This is meant more as a brain teaser to intrigue those considering or just starting the hobby. It is in no way a guideline as to what one must do. I will not lock the topic so seasoned opinions and serious questions will be welcome.

That said, I have noticed that when a freswater aquarist enters the marine hobby the all encompassing question is usually how fast they can add how many fish. They are always discouraged or full of disbelief when they are told later, and sorry, not that many.

Let us start wth the basic marine fish. They are quite hardy and long lived when kept at their ideal parameters. These water conditions are set in stone for good health, their is no fudging or acclimating them to different conditions. I am sure someone can point out some exceptions, but please let me be right for the first time today...lol.

The point of this is to convey how important it is that your tank is cycled properly and completely stable for your very expensive and beautiful new inhabitants.

Now on with the options.
You have your fish. Then you have big snails, small snails, fast and slow snails, blue leg crabs, red leg crabs, hermit crabs decorator crabs sally lightfoot crabs, horseshoe and arrow crabs, serpent stars brittle stars, and starfish. You can get nudibranches, sea slugs, sea cucumbers. Then there is all kinds of shrimp. I have a cleaner shrimp that will actually clean my hand if I get near him in the tank! Thats cool!

With the right lighting, you can get into anemonies and corals. That will keep anyone busy stocking and dreaming of a bigger tank.

So you can see that there are many options for residents. Try not to focus too much on just fish They are a small part of a large picture.

Cheers, GL

Ok, To set the record straight, I have a feeling everyone who reads this can't be bothered to answer it but here I go anyway

This is the setting

TANK
US 37 Gallons

FISH
1 Tomato Clown
1 Royal Gramma Basslet

INVERTEBRATES

1 Anenome
1 Starfish (Sea Biscuit)
1 Cleaner Shrimp

FILTRATION

1 Protein Skimmer
2 Internal Box Filters
1 Sponge Filter

OTHERS

1 Clam Ornament
Several Coral Ornaments
Several Large Pieces of Tufa Rock

Reef Background on a roll
300watt Lighting
Live Rock

Well, thats just about it. 4 Questions though.

1. Is what I has said ok?
2. Can I add more fish?
3. Can I add more inverts?
4. How much live rock?

Thanks!!

I thought that I might add something that I think may be overlooked by many marine hobbyists.
Many people getting into the Marine hobby (especially people that have been into freshwater for a while) are frustrated with the difference in how many marine fish you can keep in a tank vs. how many freshwater fish you can keep in a tank of equal size. As we all know, Marine fish are much more sensitive to water conditions so you can't keep as many marine fish in a tank as you can freshwater fish.
So many people are frustrated that their tanks can't look like they are "teaming with life" But there is a way around this that I think is overlooked by many.
As most of us know, invertebrates like snails, shrimp, crabs and the like don't have much of a biological impact in the sense that they don't produce much waste, because in the first place many of these invertebrates actually eat CRAP! And when the aren't eating poop and other waste, they are eating food that the fish in the tank didn't eat and would decompose in the tank anyways. Of course there is a point where you may have too many invertebrates and you end up having to actually feed the invertebrates, but that equilibrium is something that you have to feel out for yourself.
So to make a long story short, if you take your time and get a large very diversified "clean up crew" your tank can end up looking the way you would like it to look, teaming with life.

I'm thinking of starting up a tank after we get our freshwater tanks in order...I saw this very cool critter in the marine tank at the lfs and it wasn't labeled on the tank. It was a crawly type of critter, with very cool red, blue and green markings on it. It climbed on some rocks and coral, peering around like a little old man, and plucked crap off and ate it. I nicknamed it the "Grateful Dead fish" even though it wasn't a fish...anyone have any idea what this might be?

was ikt a sort of crab in a shell ? or what type of thing was it?, shrimp, snail, etc..

sw tanks seem hard and expensive

not hard and expensive, demanding and expensive

Saltwater fish tanks are not for a lazy person, but if you are already accustom to testing your water, and spend a lot of time just staring at your freshwater tank just wishing you had more interaction with the ecosystem, then a saltwater fish tank is for you! With saltwater tanks you have the option to house fish, corals, a wide array of amazing invertebrates, and plants as well. Once you go saltwater you never look back.

For the record I am LAZY LAZY after the first year my tank was stable, now I do nothing but change bulbs,adjust the salt and drop in the odd bit of food monthly sometimed i scrape the glass or pick a little algae, if Im really in a get-go mood I rinse out my protein skimmer. My tank is 4 years old This will make some people cringe but my tank is lovely!

Yep cringing......you've been lucky. However, some people seem to have the "green thumb" syndrome for fish.

I have a 20gal that I filled with fully cured live rock and sand from a friends tank (he was moving and needed to divest if you will). The rock has many worms, amphoids, and critters in it.

Would 2 clowns and a royal Gramma be considered overstocking?

i am getting a 20 gallon tank to start,just sort of a sample...some cleaning inverts and a pseudochromis paccagnellae

If you really want to experience the marine hobby fully, try something a little different! Get some good quality live rock. It doesn't have to be alot, but pay the little bit more for something like 10lbs of Gulf rock. Place this in your tank with the rest of the rock and at the proper salinity and all, then practice doing water changes on the tank while the rock cures. Don't be afraid to do them frequently, a couple times a week is not too much!! Don't worry that this will delay the cycling (it will, but not by that much!!) because the benefits you will recieve by doing this will outweigh any negatives! The reason you do the water changes is because you will save the life on the rock and you will be amazed at how much life there is!! While the tank is cycling you will be entertained by all the critters that come out of the rock and can spend your time looking up 'what the heck that is' on the computer. Very cool way to spend the time you have to wait anyways...

I did this when I first started out in the hobby. What I ended up with was a small crab (who I ended up target feeding and kept him for years), bristleworms, various pods, an orange nudibranch, three long white worms that would only come out at night and swim around in the water, a type of brittlestar that is a filter feeder - it would stick it arms out of crevices in the rock and wave them gently in the water, astrea snails, another worm that would glow neon blue at night, a shrimp, a red macro algae that looked like bare tree branches, several kinds of sponges, tunicates, featherdusters, small brittlestars, an olive snail, some sort of coral whose name I've forgotten, keyhole limpets, small clear anemones (not aiptasia) that lived in some of the caves of the rock, spagehtti worms, peanut worms.....

Some of these animals will not live long in your tank. It seems a shame to me to never experience them while you can. It's something you will never forget that's for sure!! But other animals will live on longer or reproduce in your tank giving you years of enjoyment! And it's fun to be looking at your tank and find something new in there!

BTW, if you do this, you're gonna need a flashlight for night viewing!!

There's nothing like selling it love your enthusiasm for the hobby and hope i can experience similar once I have set up properly.