New Saltwater Aquarist, lots of questions!

I am 16 and a total animal/biology lover. I recently decided to pursue a saltwater tank. I have been doing research daily (thank you Christmas break) for about a week and a half. I have two plans for two diffrent aquariums but only the money to have one of these. of course I would love any and all advice and I am a total newbie. and despite having done mounds of research still feel very clueless to this huge world of saltwater.

plan #1: a 20 gallon tank, lng rather than tall, a mandarin dragonet, a foxface, a midas gobby,cleaner wrasse, no coral, no live rock, no protein skimmer, heater, full spectrm light, powerfilter, and maybe somewhere down the road a bubble tip anemone and a clown fish (not sure what kind yet)

plan#2: (this plan was made when my fiance pointed out that over 300 dollars for plan #1 was a little much sense I cant move a 20 gallon tak to college with me in 2 years) smaller tank (12 gallon?) live rock (havnt decided how much) bubble tip anemone, 2 clowns( not sure what kind) possiable star fish, various corals, and then maybe another fish, like a mandarin dragonet(they are the coolest looking fish ever) or a foxface(m personal favorite)

I wouldnt add the anemone until later, after the tank is a few months old, but can I add an anemone after Ive added clowns and still expect them to host?

I have researched water, light, filters, sand/gravel, fish, thouroughly, its the live rock and corals I dont know much about. any advice? or alternative plans?

something else, as I have been reading around the forums, ive noticed diffren things about substrate. Ive just been looking at generic, small sized gravel for my tank. I think that will work fine, but is gravel diffrent than calcerous rock gravel? or crushed coral? whats best for what im planning?

I personaly want the long, 20 gallon tank, but i also want to be practical. also, I want to get the most I can out of either tank. maybe some corals, a variety of interesting fish, an anemone/clown relationship.

 

Plan 1 and 2 won't really work. ALL of the fish are to big for the tank besides the clownfish Buy baserock, sand is the best, all the stuff stays on top. This hobby is not cheap, being cheap will bite you in the ass one day.

 

Fish are too big unfortunately for both plans. Mandarins and foxfaces are very nice but foxface gets too big and mandarin dies easily without the proper live food. for plan one maybe you could do a clownfish pair (percula or ocellaris, your choice), a firefish, and maybe a high fin red banded goby to start off (plan 1). For plan 2 maybe you could do a yellow watchman goby and a purple firefish with a serpent star (really the only good starfish for a community tank/reef) and corals such as zoanthids and mushrooms.

 

I wouldn't do a starfish, they eat the crap out of your sandbed and will most likely die.

 

I agree with above post.

Here is a plan for you...I am 15 and have a great looking 14g biocube

Go out and buy a 14g biocube, they are pretty common on craigslist or something like that. OR you could even get a 29g biocube, just may be a little more expensive then the 14g.

Here is your plan, buy the 14g biocube and the reason why i say a biocube is because i had a 29g regular tank and got me a 14g biocube and honestly, this tank IS SO EASY TO MAINTAIN!! I never topoff, weekly water changes and feed and clean and thats all the maintence i do and the tank looks amazing.

14g biocube: $100-$200(i got mine for $100 on craigslist)
15-20Ilbs of rock: $50(you can buy dry or live, you need LR! it is the main source of filtration in any tank)
15lbs sand:$20(some people say dont use sand, but i have and i like the look of it)

That right there will get you started, and once you get some money you can start adding your livestock. here is my livestock in my tank

2 clowns
purple firefish
randalli goby
neon dottyback
pistol shrimp
And tons of coral and i have some hermits and snails.


A biocube is an all in one system, comes with a light that can do all of the easier corals LPS and Softies mostly. and all you have really have to do is just weekly water changes and test water and clean and feed and thats all you have to do. Thats all i do with mine and you can look at my tank here is a link
http://www.3reef.com/forums/show-off-your-fish-tanks/update-my-14g-biocube-lots-pics-101041.html


But again, like he said about this is not a cheap hobby, because it def is in the building stage. But once you get the tank stable and coral stocked and fish stocked, there really is much more to spend except on food,water,light bulbs, and something that may break or if you can fit anymore coral in there.

I have probebly put atleast $500-$600 in my 14g biocube and i am 15, no job, i go to HS and chill.

 

some of them but not really the serpent star IMO; its the only one that doesnt become a big problem in ur tank lol

 

still so jealous of ur tank XD

 

Hahaha....yeah, it just takes time and patience, it took my a whole year to finally understand.

 

wow I love your tank! lol
what all does the biocube come with? could I get it from a chain store like petco?

where did you get your corals? i live in a tiny town and the only pet store is Petco, so any online sources would be great.

the starfish sounds fun, how do you care for a star?

people keep telling me to avoid anemones, i dont really like that plan, so I think im gonna do one anyway, any advice on how not to kill it? I know they need lots of light, i know what to feed them, im going for a bubble tip, ive heard they are very hardy.

any fish ideas?

also, what about crabs? are they hard to keep? benefital?

 

Oceanic BioCube Aquarium at PETCO
Biocube example at petco (since it's the retailer you mentioned)