I would like to start a salt fish tank.

lindsey · 06-24-2006, 02:04 PM

I would like to start off with a 25 gallan tank. I dont want to get all complicated in what fish to get. But what are good starter salt water fish to begin with?

Usernamekane · 07-24-2006, 12:20 PM

Clowns(IMO) always had the best combnation of price, hardiness, and look. Damsels are ususally the cheapest salt fish in the store, and have different pattens and colors. Blennies/Gobies are up there on my list too. Damsels can get aggresive though, very territorial.
Just look around and go cheap. If theyre cheap theyre common. If theyre common theyre probably hardier than rare expensive fish. Also, mistakes are more affordable with cheaper fish

jasno999 · 07-27-2006, 12:29 PM

I agree. Damsels are cheap and easy. However they are agressive at least the 3 and 4 stripe ones are so be careful. The Clowns would be a better choice (IMO) because they are not as agressive and would work in that size tank.

If you want to add soem other life I would go with inverts.

I love them all: Hermit crabs, snails, star fish, shrimp, crabs, etc.

Jsut make sure you get thigns that are compatiable with each other. For example many star fish are not compataiabel with coral reef type steups and most starfish will eat snails- but that is what they do - so you need to figure out what you want to do with the tank and then pick the livestock based on what will work.

ahill3780 · 07-28-2006, 01:21 PM

Starting a new saltwater tank is not as simple as starting up a new freshwater tank. A saltwater tank needs to be established in order to support and maintain livestock. Everyone wanting to start up a saltwater tank gets a crash course in Nitrogen so I will append that information to the end of this post. I strongly suggest you read it if you are serious about starting a saltwater tank.

As far as fish to begin with goes the previous suggestions are good starters but I would like to expound upon the choice of Damsels (which was the beginner of choice for me when I started): Damsels are aggressive! All damsels are territorial and will pick on other fish of equal or lesser size. They can be kept with other fish successfully, but usually it takes the presence of a much larger, faster swimming fish to calm them down and put them in their place, and even then they will pick on smaller fish that "intrude" into their space. However, Damsels are the hardiest of all marine species and they do very well in almost all tank conditions. They can even survive the chaotic conditions of newly setup tanks that are still cycling (read more on this below). For this reason they are suggested more often than any other as a starter fish for new tanks since their waste will help produce the ammonia needed to fuel the buildup of beneficial bacteria in a newly established tank.

Clownfish are another good choice to start with. They are excellent choices for beginners as their undulating swimming habits can captivate even veteran aquarists and they are a joy to watch. My pair of clowns have grown so used to me that when I approach the tank they swim out to "greet" me and will follow me as I walk around the tank. While not as hardy as Damsels they are still better choices than, say Angelfish for a new tank. One of mine was obtained while my tank was still cycling and he pulled through just fine so I classify him as "Cycle Proven".

If you prefer tank raised specimens over wild caught ones then you will most likely find the Ocellaris Clown, also known as "False Percula" to be both an excellent, and plentiful choice. Ocellaris are easily bred in captivity and as such are the most widely available clowns in the trade. They are easy to identify as they have solid orange coloring, three black-banded white stripes running vertically over their bodeis, with black tips to their fins. Almost any aquarium shop owner will know exactly what you are asking for if you say "Ocellaris" (Oss-A-Laris).

I would not suggest adding blennies or gobies until after the tank is cycled as many of those species do not do so well in toxic extremities.

Now onto the "Nitrogen" introduction. I will try to make this short and sweet but this is information that you need to know if you do not want to unknowingly waste money in dead fish, which everyone who is serious about this hobby wants to avoid.

Newly setup saltwater tanks will experience two spikes of toxic compounds followed by a slower steady rise of a compound that is not so toxic (at least to fish). These compounds in order of succession are: Ammonia, Nitrite, and finally Nitrate. This is what is known as the "Nitrogen Cycle" and it occurs in every saltwater tank in one form or another.

The Nitrogen Cycle - In Brief

Ammonia will begin to rise in the tank within the first week or so and will reach its highest levels by about the second week or so. The levels achieved at this time are sufficient to kill most livestock present with the exception of only the hardiest of species. As the Ammonia levels skyrocket bacteria are produced that feed on this and break it down into a toxic form of nitrogen known as Nitrite, which is also toxic to fish. As these bacteria spread and grow the ammonia levels will drop back down to zero, and as this occurs the Nitrite levels will begin their 2 week meteoric rise to power the same as the ammonia did before. By the 4-5 week the new tank will see its highest level of nitrite and similar to what happened before, new bacteria will be produced which feed on this compound and break it down into a much less toxic form of nitrogen known as nitrate and the nitrite levels will begin to fall down as the bacterial population increases. About 8 weeks into a new setup the nitrite levels will have dropped down and the nitrate level will begin to rise. At this time it is generally safe to begin adding in the less hardy species. This is because Nitrate is not toxic to fish except in extremely high doses.

That's about as basic a run-through as I can give at the moment and it is not a complete rendition at all. If you have any other questions then please feel free to ask.

Happy reefing!

TXGargoyle · 08-05-2006, 06:48 PM

AHill---that was a great Nitrite to Nitrate write up. I am new to all this and I've been to a lot of different Saltwater Stores. They have all told me about this but I never really understood what the heck happens until now.

Many of the people at the stores around here seem to be very 'snobish' when it comes to answering questions. They are very proud of their knowlege and lover to speak WAY over the beginners head leaving me bewildered.

I don't understand why they do this because afterall they are in the business of selling and if a noobie starts one they will obviously make more money.

There's no way that I am going to attempt this on my own...my plan is to find a store with a person working there who is really willing to help (been to 7 stores and have yet to find the right person). I will pay 'someone' to set it up for me and service the tank when needed while at the same time training me. That's the plan---hope it works...

ahill3780 · 08-05-2006, 07:07 PM

Well, that was actually a very crude way of breaking down the nitrogen cycle and it omitted a lot of information, I just wanted to make the post short.

I have mentioned in other posts that I am working on a 'How To' guide for beginners and it will go into full detail about the NC. I just won't have it available for a few more weeks. (It's going to walk you through everything about setting up, maintaining, and understanding saltwater tanks. So keep checking in and you will know when it starts to take form.

Salty B · 08-21-2006, 11:14 PM

Setting up a saltwater tank is much harder than you would think. I dove into it about two years ago not knowing much about it at all. I learned over time about nitrates, nitrites, PH levels, heating, etc etc. The thing you have to learn about a saltwater tank is that each thing you add to the tank can and will have an effect on something else.

ahill3780 · 08-21-2006, 11:19 PM

Welcome to FishTankForums Salty!

Yeah, it can be a real pain in the butt sometimes, but its so worth it.

I have been up and down the ladder over the past year and a half and I am starting to get it down finally.

Couldn't have gotten as far as I have without the help of some really great people.

Salty B · 08-22-2006, 05:16 PM

I suggested in another topic: If you are new and want to get into saltwater tanks, your best best is to purchase a "Saltwater Aquariums for Dummies" book. It really helped me out with everything. I rarely listen to the people at the pet store because they know less than I do normally. There is 1 place about half hour away from me, however, that is the biggest pet-store in the world. They have 5 marine biologists working around the clock to assist people in saltwater, so that is one place I will listen to the employees at!

Back to business though! I also suggest, if you have never experimented with any type of tank before, to experiment with freshwater first. This is warm you up to the basics of keeping a tank. Granted, you won't be checking water levels, but you'll be checking filters, adding a few chlorine extracting chemicals, doing water changes, checking the temperature, etc. This will all be help once you get your saltwater tank. Starting with no experience with a saltwater tank would have been very overwhelming.