Tropical Fish Information

Posts Tagged ‘clown fish’

What are some of the "prettiest" or "unique" tropical freshwater fish? I want somthing kind of like a clown fish or yellow tang, but they’re saltwater fish.
i have a 10 gallon tank.

Hi everyone, I’ve been fish keeping for several years and now I am starting to think about starting up a Marine Reef tank. I will be purchasing a 40 gallon tank (http://www.wonderworldpetcentre.co.nz/shop.php?action=moreinfo&itemid=56) for the display tank and using a 10 gallon tank (similar to http://www.wonderworldpetcentre.co.nz/shop.php?action=moreinfo&itemid=41) as my quarantine tank.
My questions…
What would be the best protein skimmer to use? I’ve heard that you usually get what you pay for and I’ve also heard that the Aqua One Marisys system is really good (http://www.wonderworldpetcentre.co.nz/shop.php?action=moreinfo&itemid=323) but I have also been looking at the Via Aqua Multi Skimmer because of the incorporation of a uv sterilizer (http://www.wonderworldpetcentre.co.nz/shop.php?action=moreinfo&itemid=312).

I have been told that the filter that comes with the tank is a wet/dry system and don’t know if this would factor into my marine set up at all.

I know I will need to change the lights from the current lights – for tropical fish – to something along the lines of T5 but I don’t quite know what this means. I would like to have a light that emits a lot of blue light so that I can get that natural blue of the ocean but I don’t know if that is possible with lights such as what was recommended to me (http://www.wonderworldpetcentre.co.nz/shop.php?action=moreinfo&itemid=4222).

Also, is it possible to keep hard corals and soft corals in the same tank? I’ve read that it is more of a headache than anything else. I really want to try and recreate the natural environment around either Fiji or the southern coast of Indonesia.

Knowing that, what sort of fish would be best for the beginner? I have read about tank raised specimens and for that reason I am looking at Black Percula (http://www.wonderworldpetcentre.co.nz/shop.php?action=moreinfo&itemid=1651) even though it is almost twice the price of the other clown fish from the same store. I was thinking about keeping a pair of them. I also want to keep either fire shrimp or cleaner shrimp. I like the look of the fire shrimp more than the average cleaner (skunk) shrimp but I’ve heard that it can be less hardy than the cleaner shrimp.

I would definitely be having Live Rock in the tank and want to know what everyone thinks about placing it directly on the bottom of the tank rather than on the sand. I’ve heard this can increase stability? I also want to know what everyone thinks about sand beds. Would I be better off as a beginner with a deep sand bed or a shallow one. Deep being 4 inches (about 10cm) and shallow being less than 2 inches (5cm) deep.

What about water movement and power-heads? How many should I have set up in the tank and where should they be set up? A few of the Corals I have looked at state "Moderate" or "Medium" water flow but I’m not sure what this means. Others have stated "low" water flow. Is it possible to keep them in the same tank?

Also, do you add fish first or coral once the tank has cycled? What about the invertebrates? Is it possible to buy Muscles that are meant to be eaten (our supermarkets sell live muscles) and put them into a Marine tank – just a question, don’t know if I would want them)

And how well do marine fish ship? The store all the links are from is in a town an hour, maybe an hour and a half driving cautiously from my house and I don’t know if the corals and fish would tolerate that. I would ask the store but since I haven’t bought from them before I don’t know if they will give me a false answer in hopes of making a sale. They have the most Equipment and fish stocks than any other store close to my house and have over 300 fish tanks (apparently). The website mentions it started as a family business.

As you can see, I have a number of questions and it will be at least a few weeks before I even consider buying the tank, but I would appreciate any and all help and advice that I could get. I don’t want to make any mistakes that good background research can prevent and I would like to be able to know exactly what I will need in order to plan when to purchase it.

Thanks for any advice that you can give me, even if it is only answering part or parts of this massive and rather open ended question.

I’m thinking of buying a new marine tank, or converting my 12 gal. tropical into one. I have heard that with smaller tanks, you can have bio overloads, overheating and all kind of problems.

So my two options: buy a new/used TL-450 marine tank.
OR
convert my tropical 12 gallon into a marine (I know someone who can sort the equipment out that I need)

I’ve really fallen in love with clown fish and I’ve been reading up on them, but there are loads of differences between what all these websites say. will eaither of my two options house a pair of clowns, an anemone and some shrimp?
How much care do I need to take of the tank? I know that you must keep an eye out for evil bacteria and stuff, along with water changes every so often. What other care is involved?

I have quite a few people I know with experience who will keep check on how things are going for the first few months.

Also, guppylover, clown fish exchange their genders, they are ALL born male at birth, To people with 0 experience, please DO NOT leave comments.