Venturing Into The Saltwater World....

i've had a sporadic thought to someday start a saltwater tank... but definitely a nano! my father plans to start a 200 something sw this December...anyway, during the meantime ive been researching and just interested in saltwater in general! I'll take any information on nano tanks, and I also love clownfish! maybe let me in on some more cute fish such as those guys? what size tanks do they even need? what type of corals and anemones do they like? how expensive are they? what kind of lighting? literally I'll take any info! maybe if someone is bored, type me a million paragraphs about sw!

 

What size of buocube are you going for?
Clowns are a fairly good starter fish but be prepared for lots of patience especially if you want to do it right... it will be months and months before your tank can be properly ready for fish....

Have you thought about starting maybe a small brackish tank to get a handle on it first?
It’s a very good stepping stone and there is more room for error with SG/salinity.... you don’t have to have a huge tank for brackish as you could get some bumblebee gobies or white cheecked gobies to start... also MOST live bearers can thrive in brackish and saltwater... mollies can live anywhere from full fresh to full salt as long as they are acclimated properly

 

I'm not going marine. My doctor said salt is bad for me.

 

It took me 30 days to cycle our salty tank, and on day 31 we put a fish in there. He's still with us more than a year later. I'm sorry to the poster above, but there are many myths surrounding saltwater that I would like to put to rest, and the wait time is one of them.

Clowns are among the hardiest of saltwater fishes and there's no way you'd have to wait months and months to add one. For example, I cycled with pure ammonia, added a firefish on day 31, and added my first corals about 3 weeks after that. Towards the end of month 3, there was a coral sale that I got myself hooked on, so at that time 9 new corals were added to the tank. I still have all of those too.

Sorry, don't have time to write a book, but I really do love to help. I'd suggest you read Nart's Budget Nano Saltwater Guide for Beginners. You can find a link to it in my signature, or stickied right at the top of the Saltwater Beginners forum. It is a very thorough resource and will answer questions you didn't know you had. It will probably bring up some more questions too, so just post them here and I'll be glad to help.

 

thank you all!

 

Okay, so to further explain my disagreement with advice posted above... yes, there are many fish and other critters that you'd want to wait for a mature tank for. However, just like with freshwater, there are hardy fishes and sensitive ones. So, for example, I would highly advise you stay away from seahorses and mandarin fish, but a clown, a firefish, pistol gobies, and many other hardy fishes are appropriate for young marine tanks.

 

Yes but it also depends on what else she plans on adding.... I actually agreed and said that clowns were a good starter fish but it allll depends on what else she wants to add (corals, other fish etc)
And just because your tank cycled in 30 days does not mean everyone’s will... I know people that it has taken a couple months just to get it cycled... and every cycle is different...
One screw up with the salinity can kill actually your bacteria...

 

I will second stella1979 advice to read Narts guide. That guide is a great beginner point if you don't know anything because he takes the time to explain terms.
I'm brand new to the saltwater world but everyone keeps telling me to take my time, be patience, and research.

 

i've had a sporadic thought to someday start a saltwater tank... but definitely a nano! my father plans to start a 200 something sw this December...anyway, during the meantime ive been researching and just interested in saltwater in general! I'll take any information on nano tanks, and I also love clownfish! maybe let me in on some more cute fish such as those guys? what size tanks do they even need? what type of corals and anemones do they like? how expensive are they? what kind of lighting? literally I'll take any info! maybe if someone is bored, type me a million paragraphs about sw!

Cute fish? Man, you don't know much about the temperament of clownfish. They are known for biting their owners once they become established and will defend their territory from anyone or anything. Unfortunately Finding Nemo presents a romanticized version of what they are. I had a snowflake occ who never gave me problems but was a complete jerk to his tank mates. I'm not trying to ruin your dreams here, just be aware that they can be jerks. As far as a nano is concerned, I would personally go no smaller than a 20 gallon long. They are the optimal dimensions to give you flexibility for some of the smaller saltwater fish (ie Cardinalfish, Royal Gramma Basslet, Clownfish, Possum/Pygmy Wrasse, etc.).

 

Cute fish? Man, you don't know much about the temperament of clownfish. They are known for biting their owners once they become established and will defend their territory from anyone or anything. Unfortunately Finding Nemo presents a romanticized version of what they are. I had a snowflake occ who never gave me problems but was a complete jerk to his tank mates. I'm not trying to ruin your dreams here, just be aware that they can be jerks. As far as a nano is concerned, I would personally go no smaller than a 20 gallon long. They are the optimal dimensions to give you flexibility for some of the smaller saltwater fish (ie Cardinalfish, Royal Gramma Basslet, Clownfish, Possum/Pygmy Wrasse, etc.).

haha, I mean they just look cute! have you seen coralfish12g's Miami whites? they are super sweet, he hand feeds them and everything! I also thought you could do 10 for clowns?

 

You can do 10 gallons for clowns that mark out a set territory and stick to it, however many clownfish are captive bred these days and tend to be a lot more active. To give you an idea of just how active they can be, here is a vid of my snowflake occ in my 36 gallon bowfront. Just IMHO a clownfish in a 10 gallon tank is like a Betta in a 1-3 gallon tank, it can be done, but it's not ideal. Honestly you will want the bigger tank anyways to deal with fluctuations in water perameters/salinity levels, etc as a newbie. Keep in mind that water evaporates but salt doesn't.