I have alot of experience with tanks. right now i have 3 50 gal. ,2 30 gal., and a 20 gal. In 1 50 i have a big Mitas is in one with 2 choco plats.. the others have african cichlids with some dinasour eels. My first question is are the dinasour eels good parents? I have 2 jack dempseys and 2 convicts in one...how do i tell there sex? i know the male jacks have a hump on their head but the convicts i dont know..i have had a 50 gal. salt before is a 30 gal alot harder to maintain?
I remember about a year ago, there were a couple of guys talking about dinosaur eels in the forum. I did a search; it didn't work. The search doesn't work right. If you look through the postings, you might find it. I will look after I post this and re-post if I find it.
As I mentioned in my other posting, I've never had cichlids myself so I'm not one to give first hand advise on their sexing, breeding, care, etc.
I've also never had a saltwater tank. You can have a 30 gallon saltwater tank. I don't think it would be harder than a 50 gallon. You'd obviously have to have fewer animals in the tank and might need to keep a closer eye on the water chemistry and salinity as it would be a little less stable in a smaller tank.
Dinosaur eels are like most fish in that they do not provide any parental care and will eat the offspring. However you do not have to worry about it because it is not easy to breed them.
JDs are hard to sex. When mature the male will have better coloration, a slight forehead hump, and longer extensions on the ends of the dorsal and anal fins.
Convicts are very easy. Same things as the JD, but the females have a metallic orange coloration on their bellies that is very easy to spot.
30 gallon sw tank can be harder than a 50. I am planning a 5.5 gallon right now. My top suggestions would be 1.5-2 pounds of live rock per gallon. You have had sw before so you have a good start, but keep reading. Reading and reading and reading has never made anyone a worse fishkeeper, it can only help.