First Saltwater Tank (help needed)

[sboynton]

Started stocking the tank yesterday. Here’s a picture ofwhat it looks like in the cubby.

http://twitpic.com/6w7jz7


This round I put in:

1 Green Chromis about 1 inch - http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/Green.chromis.arp.jpg

1 Emerald Crab about 1 inch - http://www.melevsreef.com/id/emerald_crab.jpg

2 Large snails about ½ inch each (not sure of the name/type)

5 small hermit crabs each about the size of your pinkie nail (not sure of name/type)



What I’m putting in next (about a week if everything goesright):

1 Flame Angelfish - http://www.freeinfosociety.com/media/images/5087.jpg

1 Ocellaris Clownfish - http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/fish-pictures/ocellaris-clownfish-1265473965-800.jpg

2 Banggai Cardinalfish - http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_itQU3CcowS8/TG1kQ3ZnATI/AAAAAAAAAOI/nvefLoTq7LA/s1600/bangaii_cardinal.jpg



Any other suggestions?

 

[greech]

29gallon tank what type of powerhead?

Not sure what you budget is.

Vortech MP-10 would be perfect IMO but will run you a little over $200 new. If you don't go with a controllable/wave maker type powerhead (like the Vortech or Tunzes) two powerheads are typically better than one as they can create a more random flow pattern.

Non controllable Tunzes like the 6045 [new manually adjustable flow model], 6025 or 6015s would be my preference if a controllable pump is out of the question followed by Koralia Evolution (pair of 550s or maybe a 750 and a 550) and then the new Maxi-jet pros.

You will probably find that placement of these in your tank will greatly depend on aquascape and yours is fairly open. You should be able to get by with a little less flow because there are less obstructions for water to move around. Most reef tanks shoot for a system volume turnover of about 40-60 times an hour which is going to out you around 1200gph on the low end. Yes you can get by with less since you don't have corals but its kind of hard to have too much flow in a marine tank unless your livestock dicates less (seahorses, etc) and it will help with the health of your system as wizard mentioned.

I would not consider adding all those fish at once and would allow at least a month between additions. You may not have enough rock to provide the bacteria needed to handle that much of a bioload. 5 small fish in a mature 29 (yours is still very new) is about max and mature clowns and dwarf angels will get to be 3 to 4 inches. The angel should be added last and the cardinals first. I would add the cardinals and test your water every so often to see how the tank handles the increased fedding (and pooping).

 

[sboynton]

I have frozen brine shrimp as well as small pellets - how much should I give the Green Chromis, and how often?

 

[greech]

Brine isn't very nutrtious (more like popcorn for marine fish). Get some mysis shrimp when you can.

But a 1/4 of a cube of frozen shrimp daily is more than enough and you can sprinkle in a few pellets now and then. You could probably even go every other day with than amount of food. A few minutes of feeding and not letting excess food drift around and get sucked into the rocks is about what you're shooting for.

 

[sboynton]

how do you prevent that? use my fish net?

 

[greech]

An easy way to control the amount of food added is you use a medicine dropper (a clean, new one of course). Phamacies sell these in plastic and glass. The plastic ones work a little beeter IME and you can cut the hole a little if needed. Another option would be a turkey baster but those are better suited for larger tanks with more fish. Just squirt a little food in, step back for a minute and when all that food is gone add some more. Works very well and if you get into corals you can use the dropper/baster to target feed corals if you want.

 

[sboynton]

Going to add two more Green Chromis and two Banggai Cardinalfish today.. suggestions on food for them? And how do I feed so that I make sure all the fish eat?

 

[jasonG75]

What about powerheads? Are those in place yet?

Just a tip (cheap) go to walmart, purchase a black posterboard and use it as a background. Takes the focus off that god awful orange.

GO HOGS

 

[sboynton]

Hahaha. No, I was going to purchase the powerhead and install that tongiht while the new fish are acclimating in their buckets... I'm still not sure how much power I need.

 

[greech]

No way I would put 4 fish into a tank that new. I am still also not sure you have enough rock in your system to handle that much bioload. Also, while chromis can do ok in groups in a larger tank I think you will find them to be somewhate aggressive towards each other in your tank and probably end up with 1 again in the end.

Food wise, frozen mysis will make chromis and cardinals happy.

If you don't have sufficient flow, gas exchange could be a problem for that many fish in a small tank as well.

Not trying to be a downer. Just don't want you to crash the tank or spend a bunch of money on fish only to have them for a few days. If you go through with it, I hope I am wrong.