30 Gallon bowfront, What should I get for it??

I have had fish most of my life and I currently have a 10gal with tropical fish and recently acquired a 30 gallon bowfront (Super excited ) but I haven't decided yet what to put in it. I love the colors of a salt water tank but don't want to try that route until I am able to get 100+ gallon tank. I want to add something with bright colors into the bowfront would prefer to not have super aggressive fish. There are already an african cichlid tank and a green terror tank. I want something different for mine. lol Any ideas from anyone about what would be good? I'm open for any ideas and will be doing research before I jump feet first into a certain kind of fish. I want to know I will have the time to take care of them and such. Just thought this would be a good place with all the fish enthusiasts to get some great ideas.

bright colors but dont want to do africans? hmm............... dwarfs, or rams... bolivian rams are super colorful and would look awesome in your tank.

apistogramma caukatoides, would be bright

Victorian cichlids.

alexmuw wrote:Victorian cichlids.

that would be colorful but you couldn't put may in a 30g they still hit the 4" mark

I have thought about going with a victoria cichlid and breed them but I don't feel experienced enough and would probably get over run with fry if they took off well. That wouldn't be good. But it would be kind of fun. I like the fulu's and the flameback's but again I don't feel experienced enought to go with that route.

if you really want to get into SW later on with a 100 gallon, I suggest you go with a SW setup now to see how you like it. The buy in for a 100 gallon set up is a lot to pay just to find out you don't have the patience or don't like SW.

That is true but you can't put much in a 30 gallon can you? I have also heard the smaller the tank the more the maintenance is on it to keep balances correct. The bigger they are the more self sustained and maintaining they are if set up properly.

I am currently doing research in the Dwarf Cichlids and so far I like what I see and says they are easy to maintain. I'm liking this idea and it would be fun to have the bigger cichlids in the 75 the green terrors in the 55 and then the dwarfs in the 30

Do you ever visit the SW section to look at some setups?

Not lately but I will check it out.

Thought you said no african cichlids?? victorians are africans.. lol.... oh yeah, and about your exp level, seriuosly they are the hardiest fish ever... Not very easy to kill at all. and the water parameters are easy to get to where they should be by just adding some corals, or crushed coral substrate.

I didn't realize there were dwarf cichlids. I am used to his african cichlids that get about 5 inches or so. I wouldn't be able to put many of those in a 30 gallon. Maybe 3 or 4 lol

I looked in the SW section but saw that they don't have very much in their tanks the same size as mine except coral mainly. Maybe 2 or 3 fish. I'd like to have more than that. I know they say 1" fish per gallon, but I currently have 12 fish in my 10 gallon tank and they aren't an inch a piece. I have a bala shark and an angel fish, plus a pleco and they all are doing well.

that 1" a fish thing is a selling point.... it meant more for a cubic inch of fish..... and also dependent on your filtration....
you could do the shellies everyone seams to love they stay small... there also was a cichlid that stayed about the size of a guppy but i don't remember what there called i saw them in a community tank once a while back

I love the shellies I have in my 50g
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Well the tank I got has an eheim canister filter (rated for up to 70 gallons) as well as a whisper filter. Pretty heavy duty filtration system I thought for a 30 gallon. That's why I couldn't pass up the deal, it was tank, both filters, light bar, lid, heater, brillo srubber, and stand for 100. Looks pretty much brand new. Top glass thing needs scrubbed but other than that it's super nice.

nice then will all that i would think you could get 6-8 normal Africans in that tank with out issue but smaller could get way more... tetras guppy's lol

I don't know how much protein skimmers and such cost, I am currently on unemployment and going to school, so I can't spend too much. I thought about just buying pieces per month, but what else would I have to do to get it up to a SW tank?

You dont want africans right??? or did you change your mind and now considerin africans???

like I said before, rams, apistos, dwarfs, are all cichlids from south america/central america that are super colorful and you get that cool cichlid personality from them! after readin all the posts so far though, sounds like africans is still an option... So my first suggestion would be some Mallawii african cichlids, like peacocks! or saulousi! you will get the best color out of thoughs guys, Bright yellows, reds, blues, etc

ShortyKiloGyrl wrote:I don't know how much protein skimmers and such cost, I am currently on unemployment and going to school, so I can't spend too much. I thought about just buying pieces per month, but what else would I have to do to get it up to a SW tank?

You could use a hang on back (HOB) skimmer and the filters you got with the tank. Or would you be considering a sump filtration? A tank that size would work fairly well with a HOB equipment and more frequent water changes. If you’re going to use the eheim filter, get rid of any of the bio balls or biospheres that are in it. They can hold too much bacteria and cause water problems.

You could easily do a fish only with live rock and probably soft coral in that tank. There are a number of nice little fish you could get. I have 5 fish in my 34 and could probably add one more. Live aquaria has a lot of info as to the tank size recommended for fish. Check the nano fish and the beginner’s fish section. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

I wont lie to you, it can be rather expensive.
You will need approx 30 lbs of live rock. You can find it sometimes between 2 & 4 dollars a lb and salt mix. Salt can run approx 25-40 dollars for 50 gal mix. I think Instant Ocean is a good salt mix for a lower price. With your system, a 15-20% water change at least once every two weeks would probably be the best. Other than that....fish. Corals can and probably will come after some time and can be found inexpensively. You can find small pieces for 5-10$ each and they grow fairly quickly and it is fun to watch them grow.

A planted fresh water tank is less expensive. If you want to try saltwater, let me know.

With the salt water can I add the live sand, then later add the coral, then slowly add fish? Buy things piece by piece and get things going slowly or will it not sustain properly doing this method?

2 small ceylon puffers, or a handfull of pea puffers imo everybody loves puffers

What you would want to do is add the sand, it will not be live until the system cycles and the good bacteria builds up and critters start living in it, and add live rock. Do not use sand from an existing tank. It will stir up all the detritus and cause a hugh ammonia spike. Always use new sand. After a few weeks of checking the water parameters and them being good, you can add a couple fish. You can add some soft coral any time. Ammonia may irritate them but if the rock you get is established, you may not have much of an ammonia spike and the soft coral should be just fine. Try mushrooms or xenia or some button polyps.

FYI always rinse the new sand at least three times in fresh RO water before putting it in the tank. Otherwise your tank will be milk for a week.

Oh and yes going slow is the best way to do it.
Start with sand and live rock and some critters, crabs and snails.

And you want to always use RODI water. Reverse osmosis de-ionized water. You can get it at the local saltwater fish store for like 25 cents a gallon or sometimes free. Using tap water will be the cause of a lot of algae blooms.

Thank you lilfishie that's great information! I am trying to decide what route I want to go. I know that salt water tanks can get expensive. Also, about how many inches of fish can I put in the 30 gallon tank? Does anyone know a good amount?

I think the number of fish or "'s can depend also on your filtration. A good skimmer and good flow you could get awy with a few more fish than you could with filtration not as good.
Always get filtration for more than the size of the tank. Typically I guess it would be closer to 1" per 3 gal.

Well it has an eheim canister filter rated up to 70 gallons and then a HOB whisper filter as well. Then I was going to get a HOB skimmer if I chose to go the sw route

How many fish depends on the size of fish and aggression level of them.... well I am talkin FW here... Dont have a clue how to calculate the amount of SW fish in a 30gal... anyway, what fish did you decide? I would put like maybe 7 mallawii cichlids in there.... a few smaller new world cichlid like convicts or firemouths..... maybe 10 dwarfs or apistos until you get a pair formed... then just a trio..... 3-5 discus until a pair forms, then just one pair. Now if your going community fish like neon tetras, glofish, corys, etc etc... Imma let someone else take that one.... Think you heard enough of my opinion.

I was looking at mostly peaceful fish for the SW. I still haven't fully decided what route to go. Tank is still just sitting in the spare room. I was thinking running either with the "peaceful" SW fish or with Drawf Cichlids. Discus hadn't crossed my mind but there as well I like to have multiple fish per tank so I think I'd get bored quick with 2 or 3 discus.

My ten gallon has 2 hatchet, one blue ballon ram, one bala shark, a frog, a pleco, 5 tetras, and I think that may be it but I might be forgetting one. I know I don't have over 12 though. I like how that tank is set up, it just doesn't have the color like I want.

since you like dwarfs, you may like the personality of the apistogramma cacatuoides... They are gorgeous fish, and have such a packed personality for a small fish.

Actually that was one of the ones I liked best for color and appearance. lol

Just a peek at my 10 gallon. They are fake plants though. Can't really tell there are 12 fish.

I believe I would need real plants for the Dwarf Cichlids from the research I've done, if I go that route.

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The salt water fish I had considered getting are any of the following if I chose the SW set-up.

Centropyge argi - peaceful - 1.5"
Gramma loreto - peaceful - 1-2"
Ecsenius midas - peaceful - 3-4"
Pterapogon kauderni - peacful - 2-3"
Amphiprion ocellaris - peaceful - 1"
Chromis cyaneus - peaceul - .75-1.5"
Chromis viridis - peaceful - 1-2"
Synchiropus splendidus - peaceful - 1-2"
Bodianus rufus - peaceful - 2-3.5"

These are just off of saltwaterfish.com I haven't looked at other site yet to see what I can find.

Mako shark.