can i make my first fish .. butterfly in my new 4 weeks tank ???

[minajaguar]

can i make my first fish .. butterfly in my new 4 weeks tank (just cycled) .. fish only tank ???
or its dangerous ( instead of clowns )
my wishes ( clowns ,tangs,butterflies,angels,triggers ) one from each all small sizes

[f3honda4me]

You should try to make out a stock list right now. And the order you put fish in does matter, as you want to do least aggressive to most aggressive.

Also by 4 weeks old, do you mean 4 weeks since you finished your cycle? Or is your cycle done now?

[Reefmedic79]

+1 to honda

Also, Butterflyfish can be fairly difficult to keep for a beginner. They also aren't the safest fish for a reef for the most part. Are you planning on keping any corals?

You'll definately want a list of all the fish and corals you plan to keep.

[minajaguar]

what do u suggest me HONDA with the stock list

[HaKs310]

Kind of hard to recommend anything without any tank info. Tank size? Filtration?

[minajaguar]

30 gal ,, air stone skimmer , top filter ,, ceramic rings , carbon , fiber

[Sk8r]

You'll be happiest with gobies, blennies, royal gramma, maybe chalk bass, or percula or ocellaris or skunk clowns: an anemone after your tank is a year old---they're cranky creatures and require real steady conditions. Angels, butterfly, tangs, triggers---not ever in a 30 gallon, sorry to say. When you've gotten your skills and want a larger tank, go with about a 200 gallon, and then you can look at those species. They would not last long at all in a 30, and not all are compatible together even in a 200.

[sponger0]

I agree that a butterfly is for a more advanced aquarist. And also 30 gallons is way too small.

For a 30 gallon you are going to want nano fish. Such as gobies, blennies, clowns, firefish. But not to include mandarin gobies or scooter blennies as they are a different kind of species all together

[ken55]

If I may suggest: Go to a website called liveaquaria.com You can use their reference material as a guide to what you could get for your tank.

It's real easy. Just click on the pictures of the fish you like and it will give a full descpription of temperment, minimum tank size, food requirements, how big the fish will get etc. They also have a compatability chart that shows how well (or not) different species can be expected to get along. I've used it quite a bit during the last month or so.

Of course it's still a very good idea to double check here after you have found something that will fit your situation.

[doctormario777]

can i make my first fish .. butterfly in my new 4 weeks tank (just cycled) .. fish only tank ???
or its dangerous ( instead of clowns )
my wishes ( clowns ,tangs,butterflies,angels,triggers ) one from each all small sizes

If I were you, I'd try a couple of damsels for a few weeks... just to keep everything adjusted. That way if something goes out of whack, you lost a $3 fish instead of a $40 fish.

[sponger0]

If I were you, I'd try a couple of damsels for a few weeks... just to keep everything adjusted. That way if something goes out of whack, you lost a $3 fish instead of a $40 fish.

Id only do this if you wanted damsels only as they can get aggressive as they mature, especially in a small tank

[sandwi54]

I will also make a suggestion that you research the adult size, temperament, and recommended tank size on Liveaquaria.com for every fish you want to buy. For a 30g nano tank, you pretty much can't have any fish that grows over 4" as an adult. You will be limited to "nano fish," like clownfish, gobies, firefish, etc.

[Sk8r]

Most damsels require 100 gallons. None (except the smallest clowns) less than 50.

[FishNFun]

Most damsels require 100 gallons. None (except the smallest clowns) less than 50.

Care to reference which damsels require 100 gallons? I only know of the Garibaldi. A quick check on LiveAquaria shows that the majority of the damsels require a minimum 30 gallons. Saying 100 gallons seems a bit excessive.

[Sk8r]

Just about all damsels except the azure, the yellowtail, chromis, perculas, and ocellaris. LiveAquaria tries to balance sales with the welfare of the fish, and they are a good guide, but if you want a damsel tank, and don't want them getting killed, they need enough room for each fish to have a hiding-hole, each of the dominants to stake out a territory that it doesn't have to defend every three seconds. If you put several damsels of the same type into a tank, they'll fight at night over holes...and the weakest will die, until everybody's satisfied and they don't feel stressed.

The Garabaldi grows to more than a foot, many damsels (including clowns) reach 4-5"---and despite the statement that dominos only get half a foot long, there's one in the Seattle Aquarium that breaks that record. Remember each needs its own unique hole, which changes as the fish grows, and they get frantic and aggressive if required to defend their area too often---which translates to fish getting hurt, ergo disease, ergo fish getting killed.

There's a ton of misinformation out there on these fish, from antiquated lfs who believe they're disposable cycling aids (cruel and unnecessary) to grandfathered lists that have been around for ages and that just get copied and copied and copied from WAY back, when most tanks were smaller, and when damsels were among the first saltwater fish ever kept---without checking out the terms in real life---a case of nobody takes the damsels seriously, since the advent of more variety of species, and their welfare isn't a priority because they're cheap.

A little math will prove these figures aren't a good guide. 3 half foot long fish in a 50 gallon is WWIII...and despite their rep, the red and clarkii clowns are the fiercest of the lot---they'll bite their owners. Most other damsels have no interest in owner-directed mayhem. They're best kept as solos, ie, one domino, one blue devil, one sergeant major or the like all together, no two of the same kind, so you don't have same-species competition going on: their real aggression is reserved for damsels that want the same size and shape sleeping holes.

So if you get one of each type, in a large enough tank, they're great, colorful, fun--- and they will (sort of) school in their chases around the tank---ie, they're all different kinds, but they behave alike and are usually dodging the tank dominant, all going in the same direction with nobody ever really getting a fin nipped. They get the bad rep when somebody wants to put a blue devil or sergeant major in a 30 gallon and then can't figure why a wrasse or dottyback or unfortunate chromis gets fins chewed. The reason chromis disappear from a tank is very simple: overstocking. They pare down their own numbers.

If you really want an active reef, a really large tank where you can stock multiples of these fish would be quite spectacular. They're constantly on the move, in long runs.