can someone please steer me in the right direction of what to do. i have a 35 gallon hex aquarium, and i am wondering what to put in it. i have no saltwater experience and i want to have a fish only tank if i start keeping marine life. is my tank suitable for a marine aquarium, and i would also like to keep the expenses to a minimal. i have an aquaclear filter with a heater and standard flourescent lighting. what kinds of fish would be easy to keep and maintain? what extra equipment do i need? any help is GREATLY appreciated because i have wanted to venture into this new world for a long time but i am not sure that i have what it takes. thanks for your time and consideration
Some One Help!
- Thread starter tankman2
- Start date
Patience and research is what it takes, and everyone can develop those
to the salty side of life. I'd reccomend starting by reading through the stickies atop this forum. Especially the one about starting a marine tank . I could re-hash all the info there but I'm too lazy 
. Your tank is suitable for fish only and would leave you with some good stocking options. Really the only extra things you're gonna need is Live Rock, sand, RO (or other pure water), a powerhead or two, some salt mix, sand, testkits, food, and fish. Everything's explained in-detail int he stickies though so have a look there black molly3
Fish Herder
i, like you wanted to venture out into the marine world and i did.
you say you wanted to keep expenses to a minimal so here is the list of equipmet i have.
a hydrometer to test salt levels (ppt)
salt obviously
test kits (ph, amonia nitrate,nitrite)
a good filter that can pump water around quite fairly.
marine gravel or sand.
live rock to quicken up the cycle
thats about it realy
o and you will need a protein skimmer and sump but i have no idea about them because im useless with gadgets. infact does he/she need a sump and a skimmer?
fish for begginers.
i am only going of a website here so here is a list of them.
damsels (territorial)(hardy also)
common clownfish (very hardy even more hardy if you can get them tank bread like mine)(pieceful)
maroon clown fish(not as hardy as the common but is a pretty specimen)(can become slightly agressive)
black and white percula clowns(once again not as hardy as the common but still is hardy)
your aiming for your ph to be around 8.2 and you can get a acid buffer for that if you want.
i sugest you do research though as i may not be 100% correct as i am new to keeping marine also (about 3 weeks)
good luck and i hope you take that step into the marine world
hope this helps
you say you wanted to keep expenses to a minimal so here is the list of equipmet i have.
a hydrometer to test salt levels (ppt)
salt obviously
test kits (ph, amonia nitrate,nitrite)
a good filter that can pump water around quite fairly.
marine gravel or sand.
live rock to quicken up the cycle
thats about it realy
o and you will need a protein skimmer and sump but i have no idea about them because im useless with gadgets. infact does he/she need a sump and a skimmer?
fish for begginers.
i am only going of a website here so here is a list of them.
damsels (territorial)(hardy also)
common clownfish (very hardy even more hardy if you can get them tank bread like mine)(pieceful)
maroon clown fish(not as hardy as the common but is a pretty specimen)(can become slightly agressive)
black and white percula clowns(once again not as hardy as the common but still is hardy)
your aiming for your ph to be around 8.2 and you can get a acid buffer for that if you want.
i sugest you do research though as i may not be 100% correct as i am new to keeping marine also (about 3 weeks)
good luck and i hope you take that step into the marine world
hope this helps
Ter
Fishaholic
If I may 
lol
You may add a little live rock 2 your setup.. It will help lots live rock is a great place for nitrifying bacteria and unlike most filter media, won't trap detrius. Some say it can even convert NO3 into N2 then N20 that leaves the tank in a gas form. Once you have "about" 1 pound or rock per gallon of water, you can even do away with a filter! I only use my filter for carbon and PO4 binder.
Now since your talking fish only any old lights will do... however old/bad lights may help unwanted algae.
I've always been sacred of tap water, I don't trust it at all. Marine life is more sensitive 2 some metals then freshwater fish, I wouldn't add anything but the most hardy inverts without a good water treatment system either.
A skimmer will help lots with fish waste... it removes POOP and other waste before it can turn into NO3s thust a cleaner tank...
depending on your tap water I probably wouldnt add marine buffer... a stable PH of 8.0 is more interesting then a unstable one of 8.3(ideal) marine salt should buffer your water correctly
One thing im sure of.. is that you will see lots of contradicting posts here... take some and leave some.. with time u will see whats correct for you....
Ter
lol
You may add a little live rock 2 your setup.. It will help lots live rock is a great place for nitrifying bacteria and unlike most filter media, won't trap detrius. Some say it can even convert NO3 into N2 then N20 that leaves the tank in a gas form. Once you have "about" 1 pound or rock per gallon of water, you can even do away with a filter! I only use my filter for carbon and PO4 binder.
Now since your talking fish only any old lights will do... however old/bad lights may help unwanted algae.
I've always been sacred of tap water, I don't trust it at all. Marine life is more sensitive 2 some metals then freshwater fish, I wouldn't add anything but the most hardy inverts without a good water treatment system either.
A skimmer will help lots with fish waste... it removes POOP
and other waste before it can turn into NO3s thust a cleaner tank...depending on your tap water I probably wouldnt add marine buffer... a stable PH of 8.0 is more interesting then a unstable one of 8.3(ideal) marine salt should buffer your water correctly
One thing im sure of.. is that you will see lots of contradicting posts here... take some and leave some.. with time u will see whats correct for you....
Ter
Similar threads
Most reactions
-
308 -
214 -
214 -
187 -
172 -
168 -
151 -
145 -
143 -
137 -
120 -
118 -
110 -
96 -
93