To fix a rookie mistake

[French Darts]

Well, not just one mistake. I am currently living in an apartment and my roommates the other day returned from Wal-Mart of all places with a fish tank (10g I think), and set it up with saltwater. Anyway I realized that saltwater is probably harder than dropping a goldfish in water and began to research, and realizing that we were in trouble found a lfs and bought 5 lbs of live rock. In the tank there is: 1 red leg hermit, 1 scarlet cleaner shrimp, 1 decorator crab, and 1 valentini puffer. All seem to be doing well for the 2 weeks of so in there.

My question is, with live rock, crushed shells or something substrate, a decent filter for a 30 gal tank, and these animals, what can we expect in the next couple months? None of us knew that a tank was supposed to be set up ect before fish.

Anyway this hobby is awesome can't get enough reading about it. Might look to get a 55g or something in the future once I'm prepared. But if anyone can help with the current situation that would be swell thanks.

P.S. How regularly and what should the decorator crab be eating?

 

[mr.elcajon]

honestly, its best to research saltwater before u get into it. i do know the bigger the tank the easier it is to keep the water parameters stable. my opinion would be dont add anything elso to ur tank. buy some books, look online, do some research first. if not it could be a costly experience down the road.

 

[rdreed]

You can get alot of tips from the thread "The Nano Reef: A Step by Step Guide" that can be found in the "Nano Saltwater Discussion" category. In my opinion, if you can and are able to monitor your water quality daily and keep your saltwater within stable ranges in a smaller tank it takes less time and money, and I think that if you can do it to a small tank then a larger tank will be easier for you to take care of later on. Starting small is like skipping grade school and high school and going straight to college - if you can pass the college courses then all the other stuff is gravy!! Don't get me wrong, I'm just starting saltwater myself, but I have done quite a bit of research and this forum is a good help. My starter saltwater tanks are an Eclipse 12 Gallon and a 2.5 Gallon Quarantine tank. And you'll need a quarantine tank sometime in the future. Good Luck!!