Fish Only (NO live rock!)

[Ricky Thomas]

I have a aqueon 54g corner bow front with fake coral. I have 2 penguin 350's each with purigen in both slots. I used cheap carbsea sand for fresh or salt. I have been running for 9 weeks. I put too many fish in the first week and lost them all by week 4. My tank now is cycled. Week 6 I put a clownfish and last week a yellow tail damsel which has been harassed ever since. Here are my questions:


1. Do I have enough filtration? Are the two bio wheel filters enough?

2. Will the Nemo ever guit chasing the damsel into hiding and will he treat the new fish I add that way?

3. What other fish can I add? Any ideas of a good group of fish?

4. Is it better to have damsels, clowns, dottybacks and such or is there 3 or 4 larger fish I could successfully house?

5. I have led lighting but I rarely turn them on to prevent algae. I feel the room has enough light for the fish. Is this okay?

6. Can I eventually add a coral banded shrimp and star fish to my fish only?

7. How often should I feed my fish? Is once a day too much?


Remember I am strictly FISH ONLY with NO LIVE ROCK.

 

[Radman73]

First, slow down. At 9 weeks, your system still may not be cycled and, with no biological filtration, may not ever cycle.

I wouldn't add any more fish at this point. You do need to add some sort of biological filtration beyond the sand. You need something for the bacteria to colonize and fake coral likely won't suffice.

So:

1. No. IMO you don't. You need something more substantial than bio wheels.

2. At this point, I doubt the clownfish will accept the damsel. You really need to research compatibility between fish to determine what you can and cannot add.

3. At 54gal, you're limited on group fish. Chromis will likely pick each other off until there is 1. Possibly the same with cardinal fish but you may have more success with them.

4. The size of your tank will limit the fish you can keep. That's something we all face. I would look at a goby/pistol pair, blenny, and smaller wrasse or two(not a 6-line though) along with another clown fish myself. Damsels and dotty backs can be very aggressive. But only after you take care of your filtration issues first.

5. While algae is normal for a new tank, your lack of filtration, biological or otherwise, will be a continuing problem. Consider a HOB skimmer. You could also look at some reactors. GFO in a reactor may be more cost effective than purigen in the Penguins.

6. No experience on this so I'll pass.

7. It's not jus how often but also how much. I feed my fish 1-3 times per day. I only have 3 in my 60 cube so I don't feed that much but I do try to spread it out as most fish will do better IMO with multiple feedings per day. Without a doubt, most do just fine on a single feeding per day though. Each species of fish is different and you'll need to determine the feeding and compatibility requirements up front. Never make an impulse buy on a fish you don't know anything about.

Good luck but slow down. Many people let their tanks cycle for 3 or more months, without fish, before they are content that the tank has cycled. Add fish slowly as it takes time for your biological filtration to catch up.