12 gallon new to salt water

[anjay]

Hey! ok so i currently have an eclipse 12 gallon (largest i was allowed to get for my room). I'm Rather new salt water but not to freshwater. Im wondering what i need to get in order to maintain a possible mini-reef? a couple of fish (percula, damsel, and/or the royal gramma-the pink/yellow fish), an invertibrate or two and some coral/live rock/ maybe anemone. First off, what equipment do i need? Do i need a protein skimmer, because all the ones i see are for larger aquariums. Also, the only pet store i know of is petco, should i find another one to buy fish/invertibrates? because i heard a story about how they stun the fish for an easier capture. Also does crushed coral make the water softer or harder? I know im askin alot, but i really dont want to kill any fish here. [i had a percula in a 5 gallon with one 5 lbs live rock and live sand, it lived for 2 months and then all of a sudden died?] ANY ADVICE APRECIATED!

 

[Anonymous]

Hey! ok so i currently have an eclipse 12 gallon (largest i was allowed to get for my room). I'm Rather new salt water but not to freshwater. Im wondering what i need to get in order to maintain a possible mini-reef? a couple of fish (percula, damsel, and/or the royal gramma-the pink/yellow fish), an invertibrate or two and some coral/live rock/ maybe anemone. First off, what equipment do i need?

As far as equipment, you will need some test kits, something to measure the salinity of your water (such as a hydrometer) and the usual lights, heater, and thermometer.

I usually recommend a skimmer, but I don't know what kind will run on a tank that small. You can go skimmerless, you will have to do more water changes, but you really need to have something to provide good water movement. A couple of Maxijet 1200 powerheads will do the trick. You will also need live rock.


When you add your livestock, go very slowly. There are some sticky threads at the top of this forum that give more detail into the first steps of setting up a tank than I can go into right now. It usually takes a bit longer for a saltwater tank to be ready for livestock than it does for freshwater so be prepared to be patient!

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