AJ, thanks for your comments tons of good info! I've posted below in response to a few things...
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Originally Posted by AJ_77
Well you've got ick in the tank, it seems from your blog. If you want to start fresh, take out the damsel as planned and let the tank sit fishless for 6-8 weeks. Yeah right, I know - no one buys a tank to let it sit empty, but even once the damsel is gone, the ick will live for up to 2 months or so, waiting for another opportunity (your next fish). And newly-introduced fish with their stressed/depressed immune systems are ick magnets.
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I'm starting to wonder about 2 things. 1) did my fish really have the ick? I believe it may of just been sand on the fish from moving around some rocks and stuff. I'm not sure. I haven't noticed it on him in over a week. now. He seems prefectly healthy now, and eats a ton. I used a turkey basker, and blew some water across him, and the white dots fly off, thinking that its sand, and me just worrying too much!
I don't mind leaving the tank empty. I did for about 2 weeks when I first got it, but when I noticed the algea growth, I picked up some snails, and the 2 hermit crabs. The fish I got free from finomenal when I went to pickup some LR. They didn't want the fish, so I figured why not grab him.
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So, your choice. If you must put something else in there, go with the captive-bred clowns. They're pretty tough. Either way, it's good to wait quite a while and see how they do, what the tank does, and how things go in general before adding any more fish. Even crabs/shrimps and snails can be entertaining - I watched mine for quite a while until fish came into the picture. A few beginner corals (softies/shrooms) help add interest too.
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Yep, crabs are freaken cool. I love watching my red scarlet crab in the evening's when its out and about tearing things up. The blue hermit crab is more interesting now that he picked up another home (shell) and roams around more often.
I will forsure get captive bred clown fish for sure. Most likely from jack and wendell. They got a cool setup there, and awesome fish!
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Depending on the size of fishes and your level of filtration, you might get away with up to 5 little fishies for your 38 gal, and some people will scoff at that number (too high). In a small tank, small fish are better - imagine how much bigger that tank would seem to a tiny goby rather than a large damsel.
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Yeah I would rather have smaller fish than bigger ones. As it is, I think the tank is too small for this damsel. His full lap time around the tank is about .05/sec.
Once I am fully setup, I'll have a 20g sump with my tank (already have the tank) and I am working on my designs for my skimmer as well. I also plan to try and fit my 5gal fuge onto the sump as well.
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Take it slow, see what develops, and over the next 3-6 months you'll get a better idea of what to add. You'll learn a lot going through the maturing process with your tank, and noting how it and its inhabitants respond to the various changes and stages. (Not to mention any blunders you make along the way.)
Cheers,
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True. The best way to go slow is having a small budget as well. Thats keeps me going slow. Also I prefer to get one thing at a time, so I can actually get to watch it and stuff. I can see myself not even noticing my crabs, snails if I got a clown right away.