Is recreating the dentist Marine Aquarium in the film "Finding Nemo" possible?

[stevenlyons@sesameaccess.]

Hi fishy friends! I recently purchased a Orca TL-450 (54 liters or 12 gallon tank). I would love to create a replica of the marine aquarium in the film "Finding Nemo", you know the one, in the dentist surgery. I'm pretty sure that there are too many fish (as some get quite big) to fit in this tank. The aim is for Nemo (Clown fish) Deb (Damselfish), Jacques (Cleaner Shrimp) Bubbles (Yellow Tang), Bloat (Porcupine Fish), Gurgle (Royal Gramma), Peach (Starfish) and last but by no means least Gill (MOORISH IDOL), 7 in total.

Do you think that this is in anyway possible, even a slight chance?

Do you know of any similar replacements that may work that can fool friends into thinking they are actually in the Dentist Surgery?

Who would eat who?

What order should the fish be introduced taking into consideration, nitrites, territorial habits (who'll plan on sucking out who’s eye cuz they think they own the waters)?

Should i pair up Nemo with his dad to make him happy (knowing that Nemo or his dad will actually turn into a girl fish and they'll love each other differently)

Below i have posted my first pictures, the blank canvas, I’ll keep you all updated.

Thanks

 

[Lorna]

sorry to disappoint you but it is virtually impossible at least if you want to be kind to the fish. A 12g could hold a clownfish....and the cleaner shrimp and maybe just maybe the royal gramma.....anything else is too big, will get too big, or are too mean...damsel, predator.....pufferfish and to say nothing of the moorish idol which in my belief should be left in the ocean as they seldom if every survive captivity. So get a clownfish or maybe a pair and then say the rest are on vacation in the sea.

 

[Fuzz16]

ummmmmmm....
12g....i think you need about a....bigger tank...even then most of the fish will get eaten/
finding nemo is such a bad influence on people!

you could do a royal gramma OR 2 clownfish OR a clownfish and a goby

 

[Limi310]

Yep, I agree with Lorna and Fuzz. There is no way you can put those fish in a 12 gallon tank.

Are you planning on buying live rock for that tank?

 

[Joe Fish]

I also have to agree with them. You are pretty much limited on what you can keep humanely.

 

[CoolWaters]

they really should research the marine life before they made that movie....

 

[stevenlyons@sesameaccess.]

Hi guys

I must add that it's 12 Gallons in imperial units, for some reason your Gallons in the US are smaller, i think it's about 15 US Gallons? Maybe it's because our island in the UK is smaller than yours so we make up for it with larger Gallons, i don't know.

Can we be improve on the number of fish with this in mind?

My second choice would be, Nemo (Clown fish), Dory (Regal Tang), Jacques (Cleaner Shrimp), Peach (Starfish) (or either the starfish or cleaner shrimp) and a sea horse or two, any opinions welcome?

Thanks for your imput guys.

P.S. I agree, Moorish Idols should be left in the sea, i had pretty much ruled them out really.

 

[azfishgal]

Dory needs a 6' tank as tangs are very large swimmers, so that's 125 gallon tank (US gallons). You have to remember she will get about 12" long, so way to big for a 15 gallon tank. Those three extra gallons don't make any difference really. The only fish you can fit in that size tank is the two clowns and a cleaner shrimp. The starfish needs LOTS of live rock and usually a very established tank, year old or so.

 

[Joe Fish]

Yeah, 15 gallons is still extremely small. A 55 gallon tank is considered on the small side with saltwater fish.

 

[zoalover34]

another thing, you don't wanna mix sea horses w/ fish, im pretty sure they need their own tank

 

[FroggyFox]

Seahorses are their own ballgame and pretty involved to keep...they need very specific and special conditions, food etc.

There is a fish that resembles the moorish idol, its called a black and white butterflyfish...however they still have a minimum tank size of at least 50 gallons.

There is so much to learn with keeping a saltwater tank that I think you'd probably be best off with your tank to continue doing research and seeing what fish can properly be kept in a tank that size and then if at some point in the future you'd like to invest all of the necessary time and money into a really large tank then more power to ya.

 

[1979camaro]

You should check out the stickies at the top of this forum regarding new tank setups, live rock, etc. You are really a long long way from adding any fish as it is and you certainly need to develop a stronger background in the fundamentals of SW aquarium keeping before you progress.

Aside from reading those stickies, if you tell us exactly what equipment you are running we can probably help you troubleshoot your system.

 

[stevenlyons@sesameaccess.]

I'm learning more every day thaks you you guys, thanks!
I have another question for debate. I'm in the process of adding my filtration bacteria food. When switch my tank lights on in the evening the temprature rises to 27 degrees from 26, would this effect the nitrites fluctuation in any way?

Should i stop switching my light on and off to keep a constant tempurature?

Should i drop the average temperature to 24-25 degrees or 25-26 degrees rather than 26-27, taking into consideration i can then keep switching my tank light on and off when i like and that i'm planning on keeping Klown Fish in the future.

 

[Joe Fish]

1 degree is fine and I don't see how that would affect nitrites. If you have nitrites you have another issue to worry about.. Are you running a protein skimmer? Do you run a mechancial filter? I don't know celsius but 79.5 is the temp you would want to keep. You really don't want to turn the lights on and off. You want your environment to stay as steady as possible.

You should read the stickies before purchasing anything. There is a wealth of information there.

 

[1979camaro]

What do you mean by "adding filtration bacteria food"?

Do you have any live rock?

 

[TheFool]

I would suspect you're trying to do a classic nitrogen cycle a la freshwater, by putting in bacterial cultures/food. This can work , but normally produces horribly unstable, high maintenance setups compared to those using live rock. I would advise reading the sticky on 'setting up my new tank'. This describes a fairly simple, low maintenance, low cost setup. I'd also advise reading the Mike Paletta book, the new marine aquarium, for some good, basic advice.
The rise in temperature is not a big deal for the various filter bacterias, even though, despite what the books say, nobody really knows which bacteria are doing what. Also, ammonia is your big killer in saltwater - nitrite is rendered nontoxic in seawater.