Help For A Newb

[penguinpimp1990]

ok heres the deal, i have a 55 gallon tank and I want to make it saltwater. I dont have any experience with salties, but I have very succesfully kept large fresh and brackish water tanks. In this 55 gallon tank i will be using liverock as the filter,powerheads, a skimmer and just a aquaclear for carbon, a refugium, and a cheap $27 RO unit. I want this tank to be very colorful and active. I pretty much want to plan this tank around a spider/arrow crab. I know they might eat shrimp and slow fish, but I love these little crabs so im pretty dead set on keeping one. What other tank mates would you reccomend for me? Also i want a thorny oyster. Im new to salt tanks, so i dont know alot so dont laugh. I like anemones (spelling?) but they need special lighting and stuff so I cant keep them. Instead of corals and anemones I think mushrooms are easier to keep. What kind of lighting do they need? Will they eat the crab? And does this stocklist sound ok so far: various mushrooms, 1 arrow crab, 1 courst jester goby, 1 salifin/algae blenny, 1 yellowhead jawfish, 1 green mandarin, 1 electric flame scallop and 1 thorny oyster. Would a spaghetti eel be ok for this setup or would it get too big and eat the fish? And can you reccomend some active, colorful, not shy fish suitable for this tank?

 

[penguinpimp1990]

41 views and no reply, BUMP

 

[J-Money]

i don't know anything about the crab, but if you say its an opportunistic hunter (eats fish) then i wouldn't go with the goby, blenny or especially the mandarin. I know the mandarin stays around the bottom around the LR and such, and think the goby and blenny's do too. So that means they have no where to go. I've wanted a mandarin for a while and have finally had my tank set up long enough where i think i can have one (1 year set up with 120lbs of LR for him to graze on, they only eat copapods and such, rarely can you get them to feed on prepared foods), but i'm worried my CBS will catch and eat him. Also, i don't know anything about oysters, but if they are anything like the big clams, then you will need the good lighting too

 

[penguinpimp1990]

hmmm the crab gets 6 inches (dont know if thats measured by the legs or the body), too bad as i thought those fish would be too big for the crab to bother.

 

[J-Money]

i don't think the gobies, mandarins, or the blenny's get over 4 inches in length. if you want to browse through different species and get a quick little beginner summary (a starting point in researching wut you want) i would go to Liveaquaria.com. good luck

 

[penguinpimp1990]

all of them get at least 4 inches

 

[littleimp]

You can't get a mandarin fish. They survive purely on coepods living in the live rock & you won't be able to get enough in that size tank to mantain enough of a population.

You seem to be on the right track otherwise. Just make sure your turning over at least 10times tank volume in flow with the powerheads. The live rock won't filter anything if it doesn't have enough flow around it!! You can never have enough flow in a marine tank & it's often overlooked by the begginer, especially one that has kept freswater tropicals!!

An anemone probably wouldn't do to well i n a tank this size either.

Don't forget you need some reasonable lighting to help the live rock flourish too.

 

[penguinpimp1990]

hmmm maybe ill skip the mandarin and substitute for a pixy hawkfish