New to saltwater. Got a 30g

Mariah Stewart · Sep 24, 2015

Me and my husband are new to the saltwater tank...we got a 30g. We've about 20 lbs of live rock, a blue damsel, 2 clown fish (1 nemo, 1 black and white) and a small blue hippo tang. We are aware that the hippo tang will outgrow our tank as when that happens we are going to trade him in on another smaller one. We live in mobile alabama and are looking for someone who grows corals that we could buy some from..our local fish store doesn't have a big selection and we don't want to pay an arm and leg for shipping if we order offline. We also need a small powerhead that's not outrageously priced.

Tahoe61 · Sep 24, 2015

Welcome Mariah.

If you keep at it you can find great deals on your local craigs list or at your local reef club.

Mariah Stewart · Sep 24, 2015

I don't have a local reef club the one I found online hasn't been active since early last year

and thank you. I'm not happy with our tank yet because we don't have near enough rock and I want all the pretty corals and all that. The worst part about saltwater tanks is everything is done in steps and takes forever to establish a beautiful tank worth bragging over. And the cost of everything is so expensive.

Dtackett · Sep 24, 2015

welcome to the hobby, but im afraid your starting off in the wrong direction with that blue hippo in such a small tank. I understand youll trade it off and get another later when it outgrows, but in such a small tank chances are its already outgrew that tank. best of luck. and welcome.

Mariah Stewart · Sep 24, 2015

My hippo tang is only about 1.5 inches. ..he's little. The only reason I got him is because my 4 year old is crazy of nemo the movie and he wanted nemo and dori. That's also why I have the little fish figurines in the bottom of the tank lol...we let him think it's his fish tank.

Dtackett · Sep 24, 2015

youll be swapping that tang out more often than you think. I understand the issue, my son is the same way and wants the same fish. its hard to tell him no, but ive had to on the tang. at least until I get a big tank.

Mariah Stewart · Sep 24, 2015

I'm slowly talking him into letting us trade him in and get different types of fish. Cause he's actually trying to bully my clownfish. And they aren't leaving my tank. .I love my 2 clownfish.

Dtackett · Sep 24, 2015

another thing to think about... theres a reason we don't have a real inch per gallon rule in saltwater. some fish are more active and need bigger tanks, or are grazers and need bigger tanks to provide more room for food to grow, or are bigger but less active and can go in smaller tanks. the size of the fish doesn't mean as much as the personality of the fish. in this case, you'll be looking to swap that tang out before it hits 3-4 inches each time. I suggest getting him attracted to something else lol a pufferfish worked on my son. got him a blue spot puffer fish. now he wants a mantis shrimp.

Mariah Stewart · Sep 24, 2015

We got a cleaner shrimp and my son loves him lol but he's into the pretty fish that eats coral..so that's a No no as well.

veselym · Sep 24, 2015

I agree with @Dtackett...Trade the hippo for another fish, not only is it unfair to the fish to keep trading them but you are actually putting your other livestock at risk when consistently adding new severely ich prone fish

Mariah Stewart · Sep 24, 2015

This is our tank without the blue light on. It's kid friendly as you can tell.

Mariah Stewart · Sep 24, 2015

We plan on getting a lot more live rock I want to build like a bridge or something cool and make a seascape. I'm also looking for more coral..I've got 2 small pieces in there I'm not even sure what they are..the guy at out local fish store gave them to us to start with.

Dtackett · Sep 24, 2015

you could always set your son up with a fowlr tank. let him put his coral munchers in there then you can have your reef tanks. that's what im going to do here in the next year or 2. my son will have around a 150 fowlr tank with a bunch of wrasse and maybe a puffer or 2 and a flame angel. hell love it. then ill have my 75-90 herem tank and ill have several pico reef tanks troughout the house. most of which will be 1.5 gallon vase setups

Ahruk · Sep 25, 2015

Welcome

Love that you're getting your son involved. I totally understand the Dory draw (got sucked in myself... >.>) Fortunately got a slightly bigger tank with plans to upgrade and instead of aggression our tang thinks our clown fish is her mommy.... xD Anyway great start and good luck finding awesome coral to fill up this tank. Can't wait to see it grow!

patsheridan · Sep 25, 2015

I am also new to the salt water world, and have been trying to take a pic of my tank every two to three weeks as I add and grow and landscape. You should do the same; I am guessing that your tank will end up looking completely different in 12 months, and the growth and changes will be interesting to see.

Mariah Stewart · Sep 25, 2015

My son thinks the black and white clownfish is nemos mommy. Lol its the cutest thing. But when we eventually upgrade our tank he can have the 30g for his coral munching fish, cause I also love the flame angel but can't have it right now..we do have a smaller 10g but we use it as a quarantine tank.

Mariah Stewart · Sep 28, 2015

UPDATE.
We traded dory back to our local fish store because he was too aggressive and we believe he was killing our fish. We lost 2 fish, our coral beauty and a black and white clowfish. We replaced the clownfish and intend on replacing the coral beauty. We also finished buying all of our live rock we wanted.. and even got a pretty new addition of coral... candy cane coral is so awesome. We also got a powerhead added. I'm extremely happy with the way our tank is coming along..only had it up and running for 3 months.