So I got more fish!

[Philipgonzales3]

@KrisReef @davocean @Fudsey @Why-Me

I know the general advice was wait 30 days before adding anything and slow and steady does it. But man oh man is it hard to wait, especially now that I have a lid.

I've been thinking well I do need a cleanup crew don't I? So I said well a sand sifting goby is going to be the main member of this crew. Wouldn't want my sandbed to be neglected. Well many dang LFS had pretty much all the fish I planned to eventually get in stock. My thinking was well let's try to add as many in one shot to minimize risk.

Wish me luck!

Just a reminder I had a pair of clownfish and a Azure Damselfish that I got 21 days ago.

I picked up a Diamond Goby, a Melanarus Wrasse, and a Valenti Puffer. I wanted a flame angel also but thinking it may be too big for the tank. Maybe one day I'll get a Mandirin Goby but not today, that's for sure!




Diamond goby was breathing a little hard at first. Visibly stressed a little but he seems fine now after digging a nice hidey hole. He seemed to have a good appetite when I fed the tank and even roamed around a little. He actually poked out of his hole and is scavenging around the top of the sand as I am writing this.


The Valentini Puffer ate a bit also. It didn't chase down any food but nibbled on some small pieces of food. It seems it's mouth is pretty small compared to other fish?

The Melanrius Wrasse hung around for a full 5 seconds before doing a nose dive right into the sand. Haven't seen him since. So ummm is he OK? Can he breath under the sand? A little concerning that he's "dissapeared" in such a small tank.

Full tank Vid...


Any feedback/advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[Philipgonzales3]

Also FYI I have an ammonia badge in the sump and test the main parameters at least weekly. The parameters I don't test often are DKH, Calcium, and Phosphate as I don't think those are too important as this is a FOWLR. If it isn't listed I haven't tested it so please let me know if I'm missing anything major. I have Seachem Prime on hand as I use that in our FW tank. My parameters seem to be stable so far. I top off twice a day and am planning on adding an ATO.

I also plan on getting some red sea test kits as nitrate is really hard to differentiate between 5 and 10 and 10 and 20, but I figure under 20 is good right?

 

[Ghost463]

I would keep an eye out for the wrasse. But ya i have tank mates in both fw and sw i dont see for weeks at a time.
Same as ur golby it will find a safe spot.
That puffer is cute to! Should not get to big. They do take a huge bioload in the tank.
Looks great!

 

[Fudsey]

Melanarus are sand sleepers and will go into the sand every night. They create a cocoon of mucus around themselves once in the sand I guess.

 

[Jacked Reefer]

The wrasse is known to do that. I’ve heard stories of them surviving weeks under there. Try feeding some small pieces of frozen clam to the puffer. It’s looking great.

 

[Why-Me]

Everything looks good.
Agreed cute puffer.
That wrasse will come out, in time.

 

[Philipgonzales3]

The wrasse is known to do that. I’ve heard stories of them surviving weeks under there. Try feeding some small pieces of frozen clam to the puffer. It’s looking great.

So I normally feed the tank frozen LRS nano, frozen V20 Fish & Reef #1, and NLS marine 1mm sinking pelets. I usually defrost the frozen food in tank water and sometimes add some selcon.

So my question is will the puffer benefit from any of this? As far as the clam is this available at most LFS or something you get a the grocery store? Sorry for my ignorance in this topic. Also how do I feed it to the puffer without the rest of the fish getting it?

I'd like to try to get this tomorrow if possible.

 

[Jacked Reefer]

So I normally feed the tank frozen LRS nano, frozen V20 Fish & Reef #1, and NLS marine 1mm sinking pelets. I usually defrost the frozen food in tank water and sometimes add some selcon.

So my question is will the puffer benefit from any of this? As far as the clam is this available at most LFS or something you get a the grocery store? Sorry for my ignorance in this topic. Also how do I feed it to the puffer without the rest of the fish getting it?

I'd like to try to get this tomorrow if possible.

The entire tank would benefit from clams. I’m just suggesting they may entice the puffer to eat since in the wild they eat crustacean based diets. You may be able to get them from a fish store but you could probably get them from a seafood market or even Costco.

 

[Why-Me]

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=feeding+valentini+puffer
Looks like they will eat clams, krill, shrimp etc.

 

[Fudsey]

I'm pretty sure there's clam in LRS too

 

[Hemmdog]

Awesome editions, keep an eye out for an ammonia spike.

 

[Philipgonzales3]

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=feeding+valentini+puffer
Looks like they will eat clams, krill, shrimp etc.

Watched a few different videos, on one of them the puffer more or less aggressively went for the food. On another it waited until the food got to it...waited for 30 seconds and said what the heck, I'll give it a try. The second way is how mine ate today but looks like it may not be too odd. Maybe it's just not that hungry yet.

 

[KrisReef]

So I normally feed the tank frozen LRS nano, frozen V20 Fish & Reef #1, and NLS marine 1mm sinking pelets. I usually defrost the frozen food in tank water and sometimes add some selcon.

So my question is will the puffer benefit from any of this? As far as the clam is this available at most LFS or something you get a the grocery store? Sorry for my ignorance in this topic. Also how do I feed it to the puffer without the rest of the fish getting it?

I'd like to try to get this tomorrow if possible.

Ok, you got a tank full of fish now!
FEED LIGHT as your bacteria may be overwhelmed as you feed your new tank a feast to celebrate all the new life. Trust me, they can live on one pellet/day for years, but if you pollute the tank with food (and feces) you could very easily have problems.

Watch the ammonia closely, feed light, and you will do ok. Water changes if your ammonia shows up. And did I mention feed lightly? Really they will be happier if you feed them light for the next few days-week while you watch.
Nice fish, BTW!

 

[PirateDan]

It’s all good till it goes bad. Your tank is very young. It’s my personal opinion your going way too fast stocking tank. Just my 2cents.

 

[Philipgonzales3]

Ok, you got a tank full of fish now!
FEED LIGHT as your bacteria may be overwhelmed as you feed your new tank a feast to celebrate all the new life. Trust me, they can live on one pellet/day for years, but if you pollute the tank with food (and feces) you could very easily have problems.

Watch the ammonia closely, feed light, and you will do ok. Water changes if your ammonia shows up. And did I mention feed lightly? Really they will be happier if you feed them light for the next few days-week while you watch.
Nice fish, BTW!

Ok, thanks! I'll cancel the celebration feast, skim wet, watch the ammonia badge like a hawk, and also test with my API kit just in case. I have 45 gallons of heated RODI water on standby, at least 100 gallons worth of salt, seachem prime on hand just in case.

I did feed a little heavier than usual this PM so glad you said something! I usually feed once or twice a day. I try to stop just before the clownfish and damsels get full. I'll just do once a day and not ramp up the quantity for now.

Usually it's about 1/3rd a cube or about 5-10 pellets each dropping about 5-10 pellets in and waiting a minute for them to get it and then once more. Probably a little on the heavy side lol but hardly any food was hitting the sand and if I did overfeed an obvious amount I'd net out the extra.

 

[Philipgonzales3]

It’s all good till it goes bad. Your tank is very young. It’s my personal opinion your going way too fast stocking tank. Just my 2cents.

You are probably right, but I think all will be good. I initially cycled the tank with 4ppm ammonia, have 50 pounds of live rock, plus a bag of ceramic biomedia and a bag of bio balls (they get rinsed out weekly during my weekly 10% water change). I know having the capacity doesn't necessarily mean the BB colony has grown enough to support the bioload.

I've always liked to "overstock". I added 15 African Cichlids to a 55 gallon aquarium all at once. They all lived for a couple of years until I had to get out of the hobby to go off to college. Gave the fish away to my LFS.

Had 5 x Labidochromis caeruleus, 5 x Pseudotropheus socolofi, 5 Cynotilapia zebroides. I did cycle the tank with a Red Ear Slider though (it was his tank first, not an intentional fishless cycle he got moved to a 40gallon breeder) and had two large canister filters on it.

I stocked my son's freshwater 15 gallon tank with 10 fish at once. No ammonia spike. We did lose the albino pleco but I don't believe it was related to water quality. We have 5 x harlequin rasbora, and 4 x endler livebearers.

Fingers crossed! I'll be sure to post an update either way.

 

[KrisReef]

I feed 4 fish (clown pair and 2 damsels), a pinch of 10-20 pellets once/day. Some days I give them frozen mysis, again 1/8th of a cube unless it's Christmas or my birthday, or when I am away and the misses feeds them. The clowns spawn regularly, so they are not starving. Fish can survive on almost no food for a fairly long time. Also, those pellets are made to pack a lot of nutrition into a small package. One or two are a full lunch for a tiny fish.

If the tank gets fouled with food, fish die. Keep them alive by feeding lightly, and you can feed your tank heavier beginning in March 2019 if the ammonia hasn't gone haywire. I am glad you are going to use the backup test. (Hint: if the tank looks cloudy, test!)

If you do get a mandarin, they like/need live food (copepods) and constant feeding. Someone on here has a feeding tube for them, I don't have the link but look into all of this before you get one, please. They will die if you feed them like I recommended above. High metabolic needs and live food are not easy to keep. Good Luck!

Edit: I keep the fish to feed the corals, so I like to feed them enough to keep them slowly growing and the corals happy with nitrate and phosphate. The corals are thriving with low fish feedings.

 

[Philipgonzales3]

I feed 4 fish (clown pair and 2 damsels), a pinch of 10-20 pellets once/day. Some days I give them frozen mysis, again 1/8th of a cube unless it's Christmas or my birthday, or when I am away and the misses feeds them. The clowns spawn regularly, so they are not starving. Fish can survive on almost no food for a fairly long time. Also, those pellets are made to pack a lot of nutrition into a small package. One or two are a full lunch for a tiny fish.

If the tank gets fouled with food, fish die. Keep them alive by feeding lightly, and you can feed your tank heavier beginning in March 2019 if the ammonia hasn't gone haywire. I am glad you are going to use the backup test. (Hint: if the tank looks cloudy, test!)

If you do get a mandarin, they like/need live food (copepods) and constant feeding. Someone on here has a feeding tube for them, I don't have the link but look into all of this before you get one, please. They will die if you feed them like I recommended above. High metabolic needs and live food are not easy to keep. Good Luck!

Edit: I keep the fish to feed the corals, so I like to feed them enough to keep them slowly growing and the corals happy with nitrate and phosphate. The corals are thriving with low fish feedings.

I believe it was Paul B who Made a how to a Mandirin Goby feeding device. I believe he made it from supplies from home depot.

Yeah, that will have to be after the kids get bigger. Maybe one day! I've watched videos on raising clown fish fry also and was surprised at how much work it was. I raised a few Cichlid fry about 5 years back and didn't feed any live food. Just this really small fry food, forget what it is now. Was almost a powder.

Anyway, thanks again for the advice. Going to definetly cut back a little. I try to feed mostly frozen as I saw a video from BRS saying that it is really hard to overfeed frozen since it's like 80% or more water. I'll try only feeding pellets once a week or so.

 

[Hemmdog]

Don’t rinse your bio media or balls you want them to build up nitrate

 

[Why-Me]

Correct it's Paul B here on R2R that has all the pertinent info necessary for keeping mandarins, filefish, etc. He is the one who has the DIY feeder everyone uses. If you must buy a feeder, SB Reef sells a pod hotel that's supposed to work well.