yeaaaaaaaa im getting the hang of salt tanks

adrian52492 · #1 02/25/2007, 06:48 PM

hi i have a 55gallon tank with 5lbs of live rock and crushed coral i cycled with two yellow tail damsels.every thing went good so today i got 10 more fish 2 domino damsels,2 blue damsels,3 cromeies,and 2 blue fish suppose damsels so my question is why is every one telling me that their agressive and they are livving like their famaly no attacks and they stay together most of the time ive wathed them all day and their not attacking each other or even trying to bother each other o i also have 10 blue leged hermets and 3 bumble bee snail o and how many more fish can i put in the tank and in the tank also i have stock lites and i have a small piece of coral on my live rock and its fine i plan to put 4 clowns and some anemanie's 40 more pounds of live rock and 10 more crabs and two pepermint shrimp.

shag26272 · #2 02/25/2007, 06:56 PM

you cant be serious right?

FunkieReefJunkie · #3 02/25/2007, 07:00 PM

Damsels are agressive, but not with on another. Try adding a different kind of fish and watch em go down! Chromis by the way are in the damsel family, but are not agressive. Now that you've started with damsels stick with them only.

When you speak of stock lights I assume what you are talking what came with the tank. Probably standard flouresents. They will not support anenomes or coral. Please do some more reading before you go any further with your new hobby. Have fun though.

adrian52492 · #4 02/25/2007, 07:01 PM

yea im serious o and for the anemanies im going to get some powercompact lights forgot to put that

shag26272 · #5 02/25/2007, 07:02 PM

how long have you had your tank set up?

adrian52492 · #6 02/25/2007, 07:05 PM

i started my tank the day before christmas

shag26272 · #7 02/25/2007, 07:08 PM

if you add 40 lbs of live rock make sure its from en established tank and is transported in water, your tank would crash if you added 40lbs of rock that came in the mail, what I would do is add some base rock and try to swap out your crushed coral for sand, also I dont think 5 lbs of LR is good enough to filter your water with all of those fish

kayaaandjaden · #8 02/25/2007, 07:09 PM

dude, i don't think he's serious...

adrian52492 · #9 02/25/2007, 07:15 PM

hey shag im going out to get more live rock on saturday another 8 pounds

adrian52492 · #10 02/25/2007, 07:15 PM

or i might get 14 pounds

kayaaandjaden · #11 02/25/2007, 07:17 PM

this is craziness!
Others reading this thread...check this out too:
http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...readid=1002044

adrian52492 · #12 02/25/2007, 07:18 PM

o and kayaaandjaden i am serious

FunkieReefJunkie · #13 02/25/2007, 07:18 PM

Adrian I have to be honest with you anemone's are not for beginners. Slow down a little. Investigate your lighting options more. If you are going for anemones I'd recommend metal halides.

But first wont you do some reading my friend. These books are wonderful.
1) The Marine Aquarium Reference: Systems and Invertebrates by Marin A. Moe, Jr
2) Aquarium Corals: Selection, Husbandry, and Natural History by Eric H . Borneman
3) Reef Invertebrates: An Essential Guide to Selection, Care and Compatibility by Anthony Calfo & Robert Fenner.

adrian52492 · #14 02/25/2007, 07:25 PM

hey funkiereef ive done some reading before starting this hobbie and i also have a freind who has 3 saltwater tanks 1 10gal nano reef 1 100gal and a 250 gal i think hes on this site to not sure though hes been stairing me stright

shag26272 · #15 02/25/2007, 07:29 PM

I remember that thread haha, you should return those fish seriously , if you are no joking about this, I seriously doubt you had a cycle with 5 lbs of live rock in a 55 gallon

kayaaandjaden · #16 02/25/2007, 07:37 PM

shag26272....right on!

FunkieReefJunkie, pm sent

adrian52492 · #17 02/25/2007, 07:37 PM

shag i just put the live rock in their today

adrian52492 · #18 02/25/2007, 07:39 PM

kayaaandjaden wow im hear to ask questions and i feel your bashing my tread like im stupid or something wow wat a helper you are thanks very much you helped me out alot

L and L · #19 02/25/2007, 07:40 PM

dude, check into a spell checker.

And the things you are asking and doing make us believe that you still have some learning to do.

General rule of thumb for how many fish can I have: 1" of fish per 5 gallons of saltwater.

So, your 55/5 = 11 inches of fish. Since you have 12 fish in your tank. I'd say you're past your limit.

Also adding 10 fish into your tank is too many at one time IMO. You system is trying to get a balance between bacteria and the waste that is produced in your tank. You just added a bunch of waste, and your bacteria may not be able to catch up with that load. ie... check your nitrates... they may be on the rise.

kayaaandjaden · #20 02/25/2007, 07:42 PM

Adrian, may I be so bold as to ask your age?
I mean no harm to you, I promise.

kayaaandjaden · #21 02/25/2007, 07:46 PM

You want my help.
Listen, Here's the deal.
First, I was hoping someone else would spell it out for you. Not that they haven't tried, but I don't think it is getting through. Well, I know it isn't getting through. There are much better people than myself to help you with the intricacies of getting set up.
S! L! O! W! D! O! W! N!
Where did you get the idea that 5lbs of rock was enough to cycle the tank?
You said you read...what did you read?
In your other thread you said you were starting a fish only tank, now you are doing a reef?
I am still not convinced that you aren't trying to get us all riled up

MR PALM BEACH · #22 02/25/2007, 07:47 PM

I went to buy an Domino damsel This weekend and my LFS was completely out of stock in damsels. Now I know why.

adrian52492 · #23 02/25/2007, 07:51 PM

kayaaandjaden im 14 and i never cycled my tank with 5 lbs of live rock i said i just bought 5lbs of live rock.L and L my nitrates are fine

adrian52492 · #24 02/25/2007, 07:52 PM

hey mr palm beach sorry lol

fish 511 · #25 02/25/2007, 07:56 PM

Adrian,
A little list of what I would do. I started like this as well and learned the hard way. Everybody here is trying to help and steer you in the right direction as best they can...
1. Dont go to petco anymore. I started off there as well. Everybody is nice and everything but they just dont check up to the others. Find a store that specializes in fish and go there.

2. Get rid of those damsels! I had just one and had to fish him out of my tank. You are kind of fortunate only having 5lbs of Live Rock. I had to fish that guy out with 56lbs of rock and it was not easy. Get those guys out or you will not be able to keep any other types of fish.

3. Get rid of the crushed coral. I started with crushed coral as well. It looks very good and all, but the finer sand is better. See with crushed coral you have to vaccuum it on a daily basis (especially with 12 damsels!). On the other hand, the fine sand form a deep sand bed (DSB). with this type of sand bed you do not have to do any maintainence.

4. Do you have a protein skimmer? If not, you will want to get one. These are one of the most important things in a saltwater tank.

5. More rock. The live rock also helps as a filter and helps immensly.

Again, go slow and take your time. In this hobby, only bad thihngs happen fast. I went through the exact same thing you did and know how you feel. You spent a lot of money and now everybody here is saying your wrong...

If you ave any questions, feel free to private message me. Or, post aquestion here, no matter how dumb. Thats what this forum is for. Good luck and have fun!