Where do I begin.

[BurN]

My Tank : 55g 20lb live rock. powerhead 802, whisper 30-60 filter, 100w heater, metalhalide vho atinic lighting.

My water conditions: 8.0 pH, .25 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 20 nitrate, 1.023 sg.

1 orange spotted filefish, 1 domino damsel, 1 humbug damsel, 1 firefish goby (with 1 MIA, possibly dead? haven't seen him in 2 days.) 1 sea urchin

Now to the ?'s. First off where is my goby. I see the damsels are very aggressive towards the 1 I still see so they may have scared the other one to death and ate it, I have no idea. Would it be my best bet to take those 2 little ones out so new fish won't be intimidated? My next ?, I really want to do a reef tank with clams, are my nitrates to high to add them. Also what are the beginner corals to experiment with.

I know I need a clean up crew and a protein skimmer. I am going to be purchasing these next week.

[OrionGirl]

More live rock would be good as well. First, though--the tank is not cycled if you detect any ammonia. This means there are more wastes being produced than the bacteria can handle, and it's not good for anything in the tank. Water changes, water changes, water changes. This will also help reduce the nitrates. A regular water change schedule goes a long way in keeping a tank stable. It sounds like the tank hasn't been running for long? If that's the case, I'd give it at least 6 months to stabilize before adding any corals, and certainly before adding a clam...And you may want to remove the filefish first. They feed on coral polyps, and are likely going to nip at a clam's mantle as well. Not reef safe, at all. Once those issues are addressed, polyps and mushrooms are some hardy coral choices to start with.

For the fish--damsels are naturally very aggressive. They defend their territory. Nothing you can do to stop that, short of removing the damsels. I'm guessing they were added first? In which case they claim the entire tank, and won't be kind to any newcomers, even larger fish. In the case of fish that are naturally shy like firefish, you're going to have problems. Re-arranging the tank--totally, not just one or two rocks--can help break up the damsels turf, allowing the firefish to pick someplace. The missing one: have you searched outside the tank, inside any overflow/filters? They are jumpers, and if the tank is not completely covered, are likely to go airborn if harrassed or startled.

Edit: Just a quick point on the filefish. These fish have a specialized diet
(corals), and are very, very difficult to keep alive in an aquarium. People who dedicate their reef (meaning--corals are there as food) seldom keep them alive for long. Most sources indicate this is an animal best left in the ocean for now.

[BurN]

the tank was established 9/07/04. My ammonia reading was at 0 after teh first 6 weeks, I am going to test it again shortly to double check. So would you advise removing the damsels? Where should I get the clean up package, marinedepot?

[OrionGirl]

Yep, the damsels at a minimum. That's a fairly new tank--the cycle is pretty easy to disrupt at this stage. I haven't looked around for clean up packages for a while--but I recall Marine Depot had decent ones. Best advice I can give you--a big variety of snails seems to accomplish more than lots of crabs. I won't get a cleaner package, because they all include hermits, and those little buggers are more trouble than I think they are worth. But--that's my experience. Others have them and love them.

[Cearbhaill]

Shameless plug:
I just got some really nice snails/clean up crew from Reeftopia.com for a couple of new tanks I am doing. This was one of the best packaged orders I have ever received- nice healthy critters and excellent service. Free FedEx Overnight Priority with a $120 order (and that didn't take long) + an extra 10% off if you go over $200.

I agree on the hermits- my new tanks are snails only.

[trips]

Don't meant to hijack this thread or anything but since we both have similar setups and I'm shopping for a cleanup crew also I thought I'd post here. All the packages I have seen have crabs even the ones from Reef Topia. I'm kinda confused as of what to actually get. So far what I have come up with is this:

24 Turbo Snails
24 Cerith Snails
50 Nassarius Snails
12 Nerite Snails
1 Lettuce Nudibranch
2 Peppermint Shrimp

Does this seem like a good crew for a 55g tank? To many of some or not enough of the others. What are some good stars to add to this list also. Probably going to add some sort of corals later down the road so I don't want to get anything that will harm them. Got about a 3" sand bed, 55Lbs of base rock and 50Lbs of Fiji Premium. There is nothing else in the tank so I thought it was about time to add these guys. Just kinda confused as to how many of what to get.

Hopefully the answer will help you out too Burn.

[Cearbhaill]

That's pretty much what I got except I didn't need the nudibranch.
I am leaning more and more towards the Nassarius as my favorite snail.
I also got a couple of the Harlequin serpent stars cause I thought they looked cool, and some Porcelain crabs because I love watching them wave their little fans.
I added a few bumblebee snails- never had them before and have read opposing views on them, so wanted to see for myself.

[trips]

After doing a little more research on it I don't think I need the nudibranch either. Going to drop my order of Nassarius from 50 to 24 and add in one of the Harlequin stars and a cucumber. Found a semi-LFS (1 1/2 hour drive) that looks promising looking at their website ( http://www.aquariumadventure.com/main.htm ) so I'm going to see what they offer and compare pricing. $123 from Reef Topia with free shipping seems a little hard to beat though.

[cleopatraa88]

And you think you've done all of your homework and then you hear that hermit crabs are trouble!!!!! So, what's the deal with them, now that I have like 10 in my tank???? I am also starting up my first tank, a 75 FOWLR, and only have a scarce clean-up crew. My tank has been cycling for 5 weeks now and as of a week ago, Ammonia, Nitrates and Nitrites were down to zero and there has really been no fluctuation. So, should I add some more clean up crew now??? This is a basic question, but I find that a lot of books overlook the simple stuff. Are you supposed to feed your cleanup crew or do they just eat off of the live rock? I have 1 damsel, so brine shrimp is going in twice a day anyway, but just wondering because the damsel will be getting a one-way ticket back to the LFS soon. 30-lbs live rock in there.

Also, sorry, too, for the highjack, but when you have a good thread, you have a good thread!!! Thanks, guys!

[woninil]

I would think your ammonia would go up if your firefish died

I have a FW cichlid tank and the rearranging truly helps cut down the aggression-give it a try