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too many fish?

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96slowbra View Drop Down
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    Posted: December 27 2011 at 12:37pm
i have a 54g corner tank and would like to add more fish. not in any sort of a hurry, i think it may be too many for a small tank like mine.

currently i have:
5 small clowns. (1 ocellaris tank bred, 1 black and white ocellaris,3 baby mochas;and all seem to be getting along still)
1 ORA manderine

want:
2 cardinals
1 copper banded butterfly
1 wrasse(not sure which)

i have around 60lbs of live rock, and am looking to do this over the year or so.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote BillyC Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 27 2011 at 1:01pm
If it was my tank, I would keep only a pair of clowns and the mandarin, and then add those fish you want to add. (If the copperband is not eating at the fish store I highly recommend not buying it unless you are an expert fish guru but I'm sure you know this haha)

You'll hear lots of opinions including mine but in the end do what makes you happy and if it turns out to be a mistake just learn from it 
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Mark Peterson View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Mark Peterson Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 29 2011 at 7:59pm
Originally posted by 96slowbra 96slowbra wrote:

i have a 54g corner tank and would like to add more fish. not in any sort of a hurry, i think it may be too many for a small tank like mine.
You are absolutely correct.

With a Mandarin already in a 54 gal tank, which is the minimum size tank recommended for a Mandarin, I'd be very careful about adding another heavy bug eater like a Wrasse. Cardinals are also bug eaters so this would make the tank very heavy on the carnivore side. See the article about this here: Sea Star Newsletter - Herbivores vs. Carnivores

If this was done as you are suggesting, the increased feeding required to keep these fish alive would put the tank out of balance and a nuisance algae problem would be the end result, unless... sufficient herbivores were added and a significant external filtration, including a good Sump/Refugium, were built into the system. This is how Tileman/Brad Syphus and the public aquariums do it, behind the scenes with a huge skimmer, etc, etc..

This is my 2 cents. Smile
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Quickness Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 30 2011 at 1:35pm
Since we are on the subject lol.. Thread jacking also btw

I've got a 120 and plan on adding at minimum 2 more wrasse species. In my tank currently I gave
Blue hippo tang
Naso tang
Sailfin tang
Kole tang
Red firefish
Cleaner wrasse (eats prepared food)
Mystery wrasse
Divided leopard wrasse (also eating prepared food and just added)
Watchman goby
Sharknose cleaner goby
Molon Labe
Si vis pacem, para bellum
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote 96slowbra Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 31 2011 at 3:48pm
down one black and white clown. he commited suicide this afternoon while i was at work. but now i have an even number of clowns...

probably gonna sell the 2 small mochas....
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Mark Peterson View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Mark Peterson Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 01 2012 at 10:16am
That fish sacrificed itself for you!?
You don't think it was listening to our conversation...Nah that would be Wacko

Seriously, I assume the fish jumped out of the tank. I'm sorry to hear that. I'd like to help. There is a reason a clownfish would jump. This MB can help you improve conditions in the tank so that fish like being there. Would you care to post a pic and tell us a little about the system?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote 96slowbra Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 02 2012 at 6:24pm
i had a black&white clown and a ocellaris clown that were in my first tank. i put them in my new tank along with 3 small mochas that rusty gave me when i bought his tank. in my first tank the black clown was clearly the dominant fish, when they were all introduced into the new tank at the same time he didn't really show agression for weeks. he started to get territorial again.

i checked the water yesterday:
ph 8.2
amonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate below 10

i have always had the nitrates, i am doing 2 week between water changes instead of weekly, and they are starting to go down.

when my new skimmer shows up i am going to have a small refugium for cheato and run 24/7 lighting

here is a crappy cell phone pic from tonight

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Mark Peterson Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 03 2012 at 9:36am
That pic is perfectly fine for me to see the tank environment and make suggestions, but first, a few more questions.

Has there been a Skimmer on the tank before the new one arrives?
What can you tell us of these parameters:
Temperature?
Salinity?
Alkalinity?
Calcium?

Also what kind and amount of food is being fed?

Interesting comment about the Nitrate level decreasing as you increase the interval between water changes. How old is the tank and how much water do you change?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote 96slowbra Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 03 2012 at 9:57am
i have a coralife HOB super skimmer that will shortly be replaced with a reef dynamics in sump.
temp: very steady 78
salinity: 1.025 1.026 (depends between top offs)
alk: 4.0/11.2
calcium: 550

i do spectrum pellets everyother day and 1/2 cube of brine on the opposite days. and i put a squirt of phito feast most days

10 gallon water changes

i bought the tank used a couple months ago, i think it was only up for 5 months prior. had very little rock when i bought it. i filled it with mostly premium live rock from aquatic dreams sale, and maybe 15 pounds of dry rock.

i don't think my rock has enough good bacteria yet, so i figured that 2 week water changes would help establish the rock



Edited by 96slowbra - January 03 2012 at 9:58am
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote 96slowbra Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 10 2012 at 11:06am
thinking about picking up a couple cardinals today. been almost a month since i added my mandarine. and a week ago i sold 2 baby clowns.

and nitrates are 0
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ttls1 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 10 2012 at 12:20pm
I have some freshwater angelfish you could have for cheaper, seeing as they look the same!!!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote 96slowbra Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 10 2012 at 12:46pm
lol. Next i want a copperbanded butterfly. they do look pretty plain, but they are cool to watch buzz around the tank
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Adam Blundell Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 10 2012 at 1:29pm
I didn't read above yet, but just wanted to say it depends on what fish you want. I haven't seen Jake's new tank but I hear he already has forty fish in it.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote BobC63 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 10 2012 at 1:33pm
Originally posted by Adam Blundell Adam Blundell wrote:

I didn't read above yet, but just wanted to say it depends on what fish you want. I haven't seen Jake's new tank but I hear he already has forty fish in it.

Adam
 
 
And it's a nano Shocked
 
 
 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote BobC63 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 10 2012 at 1:35pm
OK, but seriously, I don't think you currently have too many fish in your setup.
 
 
Try to find a copperband that already eats frozen, so that you don't have to worry if it can find enough food off of your live rock.
 
 
- My Current Tank: 65g Starfire (sitting empty for 2+ years) -

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote 96slowbra Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 10 2012 at 1:53pm
i have heard of some that don't eat. i thought they all ate frozen?? but i guess not
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote BobC63 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 10 2012 at 1:58pm

In nature the Copperband picks worms, pods, etc out of live rock and off of stony corals.

In our tanks, they can get by in a large tank just browsing the rock, but most home tanks that are smaller than say, 150g, you want to be sure the fish will eat prepared food as well.

Some specimens can be very difficult to get started eating.
 
If you can find someone selling one on the Messge Board that usually means you get a fish that has already acclimated to the home aquarium and eats prepared foods.
 
 
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