Description
This article is from the Beginning
Saltwater FAQ, by Thomas Sasala with numerous contributions by
others.
05 Beginner Saltwater Fish
Contributed by Mark Rosenstein and Tom Sasala
It is easy to make mistakes when setting up your first saltwater tank.
Both for the sake of the fish and your wallet, start with only a few
hardy inexpensive fish. Most marine fish are collected in the wild
rather than captive raised, so your mistakes impact the world's
oceans!
Damsels
The best beginner fish for a marine tank are damsels. These fish are
very hardy, being able to withstand worse water conditions than most
other marine fish, they are not picky eaters, and they are fairly
inexpensive. The down-side is that they are fairly aggressive. One or
two will co-exist in a tank. There will be a lot of fighting if you
put more in. Dealers get away with a lot in their tanks by keeping the
tanks so crowded that none of the fish can establish a territory. This
is not acceptable for long periods of time. It is best to use damsels
to break in a new tank. If you are then going to add other aggressive
fish, you can keep the damsels. If you want to keep shy or delicate
fish, you should take the damsels back to the pet store once you and
your tank are ready for more fish.
Some damsels, such as the blue damsel and yellow tailed damsels, are
not as aggressive as others, such as the three striped and domino
damsels. In any case, damsels are certainly the best fish to start
with.
Mollies
Some people like to break in a tank with mollies which have been
acclimated to salt water. This gives you the benefit of starting with
inexpensive fish and get used to maintaining salinity and pH on
not-so-sensitive fish. Although safer, you don't achieve much marine
experience this way. Mollies are captive raised and bred.
If you buy mollies for your saltwater tank, you can acclimate them by
dripping saltwater into the bag over a period of 6-8 hours, removing
some water when the bag gets too full. Slowly increasing the salinity
gives the mollies time to get used to their new environment. You can
keep the mollies in the tank after it cycles, but any aggressive fish
with continually harass the passive mollies.
Clownfish
Clownfish are related to damsels, and are fairly hardy. However, they
are more difficult to acclimate to a new tank. Clowns, in general, are
very territorial, but are not otherwise aggressive except to other
clowns. They will do fine without an anemone, which is good since
anemones are much more difficult to keep. Anemones require very clean
water and high quality lighting. Also, each species of clown likes
particular species of anemones, and none of them will regularly
inhabit the inexpensive and easier to maintain Caribbean anemones.
Some clowns are captive raised.
Blennies/Gobies
These small fish are somewhat hardy and are unlikely to cause trouble
for the other fish in your tank. Some of them show a lot of
personality, though they will get lost in a large tank. Many of these
fish are excellent additions to a tank to help control algae. However,
some feed by sifting through the substrate and will be very hard to
keep fed in a fish-only tank (e.g., the mandarin fish).
Tangs (Surgeonfish)
Tangs are fairly hardy, though they are very susceptible to marine
ich. Being algae eaters, they are useful to introduce when your tank
starts growing algae. They must be fed leafy greens if there is no
suitable algae growing in the tank (green algae). Many different tangs
are commonly seen for reasonable prices.
Triggerfish/Lionfish
If you are setting up a tank for large aggressive fish, you can start
with triggers and/or lionfish, as they are hardy. However, mistakes
with them can be very costly, so you may want to practice on less
expensive and easier fish. Also, carnivorous fish such as triggers and
lions should be fed plenty of shell fish and other marine life.
Specifically, many people feed lions feeder goldfish. This is really a
bad practice because goldfish are freshwater fish and do not provide
the same nutrition that a saltwater fish would. Specifically, feeding
saltwater fish freshwater food can cause premature liver failure and
the early demise of your fish.
Angels and Butterflies
These are fish that must be ignored while in the pet store - all are
both delicate and difficult fish to keep. Many butterflies have
specialized diets which make them hard to maintain in captivity.
Batfish are also other fish that should be avoided.
Others
Other saltwater fish which can be attempted once you get good at
controlling the fish's environment are hawkfishes, grammas,
dottybacks, basslets, and wrasses. Some are more difficult to keep
than others, but not nearly as difficult as angles and butterflies.
Fishes to Stay Away From
All angelfish, all butterflyfish, Pipefish, Seahorses, Long-nosed
Filefish, Blue Ribbon Eels, Stonefish, and Moorish Idols. Mandarin
fish should also be avoided in non-reef tanks (they are hard to feed).
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aquaria, fish, acquarium, tank, fishkeeping, saltwater
