Newbie with questions...

Thank you for all the great advise! Now that i am resting easy that my fish arent sufficating in there...on to the fun stuff!

My tank is only 36g so i want to make sure with my limited number of fish, that the fish i get are active and beautiful.

Any suggestions???
I for sure want a clown fish or two...

what are some of your favorites?!

 

Id imagine your fish in there now will eventually be relocated to another tank. As for clowns they can be aggressive but I like them. Firefish blennies gobies to name a few.

 

any thoughts on Mandarinfish?

I know it is more of an advanced fish but i can't quite figure out why? Is it because they require differnt food?

 

yes, they are advanced due to their feeding requirements (live pods). You can try to start a pod population but you'll need to have your tank mature with plenty of pods to keep a mandarin. You can also look to buy one that is already eating frozen food or you can read about training one to eat frozen. Their diet still needs to include pods even if they are eating frozen though.

Have you looked at any of the designer clowns? wyoming whites are so cool looking and prices have come down substantially although they are still much pricier than typical occy clowns. I'd suggest a pair of clowns, a bottom dweller (like civic said - check out goby/pistol shrimp pairs - they have a symbiotic relationship that is very cool I really like the looks of the watchman gobies), and perhaps another peaceful mid tank dweller (check out wrasses (need a cover although having a cover is a good idea for any fish), midas blenny, firefish are some ideas. You can get interesting inverts too - urchins, various types of shrimps, hermits, etc....

 

Thank you so much oldfishkeeper for all the fish suggestions!

Now what are you thoughts about purchasing fish online vs in a store?
If odering online is a good way to go, what websites are best??

 

Liveaquaria is a good online vendor. I have always bought at an LFS just because I can really look at the fish and see it eat before i make a purchase, but there is no telling how many times that fish has been bagged for days at a time and hastily acclimated.

 

If I have my druthers I'd like to support my local brick and mortar LFS. As long as they are trustworthy and not just looking for the almighty dollar. Fortunately, my LFS is more about the hobby and is honest about any question I have. You can ask questions about what you are looking at, you can also watch it eat, see it swim, see how it interacts with others. With that said, you can't beat the prices of online and it seems most folks around here agree with mdb and using liveaquaria.

 

Not sure how Impt. Ca+, Mg, and Alk are to a FO, or FOWLR and regular water changes.
My vote is those levels aren't even needed.......Yet.- She'll get the Coral bug soon, then, maybe then she'd need the big 3. O/W, a 20% WC every 2 weeks- should be golden.
And- think about changing out the cannister filter for a sump perhaps- not a must though, just don't get lazy on the cleaning of the cannister.
Nice start, but, did I miss the FTS of your tank?

Todd

 

I'm trying to catch up on all the abbrevation and lingo here...
what is O/W???
annnnd here is a picture.. helpful?