Newbie advice

[Ashleigh Corrine]

Good afternoon everyone!
I am a complete newbie when it comes to reef aquariums. I do have a turtle aquarium but that is the extent of my knowledge.
I have always been interested in owning a 'nemo' and 'dory' fish. I was just wondering what minimum tank size I would need to just have the two fish.
Any links to start up guides would be excellent as well, as I have absolutely no idea what I would need to purchase at this point in time.
Thank you!

 

[DaveK]

Before you get involved in this hobby, which can get out of sight expensive, You need to educate yourself. "nemo" which is a Ocellaris clown fish has a minimum tank requirement of about 30 gallons. Larger is better. "dory" which is known as a Hipo tang, or yellow tail blue tank has a minimum tank size of about 180 gal. This is not a fish I'd recommend to beginners because of the tank size requirements, and because they are not too easy to keep.

Here is about the best advice I can give to someone new to the hobby. I have posted this before but it's worth repeating -

DaveK's Standard Lecture #1 – Advice for people new to the hobby

The very first thing you want to do, before you spend any money on equipment or livestock, is get yourself a few good books on state of the art reef systems. Then read and study them, so you have some idea about what your are doing.

Here are two to start with -

The Conscientious Marine Aquarist by Robert Fenner
The New Marine Aquarium by Michael Paleta <---This book has an especially good section on fish suited to someone starting off in the hobby.

A note on the books. You can often find used copies at much lower prices at places like Amazon. In most cases these are going to be as good as new copies, especially when your first learning.

This is information that you can not easily obtain from the net. While it's out there, it's all over the place, and there is a massive volume of information. There is also a lot of bad information out there.

Once you get that done, plan or rethink your system. What do you want to keep? Do you have the necessary equipment? Do you have the knowledge to keep the livestock you want? Do you have the time to dedicate to keeping a system and it's livestock?

Many salt water fish, corals and inverts often have very specific requirements. Some are extremely difficult to keep alive, even if you do everything right. Before you get anything, research it, and be sure it will work out in your system.

Lastly, you will find that most LFS people are clueless when it comes to SW systems. Verify their advice, until they prove otherwise.

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

to RS

Love my Nemos some good reads to get going here...

LOOK! Frequently Asked Questions~

Check out this link too
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=755

Ocellaris Clownfish, Captive-Bred
QUICK STATS
Minimum Tank Size: 30 gallons
Care Level: Easy
Temperament: Peaceful
Reef Compatible: Yes
Water Conditions: 72-78° F, dKH 8-12, pH 8.1-8.4, sg 1.020-1.025
Max. Size: 3"
Color Form: Black, Orange, White
Diet: Omnivore
Origin: Captive-Bred
Family: Pomacentrid

 

[Ashleigh Corrine]

Hi Dave,
Educating myself is exactly the reason for my post. I have wanted to get involved for years but obviously i'm not going to go out and purchase anything without knowing what i'm in for or what I need to buy.
I was hoping to pick up some information here before going out and spending any money but thank you for the book advice. I'm in Australia so I guess ebay would probably be the amazon equivalent here.
Thank you.

 

[Pat24601]

The real advice is above. A couple other thoughts that may not be obvious.

With saltwater aquariums, larger is actually easier because it's easier to keep the parameters stable. So, common sizes of saltwater aquariums are at least 30 gallons I'd say. Mine is 65 and it's kind of on the small side. Although, smaller nano tanks are definitely popular.

As you can see from the above posts, the idea of Nemo and Dory tanks is very popular. Nemo is really no problem. Clowns can be fine in relatively small tanks and are popular in the aquarium hobby and thus easy to find.

Dory is another matter. The blue hippo tang really requires a tank much larger than anyone likely has in mind...although people do it. My kids school has a Dory and Nemo tank that can't be more than 55 gallons. It's not good for Dory though for reasons that can be read up on.

One thing I did is have a Tomini Tang. They are not as pretty, but have smaller tank requirements and my 3 year old kids called it Dory so it must be close enough.

Finally, the real downside to saltwater is the maintenance and the potential problems. Frequent water changes are critical to good water maintenance and issues like bubble algae, aiptasia, and bryopsis are no fun. I probably spend an hour a week maintaining my tank...which doesn't sound like much, but there are weeks where that hour is hard to find.

In other words, it's a great hobby. I love it. But, it's work too. If that's what you are ready for, start a tank thread when you are ready and let us follow along.

 

[Uncle99]

Ocellaris (nemo) are one of easiest fish to keep in the wild they don't stray more than 2 meters from the anenome so 25-30 can be done.
I have a pair of blacks in a 20 for 7 years now.
Do your upfront homework, learn about making a stable tank and have fun