Okay, thanks buddy. Im gonna try to go to the pet store and check these things out. I was thinking too once I finished everything in terms of making sure my aquarium is safe for actual fish and other organisms, to go with 2 clown fish, and I heard some hermit crabs are good to help clean up the tank. Any suggestions. I want to make a balanced tank, what would you recommend besides the 2 clown fish?
Its no problem man I'm stoked to be able pay forward a bit. I am still learning too and get help from a lot of places! Also, my people aren't into it, so I'm just the weird fish guy lol. lets just sat I'm glad to have found a friendly community lol!
the balanced tank - I've been trying for the same thing! A nice mixed healthy reef right?
for 2 clownfish - i'd say solid choice to start. pretty hardy from what I've read. I have a false percula myself. Any idea what type of clowns? there are so many to chose from but they do vary in size and disposition. Were you thinking of having other fish as well as clowns? You totally could IMO. Blennies & Gobies are pretty popular but you have some really cool choices.
Liveaquaria - i used this place to see what fish looked like and to get a general idea of their requirements. **when researching livestock options - I use my rule of 3. I try to find info from 3 different sources to match the info. Once I find what im looking for I'll ask for advice in a (now this one!) forum i trust. I've learned how impossible it is to get a fish out once i drop them in..
on hermit crabs - they are part of your CUC (Clean-Up-Crew) - an essential element in a reef. The CUC are, well, the clean up crew of the tank lol. each different organism in the crew would be for different things in your tank. an example is my 10g tank - 4 snails (1 turbo; 3 margarita), 6 hermit crabs (4 scarlet; 2 blue) and 1 cleaner shrimp. My hermit crabs sift the sand bed keeping it looking not so dirty; the snails patrol my glass and make me have to clean the glass less; the cleaner shrimp sets up shop and cleans my fishies.
to balance out the tank - fish-wise, the approach i took was - where will they swim? I don't want all my fish hiding or all swimming all in one area. If you get clowns - they are active swimmers. You could balance it out with a fish like a blenny - who perches and cruises the sand and rock scape. There are also fish who burrow into the sand or under rocks and hide alot lol! again my tank as example I have 1 clown (swimmer), a small pajama cardinal (swimmer), an algae blenny (cruiser), and a clown goby (hider). Dont forget about shrimp too! there are some really pretty shrimp (and other types) available
This is honestly too many fish, a noob mistake - BUT the example of how i approached the choice. We are moving in 6 months and will be putting everyone into a 30g bowfront to give everyone space. I will say however - the fish don't fight, seemingly don't have territory issues and water params test fine. (im neurotic about tank maintenance)
Check the nano fish @ liveaquaria - see what it says is good for a 20g tank. That was how I started tbh. Just triple check the info you get to make sure its accurate.
