*Saltwater Aquarium Enthusiast*

LoveJC03

LoveJC03

Reef Enthusiast
Hi my boyfriend and I are brand new to saltwater aquariums. We just love how they look and have always wanted one. Recently, we got a 30 gallon aquarium and decided that we want to start a saltwater aquarium! We don't really know alot.. so I joined this forum so that we can learn all that we need to know.

We plan on having live rock and some coral.

We're thinking maybe 2 clownfish, a bi-color angel, 2 chromis.. not too sure yet though. Definitely, a cleaner shrimp & some snails. Maybe a starfish. We also want to get an anemone.
 
Welcome! First of all, be sure to take your time with your new saltwater aquarium. You won't be able to rush things and add fish as quickly as you may have done with freshwater.

Be sure to read all the articles here: New to Reefkeeping

You also may have a few too many fish planned for your tank, but others will chime in. Either way, you'll want to wait at least a year to add an anemone. If you add one to soon and it dies, you may lose your entire tank. Definitely not worth it!
 
Thanks ;) We're going to be buying things that we need piece by piece. What's a good start or amount of fish that we should add? Do clownfish need an anemone right away?

We definitely don't want anything to die!
 
Clownfish never need an anemone in a home aquarium. My clown is several years old and he's never had one. Most of us reefers have clowns with no anemone.
 
Lizardgi said:
Clownfish never need an anemone in a home aquarium. My clown is several years old and he's never had one. Most of us reefers have clowns with no anemone.
Click to expand...

Oh, well that's informative. I like the anemones and the videos I've seen on youtube.. it seems that the clownfish like them. I think we'll get one later.
 
Last edited:
Hello and Welcome!

There is no guarantee that your clowns will be hosted by a nem even if you get on for them.

Also you are limited to 3 at most 4 fish in your tank (one small fish for every 10 gallons). Also not every fish will fit in every tank, make sure that the fish you do get will live happily in the smaller tank. But there is no limit on corals or other inverts, so you can go crazy with them!

Here are few articles i think you will find helpful:
https://www.livingreefs.com/water-chemistry-t31270.html
https://www.livingreefs.com/basic-equipment-list-t19611.html
https://www.livingreefs.com/why-using-tap-water-bad-idea-t19865.html
https://www.livingreefs.com/ideal-books-reef-keepers-t19535.html
https://www.livingreefs.com/cycling-tank-adding-fish-and-corals-t26452.html

Dont forget to check out all the other treads, stickies and articles! They have tons of valuable info in them!
 
little_fish said:
Hello and Welcome!

There is no guarantee that your clowns will be hosted by a nem even if you get on for them.

Also you are limited to 3 at most 4 fish in your tank (one small fish for every 10 gallons). Also not every fish will fit in every tank, make sure that the fish you do get will live happily in the smaller tank. But there is no limit on corals or other inverts, so you can go crazy with them!

Here are few articles i think you will find helpful:
https://www.livingreefs.com/water-chemistry-t31270.html
https://www.livingreefs.com/basic-equipment-list-t19611.html
https://www.livingreefs.com/why-using-tap-water-bad-idea-t19865.html
https://www.livingreefs.com/ideal-books-reef-keepers-t19535.html
https://www.livingreefs.com/cycling-tank-adding-fish-and-corals-t26452.html

Dont forget to check out all the other treads, stickies and articles! They have tons of valuable info in them!
Click to expand...

Thanks! Who knows we made decide on a 55 gallon lol, my bf keeps talking about seahorses. We do want lots of rock and corals :)
 
Hello, and Welcome! :D

To start things off, bear in mind that a bicolor angelfish (or any angelfish) should not be kept in aquariums less than 6 months old. Your bicolor will likely decimate your corals in short order. In terms of the chromis, they are very peaceful, but not to each other. I do not recommend keeping less than 5 chromis because each fish will get a fair amount of harassment from the dominant fish. If you keep 2, the lesser chromis will be harassed to death. Most starfish will die in the home aquarium because they are specialized in diet. The red linkia starfish is a hardy reef safe option, but it still requires an established aquarium. With anemones, you can keep them, but you wil need at least a year of experience. Remember that when anemones die, (which is likely) they will release their stinging cells and nuke the whole tank. You can use frogspawn or leather corals as safer alternatives.

Good Luck, and ask as many questions as you need to. :D
 
LoveJC03 said:
Thanks ;) We're going to be buying things that we need piece by piece. What's a good start or amount of fish that we should add? Do clownfish need an anemone right away?

We definitely don't want anything to die!
Click to expand...

Welcome to the reefs and no they dont need an anemone at all. My clown loves my frogspawn coral but they will pretty much hug on anything that is soft or cuddly.
 
howdy and welcome to the site...:D
a clown will host whatever it likes.. Mine went straight for a powerhead in the tank..
 
Live Rock said:
Hello, and Welcome! :D

To start things off, bear in mind that a bicolor angelfish (or any angelfish) should not be kept in aquariums less than 6 months old. Your bicolor will likely decimate your corals in short order. In terms of the chromis, they are very peaceful, but not to each other. I do not recommend keeping less than 5 chromis because each fish will get a fair amount of harassment from the dominant fish. If you keep 2, the lesser chromis will be harassed to death. Most starfish will die in the home aquarium because they are specialized in diet. The red linkia starfish is a hardy reef safe option, but it still requires an established aquarium. With anemones, you can keep them, but you wil need at least a year of experience. Remember that when anemones die, (which is likely) they will release their stinging cells and nuke the whole tank. You can use frogspawn or leather corals as safer alternatives.

Good Luck, and ask as many questions as you need to. :D
Click to expand...

Thanks.. we'll be sure to keep that in mind. Might even upgrade to a 55gallon. That's crazy about the anemones releasing stinging cells if they die.. makes me not even want one! I'll look up those others.
 

Similar threads

Mike
  • Sticky
New Member (Owner 😲)
Replies
0
Views
715
Mike
Mike
F
New to marine.
Replies
2
Views
1K
kbuser92
kbuser92
Mike
We're Back!
Replies
0
Views
644
Mike
Mike
Sashimi
75 gallon LPS 2.0 suggestions
Replies
0
Views
2K
Sashimi
Sashimi
J
Hello everyone! New tank issue @#$!
Replies
9
Views
4K
SarahSmile
SarahSmile
Back
Top