#17
Aug 22, 2005
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#17
i think you should wait and let the tank cycle you can decide what fish your gonna get while the tank cycles. i know how hard it is to be patient. in my opinion listen and learn from these guys they aren't going to profit from their opinions and they have been there done that.
 

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