How many fish can I keep in my 30g?

[twistoflime]

Hey I'm new to saltwater so I have a few questions. I have a 30g tank that has been up and running for 5 weeks now. It has 1 fire fish goby (I've had him for 2 weeks) , 2 large hermit crabs, and 6 nassurius snails. I would like to put in a black perc pair, 2 pearly jawfish, and a citron clown gobey. I plan on taking it slow. I will get the black perc pair first, then wait 3 weeks. Then get the jawfish, wait 3 weeks and then get the citron clown gobey. Is that to big of a bioload for my tank?

 

[derek_s]

Yeah, you're gonna have to get real specific if you want an accurate estimate.

Mainly, what kind of equipment are you running and what is your water change schedule? That doesnt sound like a really big bioload, to me if you have enough live rock and a skimmer, and do weekly-biweekly waterchanges.

 

[twistoflime]

I do 10% water changes biweekly.
The black and white percs will be 4 inch (female) 2 inch (male)
jawfish will be 4 inch each (they burrow in the sand and stay in the burrow most of the time, if that makes any differece)
firefish goby will be 3.5 inch
yellow clown goby will be 1.5 inch
I use an aqua clear filter (the ones that hang off the back of your tank) that is for 10g to 30g.
All of the fish sizes are the absolute biggest they will get. Most of the fish will be smaller than the size listed.

 

[ster]

I would look into much better filtration for that bioload. You will at least need a decent quality protein skimmer if not a small sump/refugium. Hang on back filters are often times not enough to support a healthy saltwater ecosystem, especially when you're running the bare minimum for your size tank. Of course, everybody does things their own way. How many pounds of live rock and sand do you have?

 

[twistoflime]

I have 16 pounds of live rock and 20 pounds of sand. My friend gave me thae tank saying it was a 20g but I started filling it up with pre mixed water from the LFS it ended up being 30g.

 

[twistoflime]

My tank demensions are:
width:24 inch
height:16 inch
depth:12 1/4 inch
Won't adding more live rock cause my tank to cycle again?
The LFS said that the jawfish would be OK in my tank because I have alot of ruble and shells in the sand. (the 20 punds does not include the rubble or shells)
I wasn't planning to get a tang.
However my parents (I'm only 12. I started my fish tank all by myself. Then I found this site and it turned out to be very useful. My mom and dad said I could use this website as long as I never gave away any personal information.) said that if this tank goes well over the next 1 or 2 years and if I get alot more nolagable, we would get two 200g tanks. One for a reef tank that would house my two favorite tangs, the hippo tang and the yellow tang and many other fish! And one aggresive fish tank that would house a piccaso triger and a porcupine puffer(and many other aggresive fish)!

 

[twistoflime]

oh and I don't have a test kit. I take my water in to the LFS every 3 days and they test it for free. All the perameters were perfect a couple days ago. I'm getting my water checked again tommarow.

 

[twistoflime]

andregarcia_73;213479 wrote: well little buddy! Make sure you do get a better filtration method such as a canister filter or a sump. there is someone else here about your age (blind1993). Make sure you research all the fish you plan on keeping. And ASK YOUR PARENT IF THEY CAN GET AYOU A BOOK CALLED mARINE fISHES BY sCOTT w. mICHAEL

Ok I really like reading, especialy when it's about animals. I'll look into getting a different filter. I've been researching all the fish and there all reefsafe and easy to take care of. I can't wait until about 2 years from now when we get the really big tanks. It'll be awsome!

 

[twistoflime]

dawgdude;213480 wrote: Just dont get to distracted from school with salt water reading!

I'll try not to! Every one on this site is really suportive. I'll get some more live rock from someone on this site and I'll read the book. I did my first water change yesterday and nothing has died so I guess I did it right! I know it's a little late for the first water change, (I guess the first lfs I went to didn't know much because they never said anything about water changes and they told me to leave the lights on all day so now I'm dealling with a hair algea problem. They were also very expensive so I went looking around for cheaper fish stores and found Nemo and tropical fish store. They're an awsome fish store. every thing is half the price of what it normally is and all the fish look extremly healthy and happy. And the family that owns and operates the store is very nice. I would recemend this store to anyone! Anyways they told me how to do a water change and to only keep the lights on for about 5 hours a day. And the algea is going away slowly.) will the late water change effect anything? U just have one more question to ask. How do I keep Sparky (my firefish goby) from almost getting sucked up well I'm siphoning the water. YOu see sparky is a very curious fish so whenever I put the plastic tube he comes right up to it and almost gets sucked up! How do I stop him from doing this?
Thanks for your time,
Diane

 

[twistoflime]

dawgdude;213486 wrote: Well in all honesty if Sparky gets sucked up once.....he probably wont do it again and you can just fish him out of the bucket with a net. Aside from that you can put a sponge on the hose or just scare him away with your hand and he will learn to stay away from the hose.

As for the hair algae, I would keep your lights on 4-6 hours a day since you dont have any corals and try to keep up with your water changes as much as you can. Also, make sure you are getting RODI water or RODI with salt added because excess nutrients and elements in the water will fuel the algae growth. If you have any questions then feel free to ask. Im in college and I am the one avoiding my work! lol

Okay thanks for the help! (I'll have more questions in the future but I can't think of any right now) If you see a user going by the name of shadowgirl or somthing like that It's probobly my friend Natalie. (I took her to Nemo tropical fish store and I infected her with the saltwater reef obbsesion so she's going to start a tank too and I promised Natalie I would make I hope her a acount.)
Thanks

 

[budsreef]

It sounds like you are trying to do all the right things and you will get a lot of good advice on here. The tank dimensions you listed are for a 20 gallon tank so anyone giving advise based on this being a 30 gallon tank will be off. Water volume equals W"xL"xH"/231. To be the most accurate you should use inside dimensions, but the out side dimensions gets you close enough.

 

[photokid]

good luck with your tank also good to see another eventer.

 

[bobz]

Welcome! It's great seeing young people interested in the hobby. My advice is to start very slowly. You are off to a good start and have had some success up to this point. You really want to fight the urge to add more to the tank until you gain more experience. I have a 30nano that I maintain along with my other tanks that has only four fish, a Yellow Watchman Goby, a Smith's Blenny, a Six-line Wrasse and a Pygmy Angelfish. I consider this tank maxed out and it has a large skimmer on the tank. Take your time and enjoy watching the Fire Goby and the Hermit crabs for a couple of months, especially if you are fighting an algae problem now (increased nutrients in the form of food will add to the problem). Good luck!