Newbie here!

[Brad-UK]

Hi guys,

I've just stumbled across your awesome site and was wondering if you could help a newbie out?

Some friends in work have turned me on to keeping Marine fish and now I'm starting out by myself. I've been reading everything I can get my hands on but I'm hearing conflicting information. I've just read the awesome "The new marine aquarium" by Michel S. Paletta and have now got some ideas for the fish I'd like to keep and how to go about using powerheads, skimmers and live rock.

After diving in the Maldives I would like to keep a Lion fish (perhaps a Volitan) and a species of Triggerfish (unsure which yet). I visited a local aquarist and was told I would need a 300ltr tank for the Trigger alone, is this true? He also said that no species of Lion fish would do well with other, smaller fish (such as clownfish). This has thrown a bit of a spanner into the works as I have neither the room or money to stock and maintain a £450 300ltr tank.

Basically, what would you guys recommend with regards to tank size (I was thinking a 3 or 4 footer to start with) and also what species are hardy and interesting for a beginner.

Thanks for your time.

Brad.

[Sk8r]

Go to the sites of several of our sponsors, like Foster/Smith's Live Aquaria and look at the fish and other creatures offered there. You may be surprised at the variety of color, type, and scale you can get. I have 5 fish in a 52, none of them apt to get beyond 2" long. Know how, when you sit still while diving, the littlest critters come out? Lions and such are great, indeed; and I think triggers and maybe butterflies might get along, but my own passion is the little guys so I can't tell you much about lion compatibility.

I can say that you'll do best with the following: 1. a tank large enough for the fish you want to keep---bravo for thinking ahead!
2. a skimmer that can handle it with room to spare [it's your safety margin]. 3. 1-2 lbs of rock per gallon, which probably works out to a little less than one per liter. 4. [and there's disagreement on this, but I'm a firm believer in it] a four inch deep sand bed, a dsb. 5. A sump of size enough to hold your heater, skimmer, return pump and topoff float valve, not to mention a refugium if you want to keep the pod-eaters like dragonets. 6. adequate light, which can be one of your pricier items. Notice that I have never once said 'filter.' You don't need one. Nor a lid. Lids cause problems. Run with the water exposed to the air and it lets gas get out---you want that to happen. The final stage of decomposition of waste under the sandbed releases gas.

AND by my own recommendation, get a pre-drilled tank unless you are very handy with a drill. Predrilled, or reef-ready, means it already has a downflow in it and a hole for a durso, a standpipe that will let gravity take the water to the sump, so the return pump can send it back. You save a bit of cash by not having to have a hangonback downflow or a hangonback skimmer, and you save a lot of grief [and swallowed water] by not having to prime a U-tube siphon to keep your HOB downflow running.

[Andrew]

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