# New Saltwater Fish-Only Tank



## wutang976 (Feb 22, 2010)

All,

Thank you in advance for the assistance. Great information on the forum, but I have a couple questions that weren't on there. I'm a beginner with salt-water tanks, but use to have a koi pond. 

Background: I purchased a new 26 gallon tank this weekend. I made my own saltwater on Friday and put in live sand 2 days later on Sunday (recommended by a local petco). A couple questions:

1. How long do I have to wait to add fish?
2. How many fish are suggested for my tank size? I mostly want to stick with clowns and small tangs.
3. I'm currently using a 50 gallon Whisper filter, is this sufficient?
4. I read that adding live rock helps to create bacteria and creates a natural filter. Is it recommended to add some live rock for a Fish Only tank?
5. If live rock is recommended, can I add some now, or should I wait a while?
6. Is a Protein Skimmer needed?

Any help is greatly appreciated. 
-Ryan


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## Cacatuoides (Feb 2, 2009)

FO, Fish only, is exactly that just fish. FOWLR, Fish only with live rock is, well Fish with live rock. Then when you add corals it turns to Reef. I'm not much of a sw guy so that just something basic.


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## petlovingfreak (May 8, 2009)

1. Depends on which method of cycling you are going to use.
2. You could get 1 clown and 1 smaller tang and a couple inverts. Eventually the tang will need a larger aquarium, they need alot of swimming space to thrive.
3. The filter should be sufficiant, however don't use carbon in it, bad for tangs in the longrun.
4. You can go fish only or fish with live rock, live rock holds tons of bacteria and is great for biological filtration.
5. You can add it while cycling, as you will have some die off it will help cycle. 1lb of liverock per gallon at least is reccomended
6. Protien skimmer is not NEEDED, but they do a great job of keeping the water very clean by removing waste before it's broken down and turned into ammonia/nitrite/nitrate, and there will be less mainenence on your part as far as water changes etc.


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Skimmers do such a great job of preventing problems that it can be said that they are pretty much needed. To not use one is literally asking for lots of headaches.

Even bigger headaches will be had from trying to keep any tangs in this tank. Any tangs.


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## Fishfirst (Jan 24, 2005)

wutang976 said:


> All,
> 
> Thank you in advance for the assistance. Great information on the forum, but I have a couple questions that weren't on there. I'm a beginner with salt-water tanks, but use to have a koi pond.
> 
> ...


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## wutang976 (Feb 22, 2010)

*thank you*

All, 

Thank you for the great information. I guess there will be no Tangs in my tank.

*Fishfirst *- good insight, I'll definitely be cautious when listening to the Petco folks going forward. 

*A follow-up question* - I bought 16lbs of live fiji rock yesteday. Even though, it was well over $85, it barely looks like I have anything in there. Not sure I want to spend another $80-100 on any more live rocks. Is it ok to add some artificial coral to the tank or will it have a negative effect on the live rocks?

Thanks in advance...
Ryan


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

It won't have any direct negative effect, but it will have an indirect one. The live rock isn't just for decoration, and it takes a certain amount to get the job done. The little you have will be better than nothing, but still nowhere near enough. That will in turn make things not so great in the tank, which will in turn have a bad effect on the rock that you DO have, which will only make things worse and worse.

I don't know where you got the idea that making a reef tank would be cheaper than it is, but I can assure you that it isn't cheap at all. That 100 bucks' worth of more rock is just a drop in the bucket compared to some other expenses you'll be facing soon. Just a heads-up for you.


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