How to Choose Fish for a Saltwater Aquarium

Choosing the fish is the best part of setting up your tank!

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Determine the number of fish you can house by the size of your tank. A general rule of thumb is to allow 2 inches of fish per gallon of water.

2. Buy your fish from a reputable dealer who will back up her product. You want clean fish that won't get each other sick. A good sign that the seller knows what she's talking about is her show tank. Do the fish seem happy? Is it the way you imagine your tank looking when it's complete? If you see dead things floating in the tanks, look elsewhere.

3. Read about the fish you want. Some have particular needs, whether temperature, chemical, dietary, or compatibility-related.

4. Begin with just a few inexpensive fish.

5. Look for damselfish, which are excellent beginner fish. They're tougher than most other marine fishes, tolerating poor water conditions and temperature fluctuations. Be aware that they are fairly aggressive and you should limit your tank to two of them.

6. Consider the cousin to the damselfish, the clown fish, another attractive starter fish. While they are territorial, they're only aggressive to their own species.

7. Mollies, although also listed as a freshwater fish, can be an ideal stepping stone between freshwater and saltwater tanks. They are very hardy fish.

8. Try gobies and blennies, fun little fish with a lot of character. Some eat algae, an added benefit. They do well with most other fish.

9. Look at crabs and shrimp. They're easy to maintain and reasonably inexpensive. Some might try to eat your smaller fish, so check out the species closely for compatibility before you bring them together. Shrimp need to have iodine added to the water, which is one more thing for you to monitor.

10. Look into starfish and sea urchins, too. They vary widely in color, size and shape. They help keep the tank clean and are generally easy to keep.

11. Think hard about anemones, which are particular about water conditions and lighting. They're also expensive.

12. Avoid angelfish, pipefish, eels, stonefish, clams, seahorses, octopi and jellyfish, as well as the expensive species. These have fairly rigid needs that are likely more than challenging for a new tank owner.

Tips & Warnings

• Saltwater ' or marine ' fish tend to be a lot more expensive than freshwater species.

[sleeplessrowan]

on 10/27/2007 how come you say 2" of fish per gallon of water when (www.tropicalfishcentre.co.uk says only 1" of fish per 3 gallons of water ???? i am as confused as when i started ,is there no accurate answer? MR CONFUSED

[Carmie]

on 8/6/2007 Telling someone that they can keep 2" of fish per gallon of saltwater is irresponsible! Rules of thumb like this don't make sense when you consider all the shapes of fish but but an inch of average shaped fish per 2 gallons of water is far more appropriate. Where is the information on quarantining fish before introducing them into your display tank? Newly purchased fish should be kept in a quarantine tank for 3-4 weeks. This allows you to observe them for disease and allows the fish to recover from the rigors of shipping. If the fish is sick (and shipping stress can cause fish to become sick) you can easily treat the problem in a quarantine tank. These days biological filtration is usually accomplished through the use of live rock.

on 12/30/2005 You need all three types of filtration in a marine aquarium- Biological, Chemical and Mechanical. Mechanical Filtration can be provided by a Poly-pad type filter, Chemical through some activated carbon and a Protein Skimmer, Biological through some sponge. Always remember that they are all equally important! You can't leave out one to allow for more of another.

on 12/30/2005 Make sure you have a protein skimmer. It removes organic waste from the tank. Always watch the level and color of organic waste accumulated and remove the liquid when the collection cup is about half full. It helps keep ammonia and nitrate levels down.

on 11/22/2005 Urchins are not hardy if your water parameters are not correct. They need a good Calcium level a min of 350 ppm. Although this level is a bit low for some urchins! Urchins start to drop their spines if they are in bad water, they should never lose spines if quality is good.