just getting started

[137775er]

ok here goes.....my sons want a Nemo and Dori fish but I can't belive how much it cost!!!! Someone please tell me there is a way for them to have this without spending so much money and without all of the equipment?? It doesn't have to be fancy and have everything just enough to make them smile
We have a 20 gallon tank which I think will be just fine for two fish but I'm not sure where to go from there? HELP!

[Matt Rogers]

Let's see... 'Dori' was the blue fish right? Honestly I would tell your son 'no' on that one.

In reality that's a Blue Tang I believe.



http://www.marinedepotlive.com/753574.html

Blue Tangs require huge tanks as they can grow up to a foot long. They are also very sensitive to their environment compared to other Tangs and can get sick easily. Not for beginners.

Nemo is really a Percula clown I think.



This fish would be able to live in a 20 gallon, but you will need to 'break in' the tank first to make it suitable to live in. This will take a month. Also quite a bit of money. More than you probably were thinking anyway. There are shortcuts, but I am going the ethical route here. Please read through the steps I wrote a while back.. these will give you some idea:

http://www.3reef.com/step1.shtml

Thanks for joining!


EDIT - BY THE WAY, I APPRECIATE YOU DOING SOME RESEARCH FIRST INSTEAD OF GOING OUT AND JUST BUYING THESE FISH. YOU GET SOME KARMA FOR THAT!

matt

[137775er]

ok thanks! Nemo would be fine with me because I don't want to buy another tank.
I don't mind spending "alittle bit" of money I just don't want to go broke!! Whether we go with a saltwater tank or freshwater I'm spending the money!
Here is the list of what I've found out I need:
heater
thermometer
protein skimmer (most expensive thing I've priced)
substrate
filter
synthetic salt
hydrometer

Not sure what can be omitted and what else I could need. I'm not even sure what all this is for or what it is! I'm very new to all of this.....we have goldfish so you can tell how basic we are!!
Please tell me what could be the most basic tank I could have for just a few clown fish......kinda as a starter and then we can always add later right??? I just want to find out how reasonable this can be at first and if it need to be or we want to get "more" involved at a later date we can do that.

[Matt Rogers]

What skimmer are you looking at?
What filter?

The list is a good start.

[JohnO]

........ and a light :-)

[137775er]

I don't know the brand I've just been checking the prices...same as with the filter and light and everything else.
Can I just have the skimmer and filter? Do I need the live plants, rocks, sand, and coral? OR can they be added later. since it's a small tank I don't want to overwhelm it.

[Matt Rogers]

I don't think you'll overwhelm the clown, sand and rock would make it more natural. The other stuff you mentioned you don't really need.

I would say, either get 'live' rock, skimmer (another plug for a Remora), and sand. (About 10 pounds of live rock would do, or you could go up to 20 pounds.)

Or a filter, sand, and skimmer. (With some rock. I mention this, so the fish has a place to hide.)

For the filter, I use a TetraTec, but it's too noisey and finicky for most.. a BioWheel might suffice, or a canister filter of some sort.