Newbie Clown Fish + Soft Coral

[Uriel]

First i would like to start by saying i have no experience of salt water aquariums aside from what i have researched here and on the internet so if anything i say is wrong or stupid please bear with me.

I would like to setup a small salt water aquarium to house 1 or maybe 2 clown fish, a cleaner crab and a soft coral to possibly eventually host the clown fish. So i had a few questions and also if anyone could offer any hints or do's and don'ts for this sort of setup please do.

1. What sort of size aquarium is a clown fish going to be happy in and how much larger would it need to be for 2. I know people are going to say buy as large an aquarium as you can afford but i already run 2 500l and 1 180l tropicals tanks so i wanted to keep my first marine tank as small as possible.

2. Do i need a sump for this sort of size setup or can most of it be done in tank or with HOB's

3. I've been looking around and most people seem to have RO units to provide themselves with RO water. I was thinking i would rather spend the money getting a larger protien skimmer which i assume would reduce the need for water changes and buy water from LFS. Is this a reasonable assumption or have i missed the point somewhere.

4. I'm a little confused by live rock. First of all ratios some places reccomend getting anywhere from 20/80 to 80/20 of live rock to base rock. Apparently the live rock can seed the base rock. Is this correct ?

5. I was advised to try to get as many different types of live rock as possible as this adds biodiversity is this true ?

6. As i'm in no rush to have fish in this tank can i cure rocks in small ammounts adding a certain ammount every 2 weeks to try and keep from damaging the inhabitants of the live rock with ammonia and nitrite spikes + less smell ect and spreading the cost a little.

7. Is a coral frag a small piece of coral used to grow into a larger piece.

8. Do sarcophytons have any special light requirements ?

Also any advice on equipment for this setup graciously accepted.

 

[ben1987]

1. What sort of size aquarium is a clown fish going to be happy in and how much larger would it need to be for 2. I know people are going to say buy as large an aquarium as you can afford but i already run 2 500l and 1 180l tropicals tanks so i wanted to keep my first marine tank as small as possible.

For a small species of clown (percula or occelaris) id reccomened 120L or 30 gallons

2. Do i need a sump for this sort of size setup or can most of it be done in tank or with HOB's

You dont need a sump, but they do a very good job of adding valuable water volume and keeping the display clutter free

3. I've been looking around and most people seem to have RO units to provide themselves with RO water. I was thinking i would rather spend the money getting a larger protien skimmer which i assume would reduce the need for water changes and buy water from LFS. Is this a reasonable assumption or have i missed the point somewhere.

You could do this, you would need it regular though. apart from water changes you need to top the tank up with fresh RO to counteract the evaporation. In the long run its easier to get your own unit. if you get snowed in for a week and cant get out you can look after your tank then plus if you make your own salt mix you know the ro is good and use your preferance on salt. A lot of LFS use cheap salt and not reef grade stuff

4. I'm a little confused by live rock. First of all ratios some places reccomend getting anywhere from 20/80 to 80/20 of live rock to base rock. Apparently the live rock can seed the base rock. Is this correct ?

This is correct so long as its pourus rock, reef bones and not ocean rock. On this sized tank id just get 100% live rock. you can get it a lot cheaper if you find a local reefer breaking his tank down.

5. I was advised to try to get as many different types of live rock as possible as this adds biodiversity is this true?

Doesnt really matter imo. You can get goodies and baddies on all live rock

6. As i'm in no rush to have fish in this tank can i cure rocks in small ammounts adding a certain ammount every 2 weeks to try and keep from damaging the inhabitants of the live rock with ammonia and nitrite spikes + less smell ect and spreading the cost a little.

you could but i wouldnt. Save up and buy it all. you wont see much of a cycle if you get cured rock and its not out of water long. adding little bits here and there could re-start the cycle each time meaning more ammonia.

7. Is a coral frag a small piece of coral used to grow into a larger piece.

A frag is a bit cut or broken off a larger coral. a colony is one that has based out and attached to something. You can get large frags and small colonies. But basically you usually get a small frag cheaper than a colony so you can then try and grow it as much as you like.

8. Do sarcophytons have any special light requirements ?

They dont have high demands in this area. A couple of T5s would be perfect.

 

[Uriel]

Cheers for the fast reponse. Do i need to factor in the sump when calculating the amount of live rock i need and what sort of size sump would be best for this size tank 1/3 or 1/2 the size of main tank or just as big as possible. What would you put in the sump for this setup obviously protien skimmer,heater and return pump. But refugium, Deep sand bed, Live rock rubble, Sponge or filter floss anything else i might not have concidered. Flow seems to be very important in marine tanks will i need power heads or wave generator ? is one preferable over the other or do they fill different niche's. I assume the order for adding things is live rock(Till cured and tank cycled) -> Fish -> coral. Sorry to bombard you with questions but got told by my lfs i could keep 3 in a nano with 5kg of live rock, so i'm not really inclined to ask to many questions there. Finally i've heard on large marine tanks it is possible to create a balanced tank so water changes are infrequent and generally you just top up with RO for evaporation. Is this viable with a setup this size ?

 

[ben1987]

When keeping soft corals only you can do less frequent water changes. So long as you skim well.

Sump wise. As big as you can but dont ram the cabinet so full theres no room left over. I am personally a big fan of running a cheato based fuge but im not fussed by dsb as they need replacing eventually.

Stock wise. Theres no inch per gallon rule. I had a similar tank and kept 5/6 small reef fish with good water stats. I had 120l tank and 80l sump. For live rock i usuallg buy enough for the main tank. Then a couple of bits of rubble to beasties in the fuge