Newbie - Overstocked Tank?

H

Hiker4twenty

Reef enthusiast
Hello,

I'm looking for some help to see if my tank is overstocked. I've been doing a lot of reading on the forum and my tank just doesn't seem right. My LFS sold me all sorts of corals, inverts and fish over the past few weeks. My tank has only been up and running for 9 weeks. Here are my stocking specs:

18lbs live rock
10lbs live sand
1 clown fish
1 yellowtail damsel
1 green chromis
1 six line wrasse
mix of 10 hermits
mix of 15 snails
fire shrimp
BTA
candy cane coral
colt coral
pagoda coral
2 types of xenia
orange ricordia
green zoas
orange zoas
brown paly
blue mushrooms
green mushrooms
greens center zoas
yellow polyps
hawiian feather duster
frogspawn coral
misc polyp that i have no clue what it is. (bought it as a no name frag)

Thanks,
Dave
 
That makes me quite angry that my LFS just doesn't care and will continue to sell me livestock that I don't have room for. He told me that 4-6 fish would be perfectly fine for my tank.
 
IMO, you need to take out that BTA. It may look fine now but when there's the SLIGHTEST swing in your params it'll fizzle away like a dying star and then explode, killing your tank. Any anenome needs a stable tank, many people recommend atleast 1 year. Corals aren't an issue. But you should just take all your fish back except 1. Your probably not even done with your cycle.

Good job being wary of your LFS. They just want your $. And if killing your livestock means you'll come back for more they'll do it, unfortunately. Good luck Hiker.
 
My daughter has a 14g biocube. I've noticed that it stays pretty stable for a small tank so I think you could get away with a bit more in a biocube than in a normal tank. That being said, you've put too much in too quickly. You want to start slow. If it were me, I would loose the BTA right away and all but one fish. I don't know how big your xenia are now but those things grow really fast. I worry that even if you are able to keep your current corals alive then they will outgrow your tank pretty quick. IMO building a good sand community and janitor crew is essential to keeping stability in a small tank. Maybe you could talk to GARF and get some grunge or miracle mud, get some pods, narcissus snails to stir up your sandbed and maybe a pinky cuke... Once you've got your sandbed community going strong (3-6 moths) then you can think about adding another small fish. My LFS guy is awesome, some are truly awful. They make money when you buy stuff and they know how to make you spend more money. What are you feeding your corals?

Don't be frustrated. You've found a good place. Talk to the guys on this board before you buy stuff and you'll be in good shape!

Catherine
 
Unfortunately, he's pretty much the only one around me that does SW fish other than Petco. He's a scumbag anyway and has a dirty store. I guess I'll have to deal with ordering suppies/livestock online. Looks like I'll have to get a larger tank w/ better lights SOON!
 
I gotta agree with all the above.
The best way to deal with stores like that,is to arm yourself with knowledge.If you know what will work and what wont,then you got em beat.
Always research before you buy,then if your not sure,post it here.Were not after your money,and we enjoy seeing the pics and hearing the success stories,so were not gonna steer you in the wrong direction.
 
Picasso said:
My daughter has a 14g biocube. I've noticed that it stays pretty stable for a small tank so I think you could get away with a bit more in a biocube than in a normal tank. That being said, you've put too much in too quickly. You want to start slow. If it were me, I would loose the BTA right away and all but one fish. I don't know how big your xenia are now but those things grow really fast. I worry that even if you are able to keep your current corals alive then they will outgrow your tank pretty quick. IMO building a good sand community and janitor crew is essential to keeping stability in a small tank. Maybe you could talk to GARF and get some grunge or miracle mud, get some pods, narcissus snails to stir up your sandbed and maybe a pinky cuke... Once you've got your sandbed community going strong (3-6 moths) then you can think about adding another small fish. My LFS guy is awesome, some are truly awful. They make money when you buy stuff and they know how to make you spend more money. What are you feeding your corals?

Don't be frustrated. You've found a good place. Talk to the guys on this board before you buy stuff and you'll be in good shape!

Catherine
Click to expand...

Thanks for the great feedback. I feed my corals a mix of food. I use Kent Microvert, Coral Frenzy and another liquid supplement w/ trace elements (forget the name right now).

My xenia are growing like weeds. In the past month they have doubled their size so I need to frag some. My zoa's are growing really fast as well. I have a friend w/ a 55 gal marine tank that might take the fish and BTA. Hopefully I can find a good home for them until I can get a larger setup going.
 
And hey! going on-line is not a bad idea at all! for my dad and i, the nearest GOOD sw store is an hour and some change away! so we use saltwaterfish.com all the time! they have a two week warrenty so that if anything happpens, you just take a picture and send it back and you will get store credit! if only the flippin mail men new what THIS SIDE UP ment...hahaha
 
Sorry to break it to you, but Saltwaterfish.com's warranty is a scam. They say that, but they don't stand by it. They owe me over a hundred dollars worth of store credit that I cannot use, because they have all these crazy rules about what you can use the store credit for, and when you can use it, etc. I always warn people against buying from them, and I will never buy from them again. Even though that means I'll never be able to redeem my "credit". I know several other people that are in the same situation as I am with them too.
 

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