fish info

uglyamericanV1 · 11/12/2007, 07:25 AM

bunch of noob questions....

-do any of you have any useful links to fish behavior/habitat sites? that does specifics on each fish. nothing super scientific but just behavior, like what they like to eat. do they tend to like the bottom of the tank or top? stuff that would be specific be geared toward the aquarium hobby.

-a site that does the same with inverts and corals would be a great help too.

-ditto on sw plants and macro (these are two diffrent things right?)

-also, do you guys have a site link or maybe just a list of sw fish that school? i know chromis do, but i dont know how aggressive they are for my 30 gallon tank.

-i love inverts and see how people buy cleaning packages of like 20 hermits for a 30 gallon, how do you know how many shrimp lobsters crabs ect that a tank can take. i want to give everyone enough room, but at the same time these are the most interesting guys to me (why i got into the hobby)

Aadler · 11/12/2007, 08:35 AM

1 - buy marine fishes, it gives enough information on over 500 fish, eating, area of the tank they swim, reef compatibility, difficulty to feed, aggression. Great book.

2 - Buy marine invertebrates :c) same book basically, different author, but same publishing company.

3 - dunno :c)

4 - They are fun to watch, figure on 10g per shrimp at least, 1 crab per gallon, .5 snails per gallon, dont add all at one time if you can avoid it, but ad 1/4 then another 1/4 etc.

dsn112 · 11/12/2007, 09:03 AM

I have chromis in a 28, 3 of them and 2 clowns, they school well and are very peaceful.

Dingo Dog · 11/12/2007, 09:45 AM

In addition to doing a 'search' within RC here, just Google. You'll find tons of data from various links.

As for being able to have schooling fish in a 30 gal tank, that would require a larger tank unless you're planning on having a very small class.

Keep in mind the fish will get bigger but will still need room to swim around w/o bumping into each other. Give them the space they need. A rule-of-thumb I saw here recently said each fish needs room that is 5x their size to swim in.

Also an increase in your bio-load equals more frequent water changes. Kind of a catch-22.

Just be patient and do as much research PRIOR to adding anything to your tank. Fish are much easier to add than remove.

Aquarist007 · 11/12/2007, 11:47 AM

here is one usefull chart as dingo dog suggested just google "marine fish compatability"

http://liveaquaria.com/general/compatibility_chart.cfm

uglyamericanV1 · 11/12/2007, 02:52 PM

i saw that compatibility chart via google.....
the "with caution" marker is a head scratcher.......
i guess either a.) reserch before buy a specific one because some are compatible and other species not....or b.) watch them and if they act up, pull em up.

i thank you so much for the 1 shrimp per 10 gall ect rules (Which i will interpret loosly, ie if they begin to fight alot then that means the space is scarce).....

i personally am going towards small frequent water changes anyway, as well as veering towards small every other day feedings......

what are some examples of small class schoolers?

Aadler · 11/12/2007, 04:48 PM

Depending on what fish you end up with, you may need to feed 3 times a day, a lot of fish are best fed small quantities as often as you can. Plus a nice side effect to feeding often, is whenever you want to look at the tank, all the fish come out because they are so used to you feeding them all the time! :c).

"with caution" usually means the less aggressive fish will get picked on whenever possible. For instance, i have a flasher wrasse, whom i treat like king tut, i had to yank a drawf angel out because he would pick on the wrasse one time a day, once a week he would have nipped fins, not acceptable to me.

Aquarist007 · 11/12/2007, 06:54 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by uglyamericanV1
i saw that compatibility chart via google.....
the "with caution" marker is a head scratcher.......
i guess either a.) reserch before buy a specific one because some are compatible and other species not....or b.) watch them and if they act up, pull em up.

?

the with caution ones can be handled on this site--this is one case of many were anecdotal observations from experienced reefers can save you alot of headaches.

pulling or removing a fish from a reef tank is not an easy task--better to ask the questions here then to be faced with trying to remove a fish from your tank--anyone that has had to do that will vouch for me on this one

bertoni · 11/12/2007, 07:35 PM

Most rules for cleanup crew sizes that I've seen lead to excessive numbers of animals. I don't add any crabs or hermit crabs at all, since they are predatory. For a 30g tank, I might start with 5-6 herbivorous snails and add more on an as-needed basis.

jake32010 · 11/12/2007, 08:36 PM

https://www.petsolutions.com/

uglyamericanV1 · 11/12/2007, 09:36 PM

@ bertoni....i like the shrimp and such...i dont "need" them to do what they are doing, they are just so awesome

@jake...that is a surprisingly AWESOME site, it looked lame at first, but it is perfect (and simple) thanks!

Aquarist007 · 11/13/2007, 08:52 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by uglyamericanV1
@ bertoni....i like the shrimp and such...i dont "need" them to do what they are doing, they are just so awesome

@jake...that is a surprisingly AWESOME site, it looked lame at first, but it is perfect (and simple) thanks!

you still need to make sure there is a food supply for them

11/12/2007, 07:25 AM	#1
uglyamericanV1 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Shreveport, LA Posts: 213	fish info bunch of noob questions.... -do any of you have any useful links to fish behavior/habitat sites? that does specifics on each fish. nothing super scientific but just behavior, like what they like to eat. do they tend to like the bottom of the tank or top? stuff that would be specific be geared toward the aquarium hobby. -a site that does the same with inverts and corals would be a great help too. -ditto on sw plants and macro (these are two diffrent things right?) -also, do you guys have a site link or maybe just a list of sw fish that school? i know chromis do, but i dont know how aggressive they are for my 30 gallon tank. -i love inverts and see how people buy cleaning packages of like 20 hermits for a 30 gallon, how do you know how many shrimp lobsters crabs ect that a tank can take. i want to give everyone enough room, but at the same time these are the most interesting guys to me (why i got into the hobby)

11/12/2007, 08:35 AM	#2
Aadler Registered Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: Cleveland, OH Posts: 1,336	1 - buy marine fishes, it gives enough information on over 500 fish, eating, area of the tank they swim, reef compatibility, difficulty to feed, aggression. Great book. 2 - Buy marine invertebrates :c) same book basically, different author, but same publishing company. 3 - dunno :c) 4 - They are fun to watch, figure on 10g per shrimp at least, 1 crab per gallon, .5 snails per gallon, dont add all at one time if you can avoid it, but ad 1/4 then another 1/4 etc. __________________ MiniBow 7 - WooHoo

11/12/2007, 09:03 AM	#3
dsn112 Premium Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: South Jersey Posts: 1,139	I have chromis in a 28, 3 of them and 2 clowns, they school well and are very peaceful. __________________ I'm disturbed! I'm depressed! I'm inadequate! I got it all!! Current Tank Info: Fluval Edge w LED freshwater. Looking at doing a 20-40g long penninsula fowlr soon

11/12/2007, 11:47 AM	#5
Aquarist007 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Hamilton, Canada Posts: 28,240 Blog Entries: 1	here is one usefull chart as dingo dog suggested just google "marine fish compatability" http://liveaquaria.com/general/compatibility_chart.cfm __________________ I prefer my substrates stirred but not shaken Current Tank Info: 150gal long mixed reef, 90gal sump, 60 gal refugium with 200 lbs live rock

11/12/2007, 04:48 PM	#7
Aadler Registered Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: Cleveland, OH Posts: 1,336	Depending on what fish you end up with, you may need to feed 3 times a day, a lot of fish are best fed small quantities as often as you can. Plus a nice side effect to feeding often, is whenever you want to look at the tank, all the fish come out because they are so used to you feeding them all the time! :c). "with caution" usually means the less aggressive fish will get picked on whenever possible. For instance, i have a flasher wrasse, whom i treat like king tut, i had to yank a drawf angel out because he would pick on the wrasse one time a day, once a week he would have nipped fins, not acceptable to me. __________________ MiniBow 7 - WooHoo

11/12/2007, 09:45 AM	#4
Dingo Dog Premium Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: TEXAS Posts: 432	In addition to doing a 'search' within RC here, just Google. You'll find tons of data from various links. As for being able to have schooling fish in a 30 gal tank, that would require a larger tank unless you're planning on having a very small class. Keep in mind the fish will get bigger but will still need room to swim around w/o bumping into each other. Give them the space they need. A rule-of-thumb I saw here recently said each fish needs room that is 5x their size to swim in. Also an increase in your bio-load equals more frequent water changes. Kind of a catch-22. Just be patient and do as much research PRIOR to adding anything to your tank. Fish are much easier to add than remove.

11/12/2007, 02:52 PM	#6
uglyamericanV1 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Shreveport, LA Posts: 213	i saw that compatibility chart via google..... the "with caution" marker is a head scratcher....... i guess either a.) reserch before buy a specific one because some are compatible and other species not....or b.) watch them and if they act up, pull em up. i thank you so much for the 1 shrimp per 10 gall ect rules (Which i will interpret loosly, ie if they begin to fight alot then that means the space is scarce)..... i personally am going towards small frequent water changes anyway, as well as veering towards small every other day feedings...... what are some examples of small class schoolers?

11/12/2007, 07:35 PM	#9
bertoni RC Mod Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Mountain View, CA, USA Posts: 88,616	Most rules for cleanup crew sizes that I've seen lead to excessive numbers of animals. I don't add any crabs or hermit crabs at all, since they are predatory. For a 30g tank, I might start with 5-6 herbivorous snails and add more on an as-needed basis. __________________ Jonathan Bertoni

11/12/2007, 08:36 PM	#10
jake32010 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Stuart, Florida Posts: 162	https://www.petsolutions.com/ __________________ "Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new."---Albert Einstein A great dyslexic like me! Current Tank Info: 46 gallon bowfront

11/12/2007, 09:36 PM	#11
uglyamericanV1 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Shreveport, LA Posts: 213	@ bertoni....i like the shrimp and such...i dont "need" them to do what they are doing, they are just so awesome @jake...that is a surprisingly AWESOME site, it looked lame at first, but it is perfect (and simple) thanks!