hi

chris93

Reefing newb
my name is chris im 39 i have a 46 gallon bow front with black clown fish,a angel fish,a few tangs and a trigger fish.i got about 30 lbs of live rock a bubble anemone that the clown fish host and a feather duster also.i want to get Moorish idols soon and i want to get more corals or invertebrates also but i dont know what to get so i need help any suggestions:bounce:?
 
my tank

my tank has been set up for about 3 months im trying to slowly stock it like the pet shop said.i just added my first anemone and feather duster last week i was wondering when i can add more?? thanks
 
Welcome to the site chris. Honestly, if you actually have the fish you said now, you should think about taking some out, not adding any.
 
you can add corals as often as you'd like, you should only introduce one fish about 3-4 weeks apart
 
Re: my tank

An anemone is probably not the best choice for a first animal. They are usually considered difficult to keep in a new tank and require pristine water conditions.

Is that all you have in there? any snails, hermit crabs?

and no fish?


Usually you see people add some snails and maybe hermit crabs after their tank has cycled, and then add 1 or 2 fish and from there slowly add livestock
 
Re: my tank

Try to do research on anything before you decide to add it to your tank. For instance, around here we recommend tanks be about a year old before adding anemones. For two reasons; one being that they generally require pretty stable water conditions, and two being that if an anemone dies it can nuke your tank giving off toxins that can kill all the rest of the inhabitants in the tank.
 
https://www.livingreefs.com/morish-idol-t26159.html

Have you ever seen "finding nemo"? That movie describes Morish Idols quite well, they do not do well in captivity and are one of those fish that many people will tell you are better left in the ocean.

and i also added all my fish a few days apart is that bad?

Yes, the sudden increase in bio-load can cause a mini-cycle and you can see an ammonia/nitrite spike that can be fatal to fish/corals/inverts. That's why we recommend a few week intervals on increasing bio-load.
 
Last edited:
Re: my tank

alright well my anemone looks fine right now i have been feeding it zooplex and same with the feather duster they look fine but i will keep an eye on them
 
Whoa, slow down!!

You have to go slow... First off, in a tank that size, you are limited to 4 or 5 fish, maximum.

That tank is too small for a lot of the fish that you have -- tangs, triggers and moorish idols do not do well in small tanks like that. I would recommend removing the tangs and trigger, and not getting the moorish idols at all. They are extremely difficult fish to keep and rarely live longer than a month or two. In a small, new tank like yours, you'll be lucky if they last a week.

Try to research each individual fish before you buy it -- saltwater fish are finicky and have different needs from each other.

Also, I hope you have special lights. The anemone requires very high lighting.
 
You're probably not going to like hearing this but, almost all of the fish you have require a much much bigger tank than you have. the smallest tank you'll ever see recommended for a trigger is 75g and that is still small for them, the recommended tank size for a Moorish Idol is 125 gallons. Moorish Idols are extremely difficult fish to keep alive that even experienced aquarists cannot successfully keep Moorish Idols alive.
 
ok ill do that i was looking at a bigger tank? i dont know i like my trigger and angel though so if i get rid of the tangs will that work.
 
Also, as far as adding all of your fish within a few days, you need to take it slow because adding a new fish will increase the bioload in your tank. So, you need to give your tank enough time to increase the bacteria population to keep up with it. Also, when you add fish, they are very stressed out from the move and being put in a new tank, adding so many new fish all at once will only add to the stress the fish feel.
 
Yeah, you can very easily crash your tank (killing everything in it) by adding fish too quickly. It's good to add no more than 1 fish every 3 weeks.
 
What kind of angel do you have? The trigger is definitely too big to be kept in your tank, even if he was the only fish
 
Back
Top