charzar-g

Hey all
So my tank is officially a saltwater tank now, and i've got 6kg of liverock (I'm getting more once i get money don't worry)
So This is how i wanted to stock my tank, is this okay? Any help or suggestions would be cool, I wanted to make the tank have corals and stuff later on in the future, so that has to be remebered to:

1.) 2 Black Occelarris/perculas (did i spell thoughs right?) Clownfish

2.) A small group of firefish/dartfish << Are they the same thing, whats the difference? :>

3.) A tang? I like the look of powder blue ^^

4.) A starfish? >> What are the kinds that keep the bed clean apart from sand sifting? I saw a nice blue or red one in the LFS..Or maybe choclate chip?

5.) Various inverts i still have to research more about

Thats it Oh and another question, When i first put the live rock in, i realised after my salt was crazy high, i've brought it back down to the correct level now, but would that have killed everything on the LR? =[

Thanks guys

charzar-g

Oh and one more thing before i forget (sorry to double post):
I have exams, then i'm going to rome for a week, then i've got work experience for a week, then I am going to turkey for a week, and that starts on the 15th june - I was hoping to get my tank set up by then, so i can stock it when i have finished all this heckteck bit, would it be okay to leave the tank just with live rock (and sand, i was told it will turn live after a while) without fish, I mean, i know there is maturation, but is there such thing as too much maturation? (I would be leaving the filter etc on obvs.)

Angela_96

What size tank is it?

au01st

The amount of fish you can have safely is determined by the size of the tank and the amount of live rock you have, as well as what protein skimmer you have. Tangs need 75 gallons MINIMUM! They are swimmers and it's cruel to keep them in anything smaller.

Clownfish are pretty hardy and easy to keep. Go for tank raised if you can get them.

Firefish are a species of dartfish, there's orange, purple, and helfrichi. They are noticeable by their dorsal spines that stick up. They can be kept in tanks as small as 15 gallons.

You probably saw a blue linkia starfish. I don't believe they're sand sifters. The only starfish I know of that stirs the sand is, of course, the sand sifting starfish. There are other animals however that can stir up the sand bed like conch's or nassarius vibex snails.

You'll want a mix of snails and crabs for the clean up crew.

For leaving the tank, that will be fine, but you'll need some way to introduce a bit of ammonia once in a while to keep the bacteria alive, and you'll need someone to top off with fresh water to keep the salinity in check.

charzar-g

Yes of course you can have the tank size, I myself don't even know how many gallons/litres it is, because i tried to work it out and got so confused with the uk and us gallons and litres and what was what, so if anyone can tell me, that would be great Here is the size:
150cm (60") Long
35.5cm (14") Depth
58cm (23") Height

Can someone tell me the UK (cos thats where its from) And US gallons (because that seems to be what everyone goes by) And also the litres (Uk and Us if they're different) Because thats what i need to know for the salt I used ...

And thanks to au01st, I have done a bit of research on clowns, but nothing on tangs or dartfish, whats the difference in temperment and maintenance of the species? :P
And can they (and tangs) go in reef setups?
Thanks

Angela_96

According to the fishlore homepage fish calculator its 69 uk gallons and 83 us gallons.
The homepage has a lot of profiles on the fish, including the powder blue tang.

charzar-g

Thanks Steveangela, I will look at the powder blue tang and research it more, And also, i've used that calculator before, but then when i wanted to convert it to litres, the uk and us answers were different (obvs) So then i thought is there different litres too? And it was all confusing and blargh =[

charzar-g

okay i've just read that article on fishlore about powder blue tangs, maybe i'll go for a yellow tang instead :P Or what other tangs are the easier ones to keep? (come to think of it, i remeber seeing a powder blue tang in a quarintine tank at the LFS, it was having medication for something or another)

I also forgot to mention that i like mandarine fish ^^

au01st

Easy to keep Tang? Ha, that's an oxymoron...Yellows would be easier, but Tangs, IMO, are not beginner fish. Mandarins are very pretty but need a tank with an established copepod population as getting them to eat frozen food is very difficult, and many wither and die in the home aquarium.

charzar-g

awwh maybe i should skip out on the tang for a while :[
And about the mandarin, I would have my tank full of live rock and then it would be left for four weeks before any fish is added at all!
So would that keep it going for a bit? :P

Thanks for your help btw

au01st

Most recommendations are 6months MINIMUM before adding a Mandarin, and that's supposing no other fish are eating the pod population. The other thing you could do is have a refugium where the copepods could breed and get pumped into the tank.

I've read that Mandarins will eat pods as often as every 8-10 seconds, basically all they do is swim around and eat.

charzar-g

oh okay, i will skip out on that too!
So for now, i'll stick with a pair of clowns and some dartfish. =]
Thanks (Y)