Newbie Saltwater fishtank Setup?

[Vega]

Hi,
Im looking to set up my first saltwater fishtank (50gallons) and would appreciate some advice:-

1/ can you mix clownfish with tangs and damsels?
2/ are real corals very hard to maintain? id like to make the best possible home for the fish so if they thrive around real corals id be willing to learn requirements for maintaining live coral.
3/ what sort of pump is best suited for a tank that size?

any other tips would be greatly appreciated. Im relatively new to this whole thing but i really want to give my little guys the best possible home.

 

[jtrusnik]

1 - Tangs and clowns are fine, but even the biggest tangs get somewhat large once they're full grown. Plus, they appreciate a lot more swimming room. Finally, they are definitely waste machines. I won't say that a small tang can't be fine in a 50 gallon, but I would still ask you to reconsider your choice.

Damsels and clowns are a recipe for disaster. Damels manage to fit a lot of aggression into their little bodies, especially towards fish with the same body shape (taxonomically speaking, clownfish *are* a type of damsel). You might be able to avoid this, however, if you get blue-green chromis (Chromis veridis), which are another type of damsel. There's never a guarantee, but your chances for peace are much, much higher.

If you must get damsels and clowns, add the damsel to the tank last. If you get chromis, then add the chromis before the clowns.

And, if somebody tells you that clowns need an anemone, just walk away. They live perfectly normal lives without one, and sometimes you can't even get them to host in an anemone.

2 - Well, what's a "real" coral?

Many corals require strong lighting and chaotic water movement (i.e., not just a powerhead pushing water laterally against it), and that's in addition to excellent water quality and the need to dose supplements.

For your first set-up, I advise avoiding corals. Get your hands wet with easier stuff (pun intended).

And, for what it's worth, watch some fish sometime. They don't give any noticeable differentiation between artificial environments, such as tank decorations and equipment, and the "real" stuff, such as rock work and corals. People differentiate between the real and the manmade, but fish don't (they probably can't). Eels hide in narrow PVC pipes, hawkfish perch on powerheads, and everything hides behind cheap plastic decorations.

3 - That depends on what the pump is for and how far the water has to go.
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You're doing the right thing by soliciting advice. My recommendations would be to join some online marine fish forums and grab a couple of books. "The Conscientious Marine Aquarist" by Bob Fenner is an excellent resource to start you out.

But for now, keep things simple. You'll be working your way up to more difficult animals (such as corals) before you know it.

 

[Pleccy]

A 50 gallon tank is a bit small for most tangs, and a lot of damselfish can be fairly aggressive. However you may get away with a smaller species such as a Yellow tang (Zebrasoma flavescens) or a Kole (Ctenochaeatus strigosus).

'Coral' in general is a very broad term, as difficulty and requirements vary from species to species. Corals are divided into two main groups, soft and hard. Hard corals are usually more demanding and consist of two separate groups, LPS (large-polyp stony corals) and SPS (small-polyp stony corals).

What you can keep will depend on your lighting and water movement, a lot of SPS species (i.e Acropora) are quite demanding in terms of light, calcium, water movement and require water with a very low nutrient content. I would suggest asking on a specialist website such as http://www.ultimatereef.net

As for choosing a pump, one large model is much better than several smaller ones. Many pumps can now be connected to wave-making devices, and certain others already have this function built-in. I highly recommend the pumps made by Tunze and Ecotech.

 

[fishie]

1 clowns with damsels yes but tangs no
2 clowns will like an anemones, but if you like hard and soft coral try this place it is mad www.coralpedia.com
3 i would say one pre made means you are just starting so you do not have to worry about filter speeds or size of the pump or protein skimmers or uv lights you can get units with all this already installed in one unit just plug in and cycle it.
search for trickle filters for marine tanks or sump filters for marine tanks this will give you a good idea of price.
definitely get your self a test kit and a lot of books on marine fish keeping. you might need to look into calcium reactors if you are going to keep coral also check out different types of filtration like the Berlin method, sump filter, canister filter, Revers osmosis units,
do as much research now it will save you money in the long run.
hope this helps

 

[Hypnotic]

You'll want live rock for filtration and more than one powerhead at either side to create enough flow around the rocks.

There are numerous hardy corals that you can keep when the tank is properly established. Leather Mushroom corals, Pulsing Xenia, Green star polyps, ricordeas etc. Anemones tend to be expert level and die easily. If you must try an aneome (generally attempted after the tank has been running for 9+ months and is very stable), then go for an aquacultured bubble tip anemone.

However, bear in mind that it's hit and miss whether tank bred clownfish will host in the anemone.

Damsels can be evil and the problem is, if you get a 55g tank full of live rock the last thing you want is to have to break it down because you have a fish that is causing problems but is far too fast to catch.

Don't mix damsels, e.g. don't get a humbug and a polka dot damsel as they can scrap like hell. And either get 1 or 5+ of a specific type to disperse conspecific agression.

A Yellow Tang should be OK in a 55g. Many people will say it has to be in a 75g and certainly they do better in larger tanks. The key issue is that in the wild they have a territory of about 1 square mile and they're very active. Thus they get stressed in a small aquarium. But 55g or 75g is nothing like their usual stomping ground. A blue hppo tang just gets really big and is a chunky fish. They're also very prone to stress.