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[BlueSi4]

ok, so it's been a week since my aquarium has been set up and running, and today i had a few additions... to start off, i added 10lb of live rock, now adding up to 25lb then i went and got my water tested, which came out better than expected. i thought it was good, but being new to this and stuff, i wanted to hear it from somebody with a lot of experience, so my LFS told me that i was in very good shape, so it was time to start the tank of my dreams!!! first, i added a clownfish. at the beginning, the damselfish would swing by but nothing happened, but a couple hours later, the damselfish started bothering my clownfish, so i took the damsel out. tomorrow i'm taking it back to the store and giving it back lol, don't want any problems with my "nemo" lol then, i also went out and got 10 hermit crabs to help me "clean" my tank. so basically, now i stand with 25lb of live rock, 20lb of live sand, a fake tree, one clownfish, and 10 hermit crabs!! i'm thinking on adding a couple more fish next week, probably another clown and a blue tang, wat do u think??

 

[Bifferwine]

Good move on taking out the damsel. You will be glad you did that later on down the road. I would wait at least 2 weeks before adding another fish. And then add only one at a time, unless you are, for example, adding something that needs to be added in a pair (like a mated pair of something). I would definitely pass on the blue tang. Not only is your tank not big enough for that fish, but they are notoriously sickly and will probably give your whole tank ich. They are prone to ich outbreaks and do not fare well in new tanks. Plus it will outgrow yours.

You might want to think about adding some snails too at some point, they will help out with the cleaning.

If you do add another clown, make sure it is of the same species as your first clown and either much larger or much smaller than your first clown. They will attack each other if there isn't a large size difference.

 

[reeffreak]

I would wait longer,maybe 2-4 weeks before adding anymore fish.I would also skip the Hippo Tang,they will outgrow and need more swimming space than what a 46gal. can provide.

If you go with a clown,different species won't get along.Different species should only be attempted in large tanks but there are still risk.If you wanting to get another of the same species,do like Biff suggested unless your current clown is a very,very young juvi. then it should be okay to get a similar size.

 

[yote]

What every you do,DONT get a blue tang.Those will get ick every time you add something new,clean,walk by the tank.You get the picture.
Just remember that once your cycle is done,,Its time to REALLY slow down.

 

[LionFish]

:sfish:bunch of Dorrie haters !!! :grumble:

but ya I agree with the fact that is will outgrow a 46G mine is already growing fast

just an excuse for me to Upgrade to a much larger system in the near future.

Keep addin Rock ! and when your ready for fish look at wrasses,

The best advice I have for you is Plan on a Reef setup. I started only wanting Fish and quickly changed my Plan after seeing Reeffreaks Reef... lol

 

[BlueSi4]

so yesterday i went out to my LFS and i added another clownfish, and i followed your excellent advice and i got a bigger clownfish than the one i had, and as soon as i put it in, the smaller one went up to "her" (female is the bigger one right?) and since then he seems more happy, when i first put him in, he looked a little bit scared and shy. i also got a hell of a deal with the clownfish and the blue tang. so i didn't wanna get the blue tang after hearing your advice and everything, but they guy at the store had the clown and the blue tang at the same tank, both of them together with no other fish, and he basically told me that he had new fish coming in, needed the space, and was willing to sell me that setup for good price. so i got those 2, plus 5lb of live rock that was in the tank, plus a whole can of flake for $100. even though all the advice and warnings that you guys/girls have been giving me, these 3 fish seem to be getting along great, the tang seems happy, and so do the clowns. by the time the tang grows, maybe i'll have the perfect excuse to switch to a bigger tank!!

 

[yote]

Congratulations.Just be careful about adding livestock.Theres been a lot of posts on here about peoples tanks crashing because they couldnt resist this fish or that fish at such a good price.
Also be careful about feeding flakes.Flake and pellet feeds contain ash which is just another form of phosphate.

 

[BlueSi4]

the guy at my LFS told me to feed them flakes and brine shrimp, but so far, the big clown eats flake but doesn't seem to enjoy the brine shrimp, while the tang eats only brine shrimp...waht's wrong with flake? what will it due to my aquarium?

 

[yote]

The phosphates that start pouring out of the flakes build up and start causing algae outbreaks.
Try a mixture of frozen mysis,enriched brine,krill,bloodworms.Saltwater fish need a varied diet to stay happy and healthy.

 

[fishbait]

the emerald entree is also a good choice. mine go after it faster than the meaty foods. i rotate with emerald entree, squid, mysis, omega 3 brine, and some regular brine.

 

[Bifferwine]

The tang will need a diet consisting mainly of veggies, not meat. Try dried seaweed sheets (you can pick them up at any pet store, even Petco and Petsmart carry them). Like Yote said, I'd definitely skip flake and pellet foods, they led to nothing but algae in my tank. Once I switched the frozen I had no problem anymore.

 

[reeffreak]

Yes,tangs are mainly herbivorous.Besides the dried seaweed sheets,Biff mentioned.I like the Ocean Nutrition Formula 2 frozen cubes for veggie eaters.

 

[BlueSi4]

i bought the dried seaweed but the tang doesn't seem to eat it, idk why. he eats the brine shrimp and flakes, so idk what's wrong. i put the seaweed attached to a fake clownfish, and so far he hasn't touched it yet. also, my tank seems to be full of brown algae i guess all over the glass, how can i get rid of it?

 

[Bifferwine]

Buy yourself a MagFloat. It's a magnet that you use to scrape the glass. Everyone gets gunk on their glass and has to scrape it, it doesn't mean that something is wrong unless you start to have to do it every day and you get algae in other areas of the tank. You can even buy a razor blade attachment for the MagFloat that is excellent at scraping off unwanted coralline.

I had to buy about five different brands and flavors of seaweed before I found one that my tang liked. The ONLY one he will eat is Julian Sprung's Sea Veggies (the green kind, not the red or brown). Petco and Petsmart carries this brand.

 

[BlueSi4]

i bought one that's blue/purpleish...and so far he hasn't touched it, plus it's the only one that petsmart carried, at least the day i went in to buy it. also, i bought all the filter replacements, is 2 weeks the right time to replace one of the parts in the filter?
and last question, i'm thinking on adding something more to my tank, it's been about 3 weeks since i put my clownfish and my tang, and no other additions have been made, so what's my next step?

 

[reeffreak]

Changing filter cartridges every two weeks sounds perfect.To long and they become nutrient traps.If the filter cartridge is more than one part than replace one then the other a week later.

Your system is still young so diatoms is common.Try a variety of snails like Astrea,Cerith,Trochus snails.Do regular water changes and in time things will get better.

I would try some green algae sheets and frozen foods for herbivores.I think one or two more small fish is okay.What kind have you been eyeing?

 

[BlueSi4]

i'm not sure about the fish, all i've ever wanted was a tang and clownfish, and now that i have them, i'm not sure what else i want to put in it. I want to fill the tank up a bit more, because three fish in it seem too little. I saw a couple angelfish i like, but i heard they can bit a bit difficult to keep and they grow big, so i guess i was open to suggestions from people around here, i want something that's not too hard to keep and that will add some color and i guess size to my tank.
Since i only have 3 fish and not much livestock in my tank, i do my water changes every 3 weeks now, is that ok, or should i go back to 2 weeks??

 

[Bifferwine]

You could get pygmy angels, like a flame angel or coral beauty (those are probably the two most popular). They MAY nibble on corals, but most people seem to do okay with them in reef tanks. Those guys stay pretty small.

I would do water changes every 2 weeks if I were you.

 

[reeffreak]

See if a Dwarf Angel might interest you.How about a pair of Purple Firefish,Royal Gramma,or a Fridmani Pseudochromis.(I'm feelin' a little dejavu here!).A bleenie or a goby are cool too,not a colorful fish but have great personality.I like the Red-Lip and Bi-color,two fish that are funny.

Water changes every two weeks is better.Weekly even better.

Pretty much my advice is the same as Biff(Hey Biff,at least I didn't copy and paste your response like you know who.)

 

[BlueSi4]

ok, i'll go to my LFS and see what they have. Also, i just have my filter as circulation for the water, and i was thinking on maybe getting another filter (cheaper way to circulate water). Should i do that, or get one of the water pumps? In addition, should i get a protein skimmer? I'm using tap water and then i condition it, and i read that if you use the conditioner, you can't use a protein skimmer...