Number of fish in a 55 gl

Proteus · #1 09-19-2011, 10:03 PM

Any new fish you add will be picked on for a bit. Regardless they will always defend territory. If you leave them for a bit the dottyback will calm down. Or you can change up there scenery. This will reset there pecking order. If you put clowns in you may find they become slightly aggressive. Just the way it is

mike31154 · #2 09-19-2011, 10:40 PM

Sounds like you're on the right track, definitely plenty of flow with the MP pumps which will aid in removing detritus etc. My 77 gal is sumpless as well and I run a RENA XP series filter as a mini sump I guess. I don't keep any media in it except for a bag of carbon which I refresh every month or so. This is also when I give all the baskets etc a good rinse with old tank water as per christy's suggestion, to flush off the gunk. After several years, the media baskets are populated with plenty of sponges & tube worms which aid in natural filtration. Works well. Since you're 55 is long & there appears to be adequate swimming room with your rock layout, the tang should actually be fine.

Coralgurl · #3 09-19-2011, 10:42 PM

We changed out all the filter media, carbon and cleaned the sponge filters with the last water change (the weekend before last). This weekend is just water change. I was doing water changes every week for a bit and am now doing them every other week - 10 gallons (20%). When I put my first corals in, I was way overfeeding everything which led to a pretty good algae outbreak. Things are good now, just worried about what I've done with these fish.

Unfortunately, I am a horrible impulse shopper, only stopped at lfs to check to see if they had any clowns, and maybe a few frags....had the clowns, but they are not ready to go yet. So spend too much time chatting, forget about what I'm there for and next thing you know....new fish....my fault, not lfs.

Will post the tang and dottyback in the buy/trade section and see if anyone wants them. The clowns are for one of our boys and he is pretty excited about getting them.

I feel a bit better, thank you!!

Coralgurl · #4 09-19-2011, 10:50 PM

I've got a picture of the tank on my profile, I don't know how to get it from there to here.....

We've got a couple of those worms in our tank, they get really excited when I feed...lol.

I've been happy with how the tank has been running for the last little bit, everyone happy! I just noticed my bubble coral has new bubbles and is growing, this guy gave me huge heartache a month ago!!

Wondering - is it hard to go to a bigger tank using existing equipment, rock, sand, or would that tank have to cycle as well to start?

spawn · #5 09-19-2011, 11:06 PM

I have nine & have had ten, but # 10 kept taking sand up & dropping it on corals, so he got voted out... That being said I will eventually ad a mandarin. But I roughly know what my bi-load is in terms of nutrient reduction.

mike31154 · #6 09-19-2011, 11:16 PM

Just checked out the photos of your tank on your profile, it looks great. Pretty sure there's a tutorial somewhere here on how to post photos in a thread. Essentially the photos you wish to post need to be hosted on a site such as photobucket or any other online provider that allows you to upload photos. You then bring the photo up on the hosting site, copy & paste the link into your post using the 'Insert Image' tool/icon.

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/faq...b3_attachments

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/faq...faq_vb3_albums

Edit: Just learned something myself, photos from your Canreef album may also be inserted into a post.

Coralgurl · #7 09-19-2011, 11:28 PM

@spawn - haha, that's funny! Mischievious fish!!
@Mike - thank you! Its getting there. Got frustrated trying to upload, so that's all I could on. Will find the tutorial - I'm a keep it simple girl...for the most part unless I complicate something...

We added the Tunze skimmer last month, have not had to empty it yet, is set between 1/3 - 1/2 (I think), not super high anyway. I think I lowered it to ensure it wasn't taking all the food out so the corals would catch some as well.

Anyway - I've posted the fish for sale or giveaway, will see what happens. Although the cardinals are boringish fish as far as activity, I do still like them and feel a bit apprehensive about getting rid of them.

mike31154 · #8 09-19-2011, 11:32 PM

I did an edit or two on my previous post, it now shows your tank in all it's glory. Like I said, it looks great. The tang looks to have miles of swimming room. My 77 is also a 4 footer and my Yellow Tang is content.

Gripenfelter · #9 09-20-2011, 07:07 PM

I have a Lavender Tang, Powder Brown, and Blue Throat trigger in a 70 gallon quarantine right now with 125 lbs of rock. I won't be adding anymore fish without a big sump. But since this is a quarantine tank there won't be a sump going in. Just quarantining them before I add them to my 300 gallon.

MKLKT · #10 09-20-2011, 11:43 PM

I've got 12 fish currently in a 65 gallon ranging in size from a scooter blenny to foxface. There's a sump on it and I use a Coralife Super Skimmer 65 only 12hrs/day, but I've got a bunch of other parts to the system that keep the chemical levels in check.

There isn't any real set bio load limit for systems as you just have to know how to manage the ecosystem. It's kinda the same as how "watts per gallon" is a completely arbitrary and useless number.