No Idea about aquariums... Please help!

[joncorgriffin]

My wife asked for an aquarium for Mother's Day. What she asked for, she got. The problem is neither of us have any experience with aquariums. On top of that she has fallen in love with a starfish amd corals. We thought, hey this will be easy... throw some fish in a tank and walla good to go! After talking to a guy at Petsmart, I found out there's a science behind aquariums.

So, she wants some kind of coral, a starfish, and some fish, but I am unsure what to get. She has a 35 gallon tank and wants several fish, but would like a variety IF possible. Suggestions and guidance would be much appreciated!

 

[D.WhiteShark]

This is a great place to start. SaltWaterAquarium.com and BulkReefSupply.com both have a ton of startup and research videos too.

Edited to add:
With that size tank, you are going to be limited on the number (and type) of fish/starfish that you will be able to keep. As long as parameters are in check and pretty stable, you can pack it out with corals once it matures though. Are you guys thinking soft corals or maybe some easier Large Polyp Stoney (LPS)?

 

[Reef Jedi]

Welcome! Ask questions and you’ll get some answers here. We’re all full of knowledge and happy to help!

 

[Kradoc]

Welcome!

I'm going to pop in to drop my usual first suggestion. Grab an auto top off. It saves a lot of headache in keeping parameters stable.

Second, Id see if theres a local fish store in the area that can set you up with some live rock and premixed saltwater.

The first step is to cycle and you can get started on that while you figure out your stocking list.

Anyone, feel free to correct me!

 

[Fish Fan]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

#WelcometoR2R

Congrats on the new tank, I'm sure your wife will love it!

Yes, this hobby can be a little complicated, outside looking in, but you are definitely in a great place to get help

Could I ask if you purchased your tank and fish yet, or no?

We can definitely help you with fish and corals. Personally, I don't think there's a lot of true sea stars that are a great candidate to keep in most home aquaria. The Chocolate Chip stars you see at PetCo are not safe around corals (they will eat at least some of them) and need supplemental, targeted feeding to do well in most tanks. The stars from the genus Fromia that incudes the red and blue (both beautiful!) sand sifting stars really need a very large, and more importantly, a very mature sand bed. They are specialized feeders that feed on the biofilm formed on grains of sand, and are difficult to impossible to target feed. In all but the most mature tanks, they tend to slowly starve, unfortunately.

If you really must have a sea star-like creature, please consider the brittle stars and serpent stars. These are typically reef safe, and occupy that sea star role we'd all like to see in our tanks

If you're brand new to reefing, I like to suggest the following guide and this video series as a way to get more informed. By all means, please post back here on R2R if/when you need further help

The Supreme Guide To Setting Up A Saltwater Reef Aquarium

The Supreme Guide To Setting Up A Saltwater Reef Aquarium Introduction The marine environment is one of the most complex systems on the planet. The aquarium you are about to set up is only a tiny sliver of the vast ocean, but it is nowhere near simple. This task is going to take patience, a...

www.reef2reef.com

I hope this helps and best of luck!

 

[PharmrJohn]

Start studying the parameters and what they mean for your tank. Which are used for what. Buy some decent test kits, but stay away from API. Either Salifert or Hanna Kits. Hanna is best. Also, come up with a solid cycling plan. There are several paths to enlightenment, so you'll just have to work with what works for you. I'd start with Live Rock and Live Sand. That'll give you a cycling edge. Also, consider using NO lights for a two or so months. That'll give your bacterial population time to cover surfaces instead of algae, dinos and diatoms.

 

[Fish Fan]

Second, Id see if theres a local fish store in the area that can set you up with some live rock and premixed saltwater.

The only minor advise I would have, having seen this situation before here on R2R, is that I would not blindly trust that the water you purchase from you LFS is "perfect" just because your LFS is great. I would really advise testing salinity and ideally alkalinity before just blindly using water form a local fish store. And, I'd test it each time you buy it because you're at the mercy of *the guy (or gal)* that mixed the water that day. Who knows what was going through their head that day....

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Is the aquarium full of water or still empty? There is no realistic way to have that tank by mothers day, realistically looking at several months at least. In these several months it will take a lot of research and a lot more money. I don't mean to sound negative, but IMO you should know this going into it and it should be your decision if you want to go through all the effort and expenses that will come up. IMO a 35 gallon can fit 4, maybe 5 fish, 6 would be really pushing it. Again, I don't know what "several" fish means to you, I'm just letting you know realistically. If you do go through with it, this is a good place to learn. Good luck

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Follow what FishFan sent. If you follow those guides, take some time to read up. You will be fine! Don't rush into buying anything. Make sure you do your research and learn about the hobby first before buying stuff. If you ever have questions, ask us! We will help you out in any way we can!

 

[JumboShrimp]

Welcome to R2R

PROCEED SLOWLY️ You are already a hero in your wife's eye just for having bought the tank. Now enjoy the journey together. As you can already see, we are all here to help. (And start hitting those suggested videos.)

 

[joncorgriffin]

Thanks for the suggestions! No, I haven't purchased fish, but I do have the tank and I think.... most things.... Caribsea dry Live Rock, Aragonite sand, bought salt, refractometer, r/o water, a heater, and found a protein skimmer, (unsure if it's a good one). If I'm missing anything I'll go pick it up (because Grok and other ai models suck at suggestions right now).

As for fish, my wife is insistent we can have more than 3 or 4 which goes against what the kid at Petsmart said. He also was saying or aquarium setup depends on which fish we want... and my wife was like pretty fish, big fish. We do like vibrant active fish. I like clown fish, but it's not my mother's day present.

 

[JumboShrimp]

(Talk her out of over-stocking that tank. It's your Solemn Civic Duty. Lol!) in fact, have her scroll the descriptions on LiveAquaria and Saltwater Fish . Com and do the 'compatability / stocking' research-- it will be her skin in the game.

 

[kevgib67]

Congratulations to you and your wife! Already great advice given. I highly recommend both of you watch 52 weeks of reefing by BRS on YouTube, best of luck.

 

[CrewePD210]

Good luck. It is really a learning process and you have to trust what the reading and video tells you even though you may not see or be able to touch it. If you have no interest in the science, and just want to look at fish, you are probably better off watching a streaming channel of aquariums. If you are curious and like to tinker around, this can be very rewarding, exciting, frustrating and heartbreaking all within a matter of days.

It is going to be tough to get big fish in that size tank and have them do well and thrive. A foxface or tang that is sold at an inch or so quickly grows to over 8 inches in a few months. They will do fine and look great for a while, but will quickly outgrow that size tank, but hey, thats a good excuse to buy a bigger tank for them !!!

 

[BryanM]

Thanks for the suggestions! No, I haven't purchased fish, but I do have the tank and I think.... most things.... Caribsea dry Live Rock, Aragonite sand, bought salt, refractometer, r/o water, a heater, and found a protein skimmer, (unsure if it's a good one). If I'm missing anything I'll go pick it up (because Grok and other ai models suck at suggestions right now).

As for fish, my wife is insistent we can have more than 3 or 4 which goes against what the kid at Petsmart said. He also was saying or aquarium setup depends on which fish we want... and my wife was like pretty fish, big fish. We do like vibrant active fish. I like clown fish, but it's not my mother's day present.

You're going to be limited on fish in a smaller tank, and you'll want to make sure you don't buy fish that will outgrow the tank.

I would probably go with a coule bangii cardinals, a sex line wrasse, and a flame hawkfish.

Sandsifters are classic as well, but I personally do not like the mess they make.

 

[vetteguy53081]

My wife asked for an aquarium for Mother's Day. What she asked for, she got. The problem is neither of us have any experience with aquariums. On top of that she has fallen in love with a starfish amd corals. We thought, hey this will be easy... throw some fish in a tank and walla good to go! After talking to a guy at Petsmart, I found out there's a science behind aquariums.

So, she wants some kind of coral, a starfish, and some fish, but I am unsure what to get. She has a 35 gallon tank and wants several fish, but would like a variety IF possible. Suggestions and guidance would be much appreciated!

All in aquariums are a great user friendly system also known as AIO systems and often self contained and easy maintenance

 

[mmorrison55]

I saw you mentioned it was. 35 gallon tank, but didn’t see what brand/model to see if it’s an AIO, or if you need a HOB (hang on back) filter or less likely you have a separate sump.

Knowing the details will help with suggestions.

Also, when I was 1st starting out, I found the BRS (bulk reef supply) series of YouTube videos very helpful with what to do from setting up the tank, to cycling it so that it’s ready for fish, corals, and invertebrates, and all the follow up maintenance required.

Their “5 minute series” was very good:

5 Minute Saltwater Aquarium Guide - Bulk Reef Supply

A series of 5 Minute videos designed to guide beginners through the setup of a saltwater aquarium. \n \n

www.bulkreefsupply.com

As well as their beginner series:

 

[B&CinB.C.]

Thanks for the suggestions! No, I haven't purchased fish, but I do have the tank and I think.... most things.... Caribsea dry Live Rock, Aragonite sand, bought salt, refractometer, r/o water, a heater, and found a protein skimmer, (unsure if it's a good one). If I'm missing anything I'll go pick it up (because Grok and other ai models suck at suggestions right now).

As for fish, my wife is insistent we can have more than 3 or 4 which goes against what the kid at Petsmart said. He also was saying or aquarium setup depends on which fish we want... and my wife was like pretty fish, big fish. We do like vibrant active fish. I like clown fish, but it's not my mother's day present.

The Caribsea rock is called Life rock , not live rock . It is dry rock that must be cycled into live rock .

 

[Fish Fan]

The Caribsea rock is called Life rock , not live rock . It is dry rock that must be cycled into live rock .

And I believe an intentionally misleading name; "life rock" - please!

 

[-XENOMORPH-]

Great first step coming here!
Read and explain, calmly to your spouse what you learn and why.
And just go SLOW. Hahhahaha. Then, enjoy.
Ooohhhh! And top off with r.o. water. Not salt water. Hahahhahah. Evaporation bruh!