Fish/Coral Recommendations

[jpguppy]

Hello All! I've been keeping freshwater fish for almost 5 years now, but I have finally set up my first saltwater!

I currently have a 29 gallon with 50/50 65W 10k/Actinic light, a JBJ SP-1300 Powerhead and a Maxi-Jet (400 or 600). Also a cheap submersible, which I plan on replacing soon with another heater with temp probe. About 20-25 lbs of live rock (this stuff has absolutely exploded over the past 2 weeks! It's coloring up quick!) and 2" of live sand. The tank will soon have an ATO and protein skimmer. I'm planning on a DIY LED and sump/refugium later on with an arduino controller for lights, temp, etc.

Does anyone have any recommendations on fish and corals for this setup? The only thing I have at the moment is a single hermit that hitchhiked from his former tank and the critters included in the rock/sand. I am looking to get a pair of solid black/white clowns and maybe a bangaii cardinal, but am pretty open for ideas.

[bertoni]

To Reef Central

A pair of percula or ocellaris clownfish would be fine for the tank. There's a lot of personal taste in choosing fish. You might want to look at pictures on the various web sites, and then ask for care details here. I don't think the recommended tank sizes, etc, on the vendors' sites are very reliable.

The lighting isn't all that bright, but most soft corals will be fine with it. I'd be careful about picking any coral that doesn't have photosynthetic symbionts, since they can be hard to grow. Mushroom corals, leather corals, Xenia, star polyps, zoanthids, and various colt corals all should be okay, as a partial list of possibilities.

[Sk8r]

Look at the adult size of the fish in question: it's a common belief that fish size themselves to fit a tank, but not so. The problem in the marine hobby is that these fish are sized for the ocean---and we have little tanks. So your best bet for a small tank is a class the market often calls 'nanofish'. But you have to be selective among those, too, because a few of them are quite fragile, and a first marine tank is just too rough on them. SO...fishes that work in a small environment: some of your best choices are the little gobies and blennies, a dartfish (with an anti-jump screen, because they go airborne if startled) like the firefishes, scissortails, or striped dartfish. The yellow watchman goby, the highfin redstripe goby, the tailspot blenny, even the larger starry, are all very nice small-tank fishes. The pearly jawfish, if you have a 4" sandbed. The royal gramma is quite colorful, and a character. Avoid the clown gobies, the Catalina, Trimma, and the Hector's and Court Jester gobies: their fragility makes them a poor bet for a first-time tank. The stonogobiops species in general are interesting and hardy. They burrow, but are frequently out and about if they feel safe, and in a tank without predators, they can become quite forward. For inverts, stick to the snails and very tiniest hermit crabs.

[Michael]

A pair of clowns will be fine, and a good choice, and as mentioned above there are other choices too, by the way a warm welcome to the forum and the site, great to see you