Size of first saltwater tank

[im_a_clownfish]

Hi All!

I've had two freshwater tanks for just under a year now, and want to start up a saltwater tank. Although I have done lots of research on it, and have talked to a lot of people, I wanted to ask some of you long time saltwater fish keepers for some advice.

How big should my first tank be. I know, as big as possible would be ideal....however, it will be in my room so it can't be monstrous...

At my LFS they have a 65 gallon and 45 gallon tank at the same price, so that of course makes me want the 65 gallon. That's a pretty big tank for my room tho, and since I am making my own stand for it, more money for wood. (and more weight of course).

I will be putting some live rock in there, which I know displaces a lot of water. (By the way, how much live rock should I start with for a 45 or 65g tank?) It's sooo expensive...

Essentially, I would like to get a clown fish, a yellow tang (and hopefully a blue/yellow tank like dory in the finding nemo movie). I know tangs dont usually agree with each other, but if you have a big tank with other fish, and you start them from babies, will two (no more) be okay?

I was thinking of a false? clownfish, yellow tang, blue/yellow tang, angel flame, wrasse, goby firefish, yellow tail damsel (not as aggressive), and maybe another fish or two, with some cleaner shrimps.

So basically 7 or 8 fish, all starting very small. They are available as almost babies from my LFS. Will 7-8 fish be okay in the 45g tank? Especially since the goby, wrasse, and damsels aren't huge fish...


Any and all suggestions and advice are more than welcome. I've given up on the 1 inch per gallon rule, as I have found with freshwater that it can be underkill or overkill....

Are marine fish more or less suceptible to ammonia/nitrate poisoning? Thanks again for all your help!

Also, are UV sterilizers recommended? I've got a canister filter and a protein skimmer and the LFS suggested a UV sterilizer as a great way to keep down diseases. (Sick of medicating my freshwater fish, and seeing them suffer). Are these really effective and worthwhile in a tank, especially saltwater tank where fish are like $60-$100 each?

[Fishfirst]

You've come to the right place for advice! First of all get the 65 gallon tank, the more water volume you've got the more room for mistakes you have. You might not have as "much" room but you'll find that most tanks take up very little. 65 gallon is a four foot tank, which could be a problem with your fish stocking list that you've come up with. The tangs will need at least 2 more feet of swimming room, (check out my profile on the pacific blue tang in the profiles section and you'll get the jist of why). Flame angels are perfect for fish only aquariums but not the best choice for reefs or liverock (mainly because they can pick on corals that you put in the tank or are hitchhiking on liverock). You can get lucky with these guys however and have them never pick on a coral. A clownfish would also be a good fish for your tank, as well as the wrasse and the goby and the firefish, I would however skip the yellow tailed blue damsel if you get the firefish (fairly delicate fish). 7-8 fish is not a great number of fish for this small tank anyway. I'd shoot for 6 smaller sized fish. In my 55 I have 5 (a pair of banggai cardinalfish, a flame angel, a purple firefish, and a cleaner goby).
As for the nitrite poisoning, less suseptible, more suseptible to ammonia. Read my starting up a saltwater tank article for a breif overview of what you should do (in profiles and stickied in beginner section).
The uv sterilizer is a good idea, but a quarentine tank is better (as small as 10 gallons). Most saltwater fish run in the 10-30 dollar range. check our www.liveaquaria.com

[im_a_clownfish]

Thanks so much for the help!

One question tho, isn't a goby a firefish? In the tank at my LFS they have it labelled "goby firefish".

Or am I or they mistaken?

Thanks!

[Fishfirst]

nope... firefish are members of the dartfish family and are not gobies. Gobies have quite a different skeletal structure/body structure (especially in the head) as well as behavior.