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.

globaldesigns · #7 01-09-2010, 10:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by edikpok

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

I agree with you, size is a restriction to what you can have for species, but also for numbers. I started with a 28 JBJ, and did everything possible to maximize my fish population, but again size just has restrictions. For a healthy tank and happy fish, keep the numbers down, but have some nice fish.

Maybe look at:
- six line wrasse
- coris wrasse
- flame angel (very nice and would work in this tank, but if you have coral, you do take a chance of it nipping at it)
- 2 purple firefish
- 2 bangaii cardinals

having all of the above again will push things, but should be fine if you keep on top of things. If you were to remove some, I would maybe go with the above without the purpe firefish.

Six line wrasses are beautiful, they have crazy eyes that show alot of personality. I loved mine, but he got sucked into a skimmer when moved to my bigger tank. Poor guy, he was one of my favorites.

Starry · #8 01-10-2010, 01:24 AM

Cant go wrong with 3-4 blue/green chromises...not only are they pretty fish, they school. That, and a pair of clowns should give your tank lots of activity.

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