Hi im a college student and i want to start a aquarium in my dorm room. I have already decided what tank im going to get. Im going to get the Fluval Edge because is compact and it looks nice. I know that i want to get a clown and anemone but i think im going to first cycle the tank with 2 damsels. I know the anemone is going to be a lot of work to take care of but i learn fast so hopefully one i have cycled the tank with the i have some idea of what im doing. i want to start the tank over my winter break which is about a month and a half and in that time cure the live rock and live sand. Then move it to my room and let it sit for another couple of weeks for clarity then cycle it with the damsels then get rid of them for the clown. Is the move with the tank okay because it isn't a very long trip and pretty smooth. Also i wanted to know a good clown/anemone/light set for the tank something that will kind of blend in. Also i want one other large attention drawing fish. I was thinking a seahorse would be really cool. This would be later on down the road though, but seahorse's are slow eater so would the clown eat the food first or would it not leave the anemone if i fed the seahorse on the other side of the tank. All other tank guidance is welcome. Except don't tell me to move to a larger tank or discourage me from saltwater please.
I wont tell you its to small. What people dont get about salt water is that Stability is the key to success. With a tank that small stability is very difficult and can usually only be obtained by making the tank automated. Look at it this way, If you evaporate just 10 percent of your water, which is usual with a reef tank due to the lighting needed. Your specific gravity just went UP 10%, That is a big swing for a fishes internal organs to handle .
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Automatic evaporation top off, or automated water changes, etc. Would make this easier.
Keeping the temperature stable alone is a daunting task.
Anemones are susceptible to any swing in any water parameter. And require a MATURE stable tank. Mature in this hobby means at least 1 year.
Seahorses need to be fed 2-3 times a day with live food, you can switch them to frozen but this is difficult. Clowns are very territorial, and will pick on a seahorse in that close environment.
Try this, cycle the tank with the damsels, and see if you can keep them alive for more than a month or 2. If they die, get another damsel till you can keep them alive for 2-3 months.
If you can get 1 damsel to live that long, then take it out and get a clown.
In the end wouldn't it just be easier to get a 12 or 20 gal cube tank?
I kept a little 5 gallon saltwater tank a few years ago. I had a dozen people tell me it couldn't be done.
I started with a chunk of live rock and three damsels. The fish did surprisingly well.The plan was to move on to clowns and inverts.
pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com I never did get the clown/anemone.
The tank was overtaken by pink algae, it was a pain to keep the water chemistry even, and I got sick of spending money on salt. Damsels went back to the store and the tank went on craigslist.
It's going to be a ton of work, especially if you get the iinvertebrate. Lots of work for very little reward.
good luck to you.
-B
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I really don't recommend ANY fish in an edge really, maybe some small Goby species, but not Damsels and Clowns and definitely not Seahorses! It's just too small. It is a nano, almost pico, saltwater tank and won't be easy!
I have a friend who has set up a marine tank in an Edge, you can see its progress (and the modifications it needed) here:
http://www.lfkc.co.uk/index.php?topic=74 ...
An anemone will die in that tank. They need a halide and the proper light is near impossible to incorporate with the fluval edge. You certainly cannot house a seahorse with an anemone! Anemones eat seahorses, no exception.
pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com
Come on, you are in college .... you should be able to do better research and should know better than what you have posted here!
There are saltwater applications you can do in the smaller tanks, but you are off to a bad start. Get a few good books like "The New Marine Aquarium" and plan your tank and stocking better.
Dwarf seahorses can be pulled off in the smaller tanks, but are very small and sensitive and even small glass anemones that can hitchhike in on live rock will eat them.
You are best to get some rock, and try one small fish like a Catalina goby and some easy low maintenance corals like zoanthids and mushrooms. That can be managed and still be a cool tank. Get some reef hermit crabs, snails, shrimp, fan worms, etc as well.
You said you learn fast so I'm hoping by the time you finish reading this you will know that you can't keep a clown of any kind, an anemone of any kind, or a seahorse of any kind in a 6 gallon tank especially a fluval edge. The smallest of clowns would be the tank bred ocellaris clown and it needs a 20 gallon tank although you could still keep one in a 10 gallon as long as you have a proper tank.
