New to saltwater

Hey guys, new to the forum and new to saltwater. I have had freshwater setups for many years with all kinds of species and tank sizes and have always wanted saltwater but was always too afraid to take the expensive plunge. Any information is appreciated and helpful.

First lets start with tank size, I do not have the money to go too big and was thinking of something smaller like a 16gal bowfront, but from reading I have decided to upsize to somewhere between a 26-46gallon. I want a tank large enough to house a pair of small clowns, a dwarf angel or two, a smaller sized algae grazing tang or two, and a few gobies.inverts as cleanup crew. I do not plan on havign a reef, jsut lots of liverock and down the road maybe some easy to care for corals for the clownfish like frogspawn.

1- What size tank would this require at the minimum and what would be ideal?
2- What lighting system do I need I was thinking a double T5 HO or LED system that i can pick up for between 50-100 dollars.
3- What equipment do I need? I was told a UV sterilizer is a must but am not sure what size or flow rate I should look into. I was also told a protein skimmer is not needed for a tank of this size and would only deplete CA and Mg faster if added to the tank.
4- What filtration system should I use, I was thinking 2 HOB filters like Penguin 350s of Emperor 400s, I like the idea of canisters but was told they are nitrate factories for saltwater.

I will be posting additional post and questions in topic specific forums, thank you for all your help!

 

Welcome to 3reef and happy reefing.

 

If you are looking in the 26-46 gallon range, a tang wouldnt be a wise choice at all. In general, a four foot long tank ( generally 75 gal+) is the minimum for the smaller species of tangs.

The 46 gallon should be fine with your clowns, a dwarf angel, and a gobie or two. I have a 26 gallon bow and have a Pygmy angel in there.

And I also second not skimping on lighting, especially if you want corals at any point in the future.

 

Welcome!

+1 to pretty much everything corailline listed, but I noticed you said you want a few algae grazing tangs... now, I'm not an official member of the tang police, but regardless of how small tangs start out they typically aren't happy in a tank smaller than a 75g (some need much larger). Just keep in mind that if you get one while its small, you may want a plan to upgrade as they get larger to keep them healthy.

Ok on to your questions:

IMO for the list of fish you mentioned, you will want to go with the 46g bowfront. I keep about the same amount/ size in my 46g bowfront and there is room for all to swim and have their own areas.

If you want frogspawn I would recommend at least T5's. LEDS and MH are pretty expensive so dual or quad T5's are your best bet. If you want to maintain the size of the frogspawn get duals, if you want them to grow and flourish get quads.

Also, if you are looking for corals for your clowns to host I would recommend against LPS. Clowns can get pretty active within the coral and that may cause the frogspawn to be cut by it's stony skeleton. As a reference, my clowns LOVE my green hairy mushrooms.

Skip the UV and get a skimmer that has a max rated for around 1.5x to 2x the size of your tank.

Live Rock is your best bio-filter. For mechanical and chemical I would go with an emperor 400. I have one on my 46g bowfront and it is great!

Best of luck!

 

Thanks for the replies, see I am in agreement with the Tangs, I always thought they get larger and need larger tanks like the larger angels do. However, my trusted lfs stated I can house a blue hippo in a smaller tank for awhile and then trade him out, he also stated to get a chevron tang or a Kole yellow tang to act as algae grazers. He told me I could put 2 small angels a tang and a clown in a 20gallon but I thought that would be way to much for a smaller tank.

 

welcome to 3reef.

 

It is always tough to trust an LFS. There are very few that will only sell you something if you have the proper set up for it- most just want your money and will tell you anything you want to hear just so they can make a sale.

I've even had one of the places near me try to sell me a 1" baby hippo tang and tell me it was a miniature version that would stay that way and I could put in a 24g aquapod. Long story short, I stopped going there.