New 30 Gallon Fish Tank

[djbrandon199]

I just got a 30 gallon fish tank

for stocking i was thinking

.a butterfly (possibly, I know most will grow too big and i don't have a larger tank to move it into)
.a flame (or coral beauty) angel
.around 3 damsels (preferably green chromis but blue damsels will be fine)
.a shrimp/goby pair
.a clownfish

I know this is probably over doing it but i'm not too familiar with the concept of saltwater fish

also what should I do for food, I read that cliping a piece of nori (dried seaweed) to the side of the tank keeps some fish from eating coral though I might get "fake coral" instead

but in any case I might buy living coral so any recommendations...
as for a clean up crew I was thinking mainly hermit crabs and snails maybe an emerald, and pom pom crab
lastly how much salt should I put in

 

[lljdma06]

I just got a 30 gallon fish tank

for stocking i was thinking

.a butterfly (possibly, I know most will grow too big and i don't have a larger tank to move it into)
.a flame (or coral beauty) angel
.around 3 damsels (preferably green chromis but blue damsels will be fine)
.a shrimp/goby pair
.a clownfish

I know this is probably over doing it but i'm not too familiar with the concept of saltwater fish

also what should I do for food, I read that cliping a piece of nori (dried seaweed) to the side of the tank keeps some fish from eating coral though I might get "fake coral" instead

but in any case I might buy living coral so any recommendations...
as for a clean up crew I was thinking mainly hermit crabs and snails maybe an emerald, and pom pom crab
lastly how much salt should I put in

First thing I'd do is stop and have a read of the pinned topics in the top of this section. This is a much slower process than you think. I would not put a butterfly fish into a tank like this.

What's your lighting in your tank?

L

 

[djbrandon199]

I didn't expect it to be quick at all i'll take your advice, I was just reading about butterflies they're really nice but way too big

I'll check them out right now

I can check the lighting later I'm at a relatives house

Thanks

 

[djbrandon199]

after reading the "pinned topics" i have come to a conclusion...

my new stocking consist's of...

.a flame angel
.a coral beauty angel (although I think it might be harassed by the flame angel)
.a pair of firefish
.3 green chromis
.a shrimp/goby pair (a yellow watchman goby and pistol shrimp to be exact)
I think i will keep the CUC the same (including the emerald and pom pom crab) I was also thinking about 2 top crown snails (astrea undoza) and 2 red foot snails (norrisia norrisi)

as for coral I was thinking zoas, xenia, button polyps, glove polyps, star polyps, yellow polyps, and mushrooms
what should I feed my coral and where can I get strontium and iodine supplements are they necessary?

 

[lljdma06]

after reading the "pinned topics" i have come to a conclusion...

my new stocking consist's of...

.a flame angel - ok, add it last and make sure you get one that's been with other fish and hasn't nipped at coralss
.a coral beauty angel (although I think it might be harassed by the flame angel) - your guess is correct, I personally wouldn't
.a pair of firefish - mated pairs of anything are awesome, but watch that they don't get aggressive. Try to find a purple firefish. Extra awesome-looking, IMO.
.3 green chromis - careful, sometimes they pick off each other until one remains. Lovely fish though.
.a shrimp/goby pair (a yellow watchman goby and pistol shrimp to be exact) - I love this fish. There are other shrimp/goby pairs, but for me, the watchman is the most fun. Careful, this tank may get a bit crowded around the water column. If it were me, I'd either do the chromis or the firefish, not both, and then select another fish with different habits. It's not the number of fish that bothers me, it's where they occupy the tank. If a balance of behavior and tank location is achieved, you can have a lot of success with a busy-looking tank
I think i will keep the CUC the same (including the emerald and pom pom crab) I was also thinking about 2 top crown snails (astrea undoza) and 2 red foot snails (norrisia norrisi) - I wouldn't advise putting an emerald with a pompom crab. Emeralds can turn predatory. Mine have been gentlemen, but you never know. Also, pompoms like dim tanks and require. You may not see it much. I see mine all the time, but he's in a dim, nps tank.

as for coral I was thinking zoas, xenia, button polyps, glove polyps, star polyps, yellow polyps, and mushrooms
what should I feed my coral and where can I get strontium and iodine supplements are they necessary?

- this sounds like a nice softy tank to me. I don't supplement my corals with anything. If you use a quality salt & do regular water changes, you shouldn't need to.

What's your lighting again?

 

[djbrandon199]

Ok so I think I'll go with the firefish but if I get a pair I don't want them breed because I don't have another tank to move them to. I might also get a single purple firefish instead of a pair of normal firefish what would you recommend
About the flame angelfish, I read that clipping a piece of seaweed to the side of the tank will prevent it from nipping at coral
As for that last unique fish what would you recommend I would prefer something blue or green but anything will do
So I'll drop the emerald crab
I also read that pom pom crabs will do fine as long there are plenty of shady hiding places in the rockwork and, could I have two or would they become aggressive towards each other...
the clean up crew will stay the same but for numbers I was thinking
.5 blue leg reef hermits
.5 red leg reef hermits
.3 scarlet reef hermits
.5 astraea snails (a. tecta)
.5 cerith snails (cerithium spp.)
.5 margarita snails (margarita pupillus)
.2 red foot snails (norrisia norisii)
.2 top crown snails (astraea undoza)
and (possibly) a royal urchin (mespilia globulus)

What should I feed my coral, and how often (if I need to)

How often should I do water changes, how much water should I change and, how much salt should I use per (us) gallon what brand of salt would you recommend

How often and what should I feed my fish ?

All I know about my light is that it is fluorescent. I don't anything else about it because my dad's friend gave it to him and then he gave it to me

the tank has a small "window" on the top that is broken and I'm concerned that a firefish (or any other fish for that matter) will jump out, hit the light and burn itself what should I do???

 

[Donya]

All I know about my light is that it is fluorescent. I don't anything else about it because my dad's friend gave it to him and then he gave it to me

Get a ruler and go measure the tube diameter. Then find it on the table here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluorescent-lamp_formats

.5 blue leg reef hermits
.5 red leg reef hermits
.3 scarlet reef hermits

Don't mix these especially just going by common names...you are asking for extra trouble by mixing hermit species in small tanks. Stick with one if you don't want to risk a hermit genocide.

.5 margarita snails (margarita pupillus)

Not the best idea if you are running this tank on the high end of tropical, although I've seen an awful lot of snails sold under that name that are NOT M. pupillus (various Tegula instead) and do just fine in tropical tanks around 78F/25C, so you'd need to take a close look at what they actually are before buying them.

.2 red foot snails (norrisia norisii)

Don't get these as a CUC animal. I've found them to be very challenging to keep as snails go because of having rather specific diets.

What should I feed my coral, and how often (if I need to)

None of the corals I saw listed in this thread are usually fed.

How often and what should I feed my fish ?

I don't see a final list. Usually tanks are fed daily (would be the case for the fish on both lists here), but there are fish that require a more frequent supply of food.

How often should I do water changes, how much water should I change and, how much salt should I use per (us) gallon what brand of salt would you recommend

WCs are usually weekly and ~20% of the tank volume. Follow the salt directions on the bag/box of salt, let it stand for a while, and then measure the specific gravity. You may need to add more in small increments to get it up to 1.025, as some are made to mix to 1.020 which is a bit low.