New to Saltwater - So Many Questions!

[River]

Wow, thanks all for the responses - wasn't really expecting that! Good to know about the ph. I do have a skimmer but it's not running yet. I did a dumb right off the bat and need to wait until after a water change or two to get it going. (Ran out of ro water and figured a couple gallons of tap water wouldn't hurt. Stress Coat did though. Won't be making that mistake again!)

I'm just headed to work though, so I'll put up a better reply on my break. Just wanted to say thanks in the meantime!

[River]

Couldn't figure out how to edit my last post, sorry.


Dearth & Aquattro - thank you for the welcome! If it's all the same to you I think I'm going to ignore the link for the time being based on the response to it

Doug - good to know about the fire shrimp. Maybe I'll just stick with a regular cleaner with that in mind. I love the look of the fires, but not at the expense of any other shrimp I may want.

WarDog - I know I'll have to move a lot slower without the live rock, I'm okay with that. It's really only the bristleworms I'd have a hard time with, despite the way I made myself sound I'm not usually squeamish with these sorts of things. That just happens to be my weak spot. If I get them despite my best efforts then I'll deal with it, but I am going to do everything within my power to avoid them to begin with!


So you think my stocking levels will be okay? The last thing I want to do is try to stick too much in there and set myself up to fail!

You've all been totally awesome already. I can't stress enough how much I appreciate the help!

[intarsiabox]

Your choice of fish is fine, all stay small and are usually peaceful. You can add all 4 fish you listed in a 26g. The blenny and goby are more sitters than swimmers. Don't be alarmed if your firefish disappears for a couple days when first introduced to the tank, they are shy at first and will hide in a hole in the rock work.

[Doug]

If you like Fire shrimp I would add them one day. Thats how mine behaved but yours may not. They are truly beautiful shrimp. I would add another pair but have 10 peppermints and besides momma perc would likely do them in again.

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by River

If it's all the same to you I think I'm going to ignore the link for the time being based on the response to it

Ur no fun.

[River]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

Ur no fun.

I have been told this on occasion, yes... But come on, I'm not going to walk into a trap I've been tipped off about!

Originally Posted by Doug

If you like Fire shrimp I would add them one day. Thats how mine behaved but yours may not. They are truly beautiful shrimp. I would add another pair but have 10 peppermints and besides momma perc would likely do them in again.

Do you figure they'd be better if they were added after any other inverts? I'd like to get a couple sexy shrimp and/or pom pom crabs at some point as well. I'd rather just go with the regular cleaner if there's a high chance that they'll get killed by the fire. Would they be less aggressive singly, maybe?