Stocking list/ideas?? Need some help

[toor.attar]

Hey everybody I’m new and just got into the hobby and started my first marine aquarium 2 weeks ago.
I started a 29G, 30X13X19. Equipment - HOB Aquaclear 50 (planning on getting anotha filter along with this one to help it out), Fluval heater, Fluval pump pointing towards surface, API Marine test kit. I got a pair of small clownfish and a cleaner shrimp.
I’m planning on adding more fish but I’m waiting a month to add them. What are some fish I can put in my tank?? What are some fish stocking ideas or fish you definitely recommend. Id love a list lol! I have a minimalistic, but with lots of flow, hiding spaces, etc. Aquascape with lots of swimming space. My small clowns stay to their rock they chose and same with the shrimp. What are some fish you’d recommend?

First rockscape I had, very minimal but with hiding spots. As you can see tall with lots of open swimming space, and my tiny lil clowns.

Added another arch to it today, more hiding spots/enrichment ig. Can’t decide which one is better First or Second lol.

Im also planning on doing my tanks first water change in a month too really let the bacteria settle in lol. Plan on doing a large water change around 50-75% in like 3 weeks since it’s only been 2 weeks starting up the tank.
Also am waiting a month to add more fish because I’m waiting for the tank to cycle. I did a same day, fish in cycle with turbo start 900 (I know, I know) and it showed no ammonia nitrite low nitrate for the first few days but recently from the past few days it’s been showing Ammonia 0.5ppm, Nitrite 1.0ppm, Nitrate 40ppm. I been dosing Seachem Prime every couple days to detoxify the ammonia and nitrite. I’ve also been dosing every couple days Seachem Stability and Fluval Bio-Enhancer to help with the bio filter. Today I got some Bio-Spira and threw in that bottle hoping to help the cycle. Also added a lil bit of Seachem Pristine because the water was very cloudy after adding the Arch, and Bio-Spira. Ph fluctuates from 7.8 to 8.0, got some Seachem buffer I might use. Salinity 1.025, and Temp is 79-81.
What can I do to help the cycle? Is there anything I should be doing for the ammonia and nitrite?

This is my first marine aquarium, don’t plan on keeping any coral yet but I did scrape some coralline algae in there from my LFS!

Please give me any advice or tips you’d give to a newbie lol I been doin my research, non stop YouTube vids, regular lfs trips, all of the above ahaha! Let me know what fish I can add and what I can do bout my parameters. Let me know if there’s anything I should be doing or if im on the right track or not ahaha. Thanks!

 

[Jesse Sunday]

Hi, and welcome!

As a newbie myself I can only add that this list has been very helpful for me! I have a 32g for a month or so and recently added two clowns and a Royal Gramma, that seem to be very happy.

Announcing: Nano aquarium fish compatibility document!

I am here to announce the Nano fish compatibility document created over a span of a few days currently containing 83 different fish and inverts that can live in a 30 gallon or smaller aquarium. I ran into a bit of a problem as I started (and still am) setting up my first tank that is also my...

www.reef2reef.com

My clean-up crew is a peppermint shrimp, three snails (no idea which type), three emerald crabs, and an urchin. (and a TON of bristle worms that were in the donated live rock) Also, a ball of Chaeto in my AIO "sump."

I'm in the green hair algae phase, but the CUC is doing a good job keeping it under control.

With very little biological in your tank, I would suggest going slow for a while.

 

[Phil Steel]

Plenty of options for fish….blennys as sand dwellers, wrasse for quick movers, cardinals for lesser movement and tangs for some solid colour.

Whatever you choose, make a list as you want to add the more docile fish first with the more aggressive ones last.

Good luck!

 

[vetteguy53081]

Blennies
gobies
Basslets
cardinal
One dwarf angel (cherub or flame ideal)

 

[cdw79]

Welcome! Personally would strongly recommend against cycling with any fish in the tank- did your LFS push you in that direction? Ammonia is harmful to fishes' gills, and while it does seem like you are taking steps to mitigate that, any presence of ammonia really is not ideal for their health, as I understand it.

But to your question, definitely go slowly as mentioned above. Don't add anything else until your cycle finishes and you consistently test 0 for ammonia and nitrite. Nothing good comes from rushing, as someone prone to want to do exactly that!

For any fish you add you want to make sure they are quarantined. I'm lucky to have multiple LFS in my area that QT fish, but this is unusual. It is critical to do so because many fish that reach our LFS have been shipped multiple times, held in sometimes less that pristine conditions, and mixed with other potentially sick fish. All of these are recipes for carrying pathogens. Quarantining limits, if not eliminates, the chances that a fish brings in a serious pathogen that could infect and/or kill your whole tank, such as Brook or Marine Velvet. Ask your LFS if they QT (the answer is very likely no) and if not, you can either look into the various methods on here explained in much better detail than I can, or you can purchase quarantined fish at a premium from places like Dr. Reefs or TSM Aquatics, places that pre-quarantine livestock for you.

As far as fish selection, it depends if you truly do not want coral. Most people will want to add some at some point, but assuming you don't, here are some genus of fish I'd look into

Blennies: very personable, funny little fish that are easy to keep and often can help with algae. Only one per tank
Gobies- pretty inoffensive fish with many varieties out there. Avoid sand sifting gobies, though, as they would likely starve in your tank. Otherwise virtually any goby should work for you. My personal favorite are shrimp gobies that pair with a snapping shrimp- super cool symbiotic relationship and always a favorite of visitors. Just keep in mind the shrimp is a digger, so rockwork should be very sturdy and rocks should be touching the bottom glass of the tank, not resting on the sand (if it digs under the latter you risk the rocks collapsing). Most any goby will coexist with another, by and large
Cardinals- again very peaceful, pretty bulletproof. Bangaii and Pajama cardinals are favorites
Dartfish / Firefish- on the timid side but widely available and inexpensive while being attractive fish. Great additons
Basslets / Assessors- can be a little grumpy sometimes but beautiful fish. As mentioned above Royal Grammas (a type of basslet) are very popular. I adore my yellow assessor too
Jawfish- probably my favorite fish in my 65- TONS of personality, they dig burrows as well. Need a deeper sandbed and stable rocks touching the bottom of the tank like pistol shrimps, but otherwise a breeze to keep
Chromis- mixed opinions here but would not recommend several in a. tank like you may see at your LFS. Sometimes get grump when they fully grow out. Be SURE you get them quarantined because they often cary Uronema, a serious pathogen

Some "Maybe" genus of fish- do more research here to decide if you're open to the risk:
Damsels- sometimes they can be alright but often times they can be terrors in small tanks. Proceed with caution, I personally would not recommend
Hawkfish- love them to death but could be a little aggressive in a tank like yours
DWARF Angelfish- might get away with one while they are smaller but they have a penchant for nipping at corals
Wrasses- some are great options like smaller fairy wrasses, others either get too big or they can be aggressive (sixtine wrasses in particular). Research beforehand

AVOID:
Anthias- get too big and require lots of feedings
Mandarins, Seahorses, Pipefish, Dragonettes- your tank is not in a position to supports their very specific care needs
Tangs- there is a debate about the minimum tank size for a tang but a 30 gal is def not gonna do it lol
Other clownfish
Dottybacks- people have mixed experienced but for me they've always been devil spawn, especially in small tank. Resist the temptation bc many are very nice looking fish
Basically anything else not mentioned- likely either too big, too aggressive, too difficult to keep, or all three!

Last thing- one of the best decisions I ever made was buying "Marine Fishes" by Scott W Michaels over a decade ago. I still keep my copy for reference. Poking through that book and his others can teach you so much about the different genus of fish. Can't recommend it highly enough, and fellow reefers here can help you too!

Hope this helped. Feel free to reach out with any questions

 

[Nemo&Friends]

I prefer your second set up. Hiding places are not that numerous, you have arches, which differ from hiding places. The clowns are now inhabiting the best place and will defend strongly their territories. Fish needs caves where they feel protected on all sides. Also more rocks provide better biological filtration.
The list of fish provided by cdw79 is a good one. Your tank is not very big, do not over populate it.

 

[toor.attar]

Welcome! Personally would strongly recommend against cycling with any fish in the tank- did your LFS push you in that direction? Ammonia is harmful to fishes' gills, and while it does seem like you are taking steps to mitigate that, any presence of ammonia really is not ideal for their health, as I understand it.

But to your question, definitely go slowly as mentioned above. Don't add anything else until your cycle finishes and you consistently test 0 for ammonia and nitrite. Nothing good comes from rushing, as someone prone to want to do exactly that!

For any fish you add you want to make sure they are quarantined. I'm lucky to have multiple LFS in my area that QT fish, but this is unusual. It is critical to do so because many fish that reach our LFS have been shipped multiple times, held in sometimes less that pristine conditions, and mixed with other potentially sick fish. All of these are recipes for carrying pathogens. Quarantining limits, if not eliminates, the chances that a fish brings in a serious pathogen that could infect and/or kill your whole tank, such as Brook or Marine Velvet. Ask your LFS if they QT (the answer is very likely no) and if not, you can either look into the various methods on here explained in much better detail than I can, or you can purchase quarantined fish at a premium from places like Dr. Reefs or TSM Aquatics, places that pre-quarantine livestock for you.

As far as fish selection, it depends if you truly do not want coral. Most people will want to add some at some point, but assuming you don't, here are some genus of fish I'd look into

Blennies: very personable, funny little fish that are easy to keep and often can help with algae. Only one per tank
Gobies- pretty inoffensive fish with many varieties out there. Avoid sand sifting gobies, though, as they would likely starve in your tank. Otherwise virtually any goby should work for you. My personal favorite are shrimp gobies that pair with a snapping shrimp- super cool symbiotic relationship and always a favorite of visitors. Just keep in mind the shrimp is a digger, so rockwork should be very sturdy and rocks should be touching the bottom glass of the tank, not resting on the sand (if it digs under the latter you risk the rocks collapsing). Most any goby will coexist with another, by and large
Cardinals- again very peaceful, pretty bulletproof. Bangaii and Pajama cardinals are favorites
Dartfish / Firefish- on the timid side but widely available and inexpensive while being attractive fish. Great additons
Basslets / Assessors- can be a little grumpy sometimes but beautiful fish. As mentioned above Royal Grammas (a type of basslet) are very popular. I adore my yellow assessor too
Jawfish- probably my favorite fish in my 65- TONS of personality, they dig burrows as well. Need a deeper sandbed and stable rocks touching the bottom of the tank like pistol shrimps, but otherwise a breeze to keep
Chromis- mixed opinions here but would not recommend several in a. tank like you may see at your LFS. Sometimes get grump when they fully grow out. Be SURE you get them quarantined because they often cary Uronema, a serious pathogen

Some "Maybe" genus of fish- do more research here to decide if you're open to the risk:
Damsels- sometimes they can be alright but often times they can be terrors in small tanks. Proceed with caution, I personally would not recommend
Hawkfish- love them to death but could be a little aggressive in a tank like yours
DWARF Angelfish- might get away with one while they are smaller but they have a penchant for nipping at corals
Wrasses- some are great options like smaller fairy wrasses, others either get too big or they can be aggressive (sixtine wrasses in particular). Research beforehand

AVOID:
Anthias- get too big and require lots of feedings
Mandarins, Seahorses, Pipefish, Dragonettes- your tank is not in a position to supports their very specific care needs
Tangs- there is a debate about the minimum tank size for a tang but a 30 gal is def not gonna do it lol
Other clownfish
Dottybacks- people have mixed experienced but for me they've always been devil spawn, especially in small tank. Resist the temptation bc many are very nice looking fish
Basically anything else not mentioned- likely either too big, too aggressive, too difficult to keep, or all three!

Last thing- one of the best decisions I ever made was buying "Marine Fishes" by Scott W Michaels over a decade ago. I still keep my copy for reference. Poking through that book and his others can teach you so much about the different genus of fish. Can't recommend it highly enough, and fellow reefers here can help you too!

Hope this helped. Feel free to reach out with any questions

My Lfs and A Lotttt of others told me to do the fish in cycle with Turbo Start 900 ahaha which was not a good idea. Is there a way I can help it finish? Maybe have an estimate time when it could be done?? I know I should take things slowly but I’d just like to know because, I’m planning on doing a large water change once my parameters are consistent for a straight week.
I do add a lot of different water additives/conditioners if you read in my first post all of the different ones I use/used. Will that hurt the water or anything?? Like I mentioned before I’m not planning on doing my first water change for at least 2 or 3 more weeks, which then will be a month I’ve started my tank.

Those are some good options, I’ve actually been looking at some of those too! I’ll look into some of those more and see which ones I wanna get, I def want a Royal Gramma.
Someone recommended to me that since I have a good amount of open swimming space I can use it as a grow out tank for a small, baby tang if I keep up on the water changes and proper care. Since I’m upgrading to a 6’ long tank in a few months she said I can upgrade the baby tangs home once it’s a lil bigger.
Like I said it was suggested I’m not sure what I’m doing with the stocking yet hence why I’m posting on this lol. I am tho forsureee upgrading to my 6’ long 100G, once I get this my first saltwater tank established. I wanna get the hang of the hobby, see if I can properly maintain a marine tank, before I use soooooo much of my money on a very large aquarium.

 

[toor.attar]

Hi, and welcome!

As a newbie myself I can only add that this list has been very helpful for me! I have a 32g for a month or so and recently added two clowns and a Royal Gramma, that seem to be very happy.

Announcing: Nano aquarium fish compatibility document!

I am here to announce the Nano fish compatibility document created over a span of a few days currently containing 83 different fish and inverts that can live in a 30 gallon or smaller aquarium. I ran into a bit of a problem as I started (and still am) setting up my first tank that is also my...

www.reef2reef.com

My clean-up crew is a peppermint shrimp, three snails (no idea which type), three emerald crabs, and an urchin. (and a TON of bristle worms that were in the donated live rock) Also, a ball of Chaeto in my AIO "sump."

I'm in the green hair algae phase, but the CUC is doing a good job keeping it under control.

With very little biological in your tank, I would suggest going slow for a while

That list forsure is helpful thanks for sending that! I’m going slow for a bit, not gonna add anything for prolly a month and a half maybe longer. I’m waiting for the bio filter to build up and tank to cycle fully.
I got some questionsss, how many week has it been since you’ve started your 32 gallon? When did you start to see green hair algae or any algae/ugliness in your tank. Tryna prepare myself lmfaoo.

 

[cdw79]

My Lfs and A Lotttt of others told me to do the fish in cycle with Turbo Start 900 ahaha which was not a good idea. Is there a way I can help it finish? Maybe have an estimate time it could be done?? I know I should take things slowly but I’d just like to know because, I’m planning on doing a large water change once my parameters are consistent for a straight week.
I do add a lot of different water additives/conditioners if you read in my first post all of the different ones I use/used. Will that hurt the water or anything?? Like I mentioned before I’m not planning on doing my first water change for at least 2 or 3 more weeks, which then will be a month I’ve started my tank.

Those are some good options, I’ve actually been looking at some of those too! I’ll look into some of those more and see which ones I wanna get, I def want a Royal Gramma.
Someone recommended to me that since I have a good amount of open swimming space I can use it as a grow out tank for a small, baby tang if I keep up on the water changes and proper care. Since I’m upgrading to a 6’ long tank in a few months she said I can upgrade the baby tangs home once it’s a lil bigger.
Like I said it was suggested I’m not sure what I’m doing with the stocking yet hence why I’m posting on this lol. I am tho forsureee upgrading to a 6’ long 100G, once I get this, my first saltwater tank established. I wanna get the hang of the hobby, see if I maintain a proper marine tank, before I use sooooo much of my money on a very large aquarium.

Hard to say what an estimate would be, each tank is different in my experience. I'd probably just say wait it out and keep an active eye on the fish you do have, as well as your parameters of course. I did see that you were dosing some Prime, which def doesn't hurt, but I don't think there's a bunch you could really do. I suppose you could try and add some live rock from an established system but I doubt there would be a notable benefit.

As for your water change, I don't think there is a huge rush per se. Just let it finish cycling and I don't think you really need to do a WC unless you're struggling to export all the Ammonia and/or there's a big nitrate buildup. Just hang tight for now.

Cool to hear that you'll be upgrading. I personally don't think you need to grow out any tangs. Even a small biota yellow tang should be just fine when added, and you should add it before other tangs if there is a size difference. You might be able to get away with it at a push for a few months but you could end up experiencing aggression issues. There are many kinds of fish to choose from that would be really well suited both for your 32 and for the 100 on the way, so I'd definitely recommend just sticking to those genus I listed above. I think your pick of a Gramma would be a great addition. Plus, life has a way of giving us the unexpected, and that upgrade may end up needing to wait for a whole host of reasons (finances, challenges with the current tank, other limitations, etc etc) so I'd say it's definitely best to focus on fish that will be happy in that tank long term for now. Take a look through those fish genus, there are tons of cool options!

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

My Lfs and A Lotttt of others told me to do the fish in cycle with Turbo Start 900 ahaha which was not a good idea. Is there a way I can help it finish? Maybe have an estimate time when it could be done?? I know I should take things slowly but I’d just like to know because, I’m planning on doing a large water change once my parameters are consistent for a straight week.
I do add a lot of different water additives/conditioners if you read in my first post all of the different ones I use/used. Will that hurt the water or anything?? Like I mentioned before I’m not planning on doing my first water change for at least 2 or 3 more weeks, which then will be a month I’ve started my tank.

Those are some good options, I’ve actually been looking at some of those too! I’ll look into some of those more and see which ones I wanna get, I def want a Royal Gramma.
Someone recommended to me that since I have a good amount of open swimming space I can use it as a grow out tank for a small, baby tang if I keep up on the water changes and proper care. Since I’m upgrading to a 6’ long tank in a few months she said I can upgrade the baby tangs home once it’s a lil bigger.
Like I said it was suggested I’m not sure what I’m doing with the stocking yet hence why I’m posting on this lol. I am tho forsureee upgrading to my 6’ long 100G, once I get this my first saltwater tank established. I wanna get the hang of the hobby, see if I can properly maintain a marine tank, before I use soooooo much of my money on a very large aquarium.

I would stop dosing all that stuff, thats advertising at its best to get newbie dollars. I have 4 tanks all years old, all under 32 gallons, I don't dose anything.

Right now, bacteria has to grow in your tank, thats the priority, but it takes time, nothing else, no bottled stuff can help it. Trying to hurry in this hobby usually ends up in tank crashes and fish diseases.

 

[Jesse Sunday]

I got some questionsss, how many week has it been since you’ve started your 32 gallon? When did you start to see green hair algae or any algae/ugliness in your tank. Tryna prepare myself lmfaoo.

I started the tank around the first week of January and added the live rock (from a friend's fully established tank) immediately. I started to see the green hair algae about two weeks into it... but then again, I had the lights going full blast initially.

I wouldn't say it's ugly, just a lot for the clean-up crew to manage. I clean the front glass and leave the sides for the snails, etc. The sides have about .25 to .5 inches, looking like grass flowing in the current.

 

[1epauletteshark]

Hi, and welcome!

As a newbie myself I can only add that this list has been very helpful for me! I have a 32g for a month or so and recently added two clowns and a Royal Gramma, that seem to be very happy.

Announcing: Nano aquarium fish compatibility document!

I am here to announce the Nano fish compatibility document created over a span of a few days currently containing 83 different fish and inverts that can live in a 30 gallon or smaller aquarium. I ran into a bit of a problem as I started (and still am) setting up my first tank that is also my...

www.reef2reef.com

My clean-up crew is a peppermint shrimp, three snails (no idea which type), three emerald crabs, and an urchin. (and a TON of bristle worms that were in the donated live rock) Also, a ball of Chaeto in my AIO "sump."

I'm in the green hair algae phase, but the CUC is doing a good job keeping it under control.

With very little biological in your tank, I would suggest going slow for a while.

Thats my job! Haha I'm just kidding glad it has been helpful. Great advice.