Hi,
As Seffie mentions, its not just the size of the tank, but the bio-load on the filtration system. When you go into your LFS, you can see all the holding tanks containing the fish for sale. At my LFS they have probably 30+ x 2ft tanks. One might have around 20 juvenile clownfish. Another might contain 5 young hippo tangs, a firefish, bi-colour angel, and some damsels. The fish fit in there ok but, what you have to bear in mind is that those 2ft tanks are connected to all the other tanks, which in turn connect to a huge sump(s) and powerful filtration systems that can handle the ammonia/nitrites/nitrates that those fish produce.
You can then turn the corner and look at a nice beech effect, stand-alone, 2ft display tank which contains 2 clownfish, a goby, a couple of cleaner shrimp, a hermit crab, 5 snails and some corals. That's the reality of it. If you want more fish, you either provide them with a large tank to swim around in, that houses enough live rock that can handle the bio-load or, you connect the display tank to a sump, increasing the overall water volume and have a filtration system to handle the bio-load. Simply putting more fish in your tank because you want more fish in your tank may very well kill ALL the fish in your tank. It is also important not to add your final stocking list all at once, as this can cause an ammonia spike and crash your tank. In a tank your size, add 1-2 fish at a time and leave it a couple of weeks before adding the next 1-2. Its worth mentioning that it can also be important as to the order in which you introduce some fish species into the aquarium, as some become territorial if added first.
As for a filter, you don't require one with a FOWLR aquarium. The live rock is the filtration system. It houses the bacteria much like the sponge does on your fluval/eheim external filters. All you need to do is provide heat and sufficient flow around the rock, using powerheads. The ammonia from the fish urine and detritus will be the nourishment for it. If you do decide to connect a mechanical filter to the tank, remove the filter sponges and fill the canister with live rock rubble, and filter bags for phosban / activated carbon. You won't require phosban unless you decide to add corals at some stage in the future. The carbon again, isn't essential, but does keep the water crystal clear and absorbs toxins from the water, which is beneficial to for corals also, although it does release phosphates into the water.
I know its very tempting when you go to the LFS and see all the gorgeous fish and pretty much want one of every species in your tank but, you have to accept the limitations of your tanks size and filtration system and very often be patient to allow the filtration system to develop. "Just one more fish" can be all it takes to wipe out £££'s worth of livestock.
yes, i know, im not some noob who just started posting, my stocking methd is for every 2 similar sized fish that i currently have i can get i similar sized fish, if the fish is known to be dirtier than usual its every 4 fish, then wait a month, then continue
yes ill be getting corals, which is another question i asked ealier on how to take care of them properly
and this is the reason i consult this site before i make any potentialy costly mistakes
im geting 20lbs of live sand (nemo you already told me about this, but my dads paying and he wants live sand), 20lbs of live rock, and maybe later on ill put the filter if need be, ill also be getting 2 power heads (i forgot the brand except it said 200 on the front of the box)
please if i need more live rock than 20 pounds then tell me how much ill need for these and at least mabye 2 more potential fish (parents usually ignore me and may want more fish)
I'm not saying you are "some noob" who just started posting on here but as you'll soon discover, keeping marine fish is a bit more involved than freshwater and can get considerably more involved if you're keeping invertebrates and corals, so in that sense you are a beginner and people here are merely giving you the best advice that they can to minimize potential problems that you could encounter. If things I mention in my post cover aspects that you're already familiar with, then all well and good. I always aim to give as much information as possible, given that other beginners might be reading this thread too, they may start to learn and more importantly, understand some of the basics of marine keeping and what can be involved, depending on the type of tank (FO, FOWLR or reef).
Coming from a freshwater background you'll have a good understanding of the nitrogen cycle which will stand you in good stead as the same principles apply with marines. As you want to keep corals you'll have other water parameters like phosphates along with the nitrates to contend with, together with maintaining your specific gravity and PH, and depending on the type of corals you want to keep (soft, SPS or LPS), alkalinity, calcium, magnesium, and other trace elements all factor in. Add to this the different lighting and flow requirements of the different species of corals too, it can get pretty complex. Sometimes there are several techniques/concepts for dealing with certain problems and it can become confusing.
Having more fish will add to the bio-load which, as you know, results in higher levels of nitrates and phosphates. Both of these are harmful to inverts and corals, the latter inhibiting the calcification of some species as well as coraline algae (the pretty pink and purple stuff on the live rock). Corals are much more sensitive and so concentrations that are no problem for fish are toxic to them. Copper is also extremely toxic to them, which is the reason why we can't just use dechlorinated tap water or dump copper based medications into in a reef tank, like we could in a fish only or FOWLR (although I wouldn't recommend using it in a FOWLR tank as copper may contaminate the LR and prevent the keeping of inverts and corals at a later stage).
The lower the amounts of nitrates and phosphates being produced by fish waste, the easier time you'll have trying to combat them. Where nitrates can usually be dealt with by performing a large water change (after your tank has cycled for example), phosphates on the otherhand can be a real nightmare to get down to acceptable / non-detectable levels. This is where having that extra fish can make a lot of difference. There are a few ways you can combat the nitrates and phosphates. As mentioned above, frequent/large water changes will help to kick nitrate and to some degree the phosphate levels. Running filter media like nitrazorb or phosban to absorb them is one option, which although effective can work out quite costly. A protein skimmer connected to the tank is another good way to help deal with both phosphates and nitrates, as dissolved organic waste gets stuck to and removed by microbubbles and is deposited in a collection cup.
Having a sump is another good way to help deal with nitrates and phosphates. Firstly because of the increase in water volume, the concentrations of pollutants take longer to build up. A sump can also house a refugium. If you're not familiar with one of these, its essentially a calm section of the sump that houses macro algaes such as chaetomorpha (readily available on eBay for around £5 a go). The algae feeds upon both nitrates and phosphates and gets more effective at removing them as it grows. Chaetomorpha will also out-compete nusiance algae like slime/cyanobacteria and hair algae. All you have to do is provide a suitable light source for them. You can grow macro algae in the display tank however, chaeto isn't very attractive looking. Some macro algaes can also go sexual and become a nuisance in their own right in your display tank. Caulpera / bubble algae is one example. A deep sand bed, is another technique used to deal with nitrates and is often placed within the refugium. Where the live rock houses aerobic bacteria, a DSB provides a home for anerobic bacteria, which feeds on nitrates. While these can be effective, they have to be maintained as they can crash and cause problems with your water parameters.
The best beginner corals are softies like mushrooms, leather toadstools, xenia and zoa's. These pretty much just look after themselves. All will do fine under T5 compact lighting, with the zoa's accepting as low as T8 and all are pretty forgiving too. Metal halides or equivalent LED are probably the best bet as they allow you to keep a greater range of corals, with those requiring less or no light to be placed at the bottom of the tank / shade and those requiring more nearer the top. Some, like the sun coral, require no light at all but instead, have to be target fed. As mentioned earlier, some corals require good flow around them, others need calmer waters and placement of your corals with both their lighting and current requirements can be essential for them to survive.
Corals, as pretty as they are, contain toxins which accumulate in the water, which is why regular water changes can also be important. Running activated carbon is an effective measure to remove these toxins from the water. The only downside is that carbon leeches phosphates into the water and so is usually run in conjunction with phosban. Its also worth pointing out that some corals, like Zoa's, contain palytoxin which is potentially lethal if it enters the bloodstream. If you have a cut on your finger or broken skin, never put your hand into the water if you have such corals. I'd recommend always wearing rubber gloves when working in the tank. Aside from the palytoxin, if handling the live rock, you might be unfortunate enough to get tagged by a bristleworm. The sting from these can be bloody painful and could cause you to drop the rock on livestock or even smash the tank. Corals can also sting one another, with some like the galaxea having long sweeping tentacles that come out at night, which is another factor to take into consideration when placing your coral.
After you've kept soft corals for a while, you may want to add to them with LPS and SPS. These are more difficult to keep and require a more stable water parameters. This is where calcium, magnesium, strontium and other trace elements take on a more apparent role. They are truly beautiful though and through diligence you will be rewarded with a stunning reef aquarium.
Hope that helps,
AK
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Mojo
