Guess we jumped all in...we started with a 45 about a month ago. Last weekend we picked up a 180 set up. It came with everything. Very excited about this, but trying to decide which way to go with it. It came with a large purple tang (very torn up) and a beautiful gold strip maroon clown. Will the tang be aggressive toward new fish? Any sugestions on stocking?
Yes! purple's are some of the worst about being agressive to new tank members! However, having said this, they are a beutiful fish, and a great addition to any tank! when you are going to add new members, just give him something to be preoccupied with. Like a big chunk of mysis, or some seaweed to chew on. Are you setting up a reef, or fish only aquarium? And WELCOME to marine aquariums, and WELCOME TO RAZORBACK REEF!
a tank that size your stocking is almost unlimited with in reason. but the two fish you have are among the most aggressive of their species so adding any new fish could be very bad even in that size tank. if it were me i would rehome them and start with new stocking adding the timd ones first and then the aggressive species last. welcome to salt water.
Thanks!! Reef tank for sure. Thinking something like LPS, maybe a few SPS at the top. My 45 will become a softie tank with leathers, mushrooms, zoas. I thought about rehoming the fish, but they are both something I want/ would add. Only thing is that i wanted a pair of maroons. I guess adding another one would be out of the question? Plus, I'm all about starting small and watching it grow...and both of these are full grown. What would be a good starter fish if I did rehome these? I like stuff that pairs and schools. _ I know... it's not freshwater. But there are a few things right? I'm learning. So probably rehoming- maybe do some trading?
I am deff. interested in the purple tang. But if u want maroon pairs, just get some babies and watch'em grow! If u like schooling fish I would highly recommend anthias, or some kind of reef chromis! when u get about 10-20 of these guys in a tank, they really look great! I would trade some fish, but i think i would kill everything trying to get anything out!....now coral on the other hand now we can do some tradin'! pm me anytime!
anthias are very cool fish but not the easiest from what i have read. if you get the hardier guys they come with higher aggression levels. get the timid guys and feeding becomes priority. green chromis can be very agressive. the blue-green however are suppose to be mild manored. you could also look into chalk basslets for small shoals.
Is there a trick to this PM thing? It won't let my message go through? I have tried to short it but still has an error? Camn55ivie: Yes I would be willing to trade the tang for some coral. See if it will let you PM me?
The information you're getting is correct, but one thing you need to consider before jumping in and stocking this new tank with fish and inverts is the condition of the system. Fish like anthias have been suggested and under the right conditions they would be ok. They need a well established tank with stable water conditions. Please take your time with this new tank or you can spend a lot of money and have bad results. I don't know your experience level, and I'm sorry if I'm being too basic. Everyone here on the forums will be glad to assist in any way so please keep asking questions. Welcome to RRMAS and hope to see you this weekend at Pet Country.
Well don't mean to sound like a Jerk, but my advice would be to slow down and do alot of reading. Books, here, reefcentral. Read and listen to well thought of people in the hobby. First of all I would plan on using the 45 for a QT. Since it has only been setup 4 weeks it would not be ready yet incase you had to add drugs, its bio system is not established enough to stand up to drugs be dosed. What corals you can keep depends alot on what lighting you have? Most sps require really good water conditions and a stable tank. Big fish loads require a really good filtering and skimmer system. What skimmer is on the 180 and is it using a sump? Purple tangs and marroons are very aggressive, anthias require a well established system and reef keeper, not suggested for newbies of either. I don't mean to sound negative here but go slowly. I have seen so many over the years get frustrated and quit because they didn't do things right or slow. It cost them alot of wasted money and the animals their lifes. Glad your asking questions and welcome. cheers
Surely, not planning on doing anything yet, but ask questions and read alot. I had to add the fish that came with it b/c they were in a rubbermaid box. ( I did rehome 3 as it came with 5) No way was I going to take the chance of crashing the 45 it's been set up more like 6 weeks. It's water looks great ATM, plus I have shrimp gobys and baby clown pair a few inexpensive zoas and mushrooms. I will probably set up a 20 gal QT. Before I start adding fish to the 180. The 180 had been set up for 6 years. All I did was change out the sand and add some new water. it has a 35 gal trickle filter sump, but I took the bio balls out. I plan on building a 55 gal refuge lay out like the one on Melev's reef. Skimmer, Return pump, higher Refuge fed from T. Or just add a refuge that runs into the return pump side on the current sump. Any advise on the best method?? It's got a berlin skimmer? Seller said it was rated for a 300gal? Not really sure about it...we haven't hooked it up yet. I don't plan on adding anything other than a clean up crew anytime soon. I just like to have some info on a good stocking plan. That way I can research and research. Thanks for all the info!! I'm sure we will have more questions, as we have lots to learn. Look forward to meeting you guys soon.
Sounds like you're on the right track. As for the refuge, I probably am not the right person to answer that since I don't run one. I have in the past and always ended up with a unwanted vareity of algae everywhere. I run a big skimmer and 100 micron felt sock on the dump tubes from the tank. I feed my corals everyday 15 mins before lights out so all get fed. Ileave my sump pump off for an hr. I seem to have better luck contolling algae with this method. If I was to run a fuge I would run my water from the tank into the sump through the skimmer then into the fuge, other wise you well end up with alot of detritus in the fuge which would be hard to clean with a big load of macro algae. Most people run a fuge I would say, the advantage in theory is for a more natural food source for the corals. As far as the berlin skimmer if you are talking about Red Sea berlin, I would seriously plan on getting something better. I well probably catch grief saying this but my opinion and most of the people who test skimmers don'r think to highly of them. Most skimmers you can usally figure 1/2 of what their rated for and that is with a light bio load, so you can see yours is probably not up to the task of a well stocked 180.
As for a QT a 20 is barely ok for small fish, but if you are going to be stocking say 4" or bigger they aren't going to do well in a 20. I would suggest atleast a 30 for a one fish of any size at a time and a 40 would be better, especially if you are going to QT more then one at a time, which you have to do, as some tangs and such are better added together to keep peace in the main tank. Just get a htr and a aquaclear box filter to hang on the back, a little substrate, a few pieces of base rock and you set. This is JMO, maybe others have another and well chime in. cheers
If you have the room, I would go with what fishermann said about the QT. Unless you are only quarantining small fish a 20 would be ok. You will have to remember to top off with freshwater everyday, because with so little water, the salinity with shoot up quick if you don't keep on top of it.
I don't think I could get away with anything any bigger. That would make 5 tanks total. I really would like to add juvenile fish and watch them grow. So would that be big enough? How do you guys run your QT tank? Do you medicate first or just observe? What's a good process?
if they are all juvies and going in one at a time then you need to pay attention to the order you place them in. aggression can play a large roll in adding new fish and sometimes even the ones that are suppose to be timid can be bullies in a tank when they set up their territory. i quarantine by observation. having a couple pvc pips in the tank for them to hide in helps the stress. when i add i wait for 3 days and try to initiate feeding ebfore i do anything else. if they have ich i will drop the salinity and up teh vitamin intake for natural healing if possible. closer to teh end of qt i treat with general cure before adding them to the dt for any internal infections or parasites.
