Greener than peas!

[SundaeBest]

Hey guys, just thought I'd ask some questions here, since it seems the community as a whole on these boards tends to be pretty helpful.

Anyways, a little about me:

I've had an interest in starting a tank for years now, (about 4-5), but have never really had the time and/or money to do so. But now that I am out of school, I am hoping to have more of both.

I started a saltwater tank about 3.5 years ago, but it didn't last long. I was still cycling, and was just starting to see color on my rocks, when I got the algae bloom from hell. At the time I lived in Davis (avg summer temp 100+, in an apartment with poor insulation. I was told, the only way my tank would ever survive, is if I got a water cooling system, unfortunately, I was also told that nobody makes water cooling systems for tanks that small (20 gallon).

Anywhoo, enough about me.


The tank I want to set up, is prob be a 30gal.

I want to have a set of black/white clowns, corals, anemones, starfish, and color!

So, now a few questions, any help would be greatly appreciated.

1) Is it possible to have more than 1 set of paired clownfish in the same tank (30gal)? I'm thinking no, might be too small, or they might fight, what do you guys think?

2) Starfish; good idea or bad idea? I've been told that starfish are generally not reef safe, and I should therefore avoid them. But I really want them, at least the little sand sifting ones.

3) Anemone's: In this area, I really really want color; in fact, I want vibrant color all over the place; what are the best anemone's I can try for my tank that my clown's will be able to bond with.

4) When talking about clowns, what is a bta? rbta? gbta? Percula? I hear the first 3 referenced a lot. As for Percula, I'm guessing that is a type of clown, are there more? What are the characteristics?

5) What is the best way to start cycling a tank? Sand, rocks, snails, corals, anemone's, fish? Any general info, or link/website I can be pointed to here would be greatly appreciated.

6) What kind of timetable am I looking at realistically? I am thinking between 8-12 months, before everything is actually in place.

7) I know it is highly unlikely that I will incur this problem any time soon, but just out of curiosity and anxiety for my fish to be; what do people do if their fish spawn babies? I don't really think I could handle another tank, and the thought of flushing them down the toilet is just cruel (j/k ppl, it's a joke . Do you think my local store would take them? I guess I'll ask next time I visit, but just wondering what people's experiences have been with this.

Wow, I realized I've typed a lot, and I thank anybody who has bared with me on this, but I am just really exited. As for any other excess information you guys can provide me with, it will be greatly appreciated, thanks.

 

[lurchccd]

BTA: Bubble Tip Anemone
RBTA: Red Bubble Tip Anemone
GBTA: Green Bubble Tip Anemone
Percula is a type of clown fish. Occelaris is another type, Marroon clown, gold bar marroon clown, tomato clown, clarki clown,........
One set of clowns would be all you can keep in a tank that small, they will most likely fight.
Sand rock and water to start the cycle. And equipment of course.

As for the clowns laying eggs. If the tank is not set up as a breeder, eggs most likly wont survive. They will go into overflow, into skimmer, circulation pumps, return pump, get eaten by other fish, and inverts.
Hopefully this helps a bit

 

[tarpon12]

Welcome! you should probably check out the threads near the top of the forum such as "new to RC look here" and ""initial reef setup" Lots of good reading. Ask lots of questions, everyone here is pretty friendly. Here are some quick answers to your questions and these are just based IMO.

1. you pretty much answered your own question
2. good idea, makes sure they are reef safe.
3. Long tentacle or bubble tip anemones. These tend to be easier to take care of. However you wont be ready for them for awhile. Your tank needs to cycle and stabilize.
4. what is a bta? rbta? gbta? Percula? bubble tip anemone, rose or red bubble tip anemone, green bubble tip anemone, Percula is a type of clown fish. They look like Nemo. Lots of different species with different coloration and patterns.
5. refer to the threads. Lots of good info there. what I did was sand, rock, Reverse osmosis water, waited 2 weeks then added a couple of chromis to help cycle the tank. Oh yeah do not add inverts at this time, they will most likely die off.
6. ? are you talking about the time it takes to cycle your tank?
7. Some people hatch them, but that requires allot of attention and care. Some people leave them in their tank. Your LFS may or may not take them, it just depends if they are prepared.

Good Luck! Read and ask questions. Lots of good information on this forum.

 

[PRDubois]

Welcome!
+1 to Tarpon12

 

[EnglishRebel]

<img src="/images/welcome.gif" width="500" height="62"><br><b><i><big><big>To Reef Central SundaeBest</b></i></big></big>

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Re: Greener than peas!

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14821445#post14821445 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by SundaeBest

1) Is it possible to have more than 1 set of paired clownfish in the same tank (30gal)? I'm thinking no, might be too small, or they might fight, what do you guys think?

No, it won't work. Even to achieve one pair, you need to be careful - start with two juveniles, for best luck.

2) Starfish; good idea or bad idea? I've been told that starfish are generally not reef safe, and I should therefore avoid them. But I really want them, at least the little sand sifting ones.

It really depends - there are a large variety of stars that people commonly keep in reef tanks, some of them are extremely easy, others really tough. Some will eat your fish, others won't eat and will not survive in most tanks.

3) Anemone's: In this area, I really really want color; in fact, I want vibrant color all over the place; what are the best anemone's I can try for my tank that my clown's will be able to bond with.

4) When talking about clowns, what is a bta? rbta? gbta? Percula? I hear the first 3 referenced a lot. As for Percula, I'm guessing that is a type of clown, are there more? What are the characteristics?

As others have said, bta, rbta, and gbta are all shorthand for bubble tipped anemone - in various color morphs, which are all more or less interchangeable in terms of requirements. They are among the easiest clown-hosting anemones, but are still not easy to keep. They will demand strong light and pristine water conditions. Adding an anemone to a young tank can be a disaster, since the tank (and the reef keeper!) might not yet be stable enough. If you truly want an anemone, you need to plan for a fairly high-end tank. Often, newcomers find it is easier to start with a simpler tank and basic, easy-care corals - some of which look a lot like anemones.

5) What is the best way to start cycling a tank? Sand, rocks, snails, corals, anemone's, fish? Any general info, or link/website I can be pointed to here would be greatly appreciated.

check out the stickied threads at the top of this forum - plenty of info there. But the basic gist is this - cycling a new tank accomplishes many goals. When you are setting up a new tank, it has limited (biological) capability to maintain stable processes, many of which are important to the health of your tank. The most commonly discussed process is the nitrogen cycle - fish and other creatures give off ammonia in their waste, which is harmful. Bacteria reduce this ammonia to nitrite and then to nitrate, which is less harmful. A new tank has little capacity to do this reduction, since the bacterial colonies required are not yet established.

There are many other similar processes that need to stabilize in new tanks, generally dealing with building up bacterial colonies to the point that they can handle the waste given off by your livestock.

Another major component to establishing a new tank is dealing with all the dead and decaying life typically encrusted on new live rock. Your tank needs to process all of that waste before it will be safe for livestock.

All of that said, a typical cycle would involve setting up your tank with all equipment, then adding substrate (sand) and live rock. Then, you'd run the tank until it was stable. Of course, that's a pretty open-ended goal and can be hard to define - most people cycle a tank until ammonia and nitrite drop to zero (on test kits). This is a good indication that the bacteria that facilitate the nitrogen cycle are established, and while it can be a good rule-of-thumb, it largely ignores many of the other processes that need to stabilize in a new tank. Hence, don't use that as your sole measure. You are better off just visually monitoring the health of the tank and watching for overall stability. Also, use this period to run all of your tank's equipment (filters, skimmers, lights, etc) to get used to how it all behaves. Perform regular water changes, as this will help with the extremely high excess nutrient load present in a new tank (thanks to the live rock).

Notice I did not mention livestock of any kind in answering your question about cycling. One of the main reasons we cycle a new tank is to make it safe for livestock, so you don't want to add any until after the cycle is complete. At that point, most people add a "cleanup crew" consisting of creatures like snails and hermit crabs. Assuming those guys do fine for a week or two, you can start to slowly add hardy fish. After a success with them, it's open season, generally.

6) What kind of timetable am I looking at realistically? I am thinking between 8-12 months, before everything is actually in place.

Depends on how motivated you are. At the least, expect a month or two between when you set the tank up and begin cycling (with all equipment, live rock, sand) and when you start adding livestock. I've taken a new tank from empty to fully stocked in weekend, but I would certainly never recommend that for a newcomer. In general, nothing good happens fast in this hobby - when in doubt, you are almost always better off letting things take time and stretching your timeline, especially with a new tank.

So, depending on how quickly you collect equipment, it'll be at least a few months.

7) I know it is highly unlikely that I will incur this problem any time soon, but just out of curiosity and anxiety for my fish to be; what do people do if their fish spawn babies? I don't really think I could handle another tank, and the thought of flushing them down the toilet is just cruel (j/k ppl, it's a joke . Do you think my local store would take them? I guess I'll ask next time I visit, but just wondering what people's experiences have been with this.

With few well-known exceptions, fish don't generally reproduce in reef tanks. For the most part, we can't meet the minimum conditions required for most species to even attempt the act. That said, there are a few species that will readily reproduce under good conditions - clowns and cardinals are probably among the most famous. Unfortunately, unless you are going to set up a dedicated fry tank, it's difficult or impossible to ensure their survival. Hence, most will just let the babies fend for themselves in their main tanks, which usually means they end up getting eaten by something. While this may seem cruel, it's just nature at work.

Wow, I realized I've typed a lot, and I thank anybody who has bared with me on this, but I am just really exited. As for any other excess information you guys can provide me with, it will be greatly appreciated, thanks.

I'll speak for the forum at large and say we welcome your enthusiasm. One of the most important things you can do is research ahead of time and plan carefully. Welcome to the club!