Newbie Inherited 300g+ system

S

Schismgrl18

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Jul 21, 2008
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Hey hey,
I am so lost. I work at a pet store (please don't boo me off the site yet) and I've tended the freshwater fish there for almost 2 years now. However, the guy who used to do the salt no longer works for us so I have inherited the tanks. I am reading as much info as I can, but I still need help. All the fish are doing great and eating well, water parameters: ammonia is 0, nitrates 0 - but I just did a water change-, pH is at 8 but to my knowledge, has been maintained with buffers? Our water is incredibly acidic), salinity at 1.022, all have the evil crushed coral substrate. It's a MARs system with a 100 gallonish sump. I have 12 tanks sections divided up into about 10 gs and two 30 g sections. The following is what are currently in the tanks:
10 G Sections:
Section 1: 3 firefish
Section 2: 1 Niger Trigger
Section 3: Coral beauty
Section 4: 1 Lawnmower Blenny, 1 Maroon clown
Section 5: 3 various annoying Damsels
Section 6: 1 chocolate chip starfish (what does he eat?!)\
Section 7: Blue legged hermit crabs and turbo snails
30 G:
Both 30 G's have their own Yellow Tang. One tank also has 6 Clarkii Clowns.
I know the tanks water capacity is very small in relation to the number of fish I have, but I have been told over and over the filtration system is excellent and the fish are only there for a few days before they go to bigger and better homes (yea, I know).

The issue at hand is that I'm being pressured to stock the tanks heavily. I have no idea what's compatible with what, but I've been looking at charts and such. All I've really come up with so far are a royal gramma and a flame hawk in 1 10. I have a massive availability list and cross referencing is taking a lot of time (granted, I'm enjoying it).

One customer has requested a Radiata lion, but in the event he doesn't pick the fish up, what would be compatible with him? The tangs will probably sell before the week is out, so if I order him, I have full intentions of putting him in the larger sections. Would a Banggai cardinal be ok with the Yellow Tang? Are there any very hardy butterflies that would go with anything I've mentioned?

Water changes of 25-30 percent are done weekly. Please let me know what other info I need to include. Any suggestions are far as stocking or tips in general would be awesome. Thanks so much for your time.
:help: Vanessa
 
Welcome Vanessa. Glad to see you doing your homework when it seems that a good percentage of your counterparts are not. Your company will always push the numbers in these tanks, so I hope you do your best to keep them within reason. Keeping your tank stock on the lighter side has it's advantages, even in your business. The livestock will be much healthier looking, inspiring confidence in the health of your fish, and bringing back business instead of driving it away with dirty, overstocked, half starving tanks. After reading these sites for a while you will realize why most of us stay away from the chain retailers. We notice a poorly maintained setup so fast it would make your head spin! Good luck to you. (I really mean it, I know it's not easy with your company handicaping your efforts.) Read, read, and read some more.
 
Pick up a copy of the handbook of "A pocketExpert Guide Marain Fishes" and keep it with you in the store. Mark the fish that you have and when a customer asks, you've got what you need to know. It's not to question your competence, but 'proof' for the customer.

The chocolate chip startfish is a predator and will eat feeder fish or whatever.

Cardinal should be OK with the yellow tang as long as the tang is small.

Nothing would be compatible with the lionfish. It's poisonous and will eat anything it can fit in it's mouth.

Resist the pressure to overstock the tanks. Even our chain stores only have one or two (very small) SW fish per 10g section. After a few weeks, you'll learn what the market is for the various SW species and if there is a lot of buying, and a good market for a particular species, then you can maybe order more stock.

Hope this helps some.

Where is your store?
 
Panther groupers are frequently kept w/ Lionfish (as long as they're ~same size or a bit larger than the lion).

As far as general stocking - I'd add some basslets (1 per tank, max), a Marine betta, asst. sm angels (Potters, Flame etc - again, try to spread these out) and some Naso & Hippo tangs (just 1 of ea. as customers demand these despite your better judgement).
 
Wow, you guys all totally rock! Thank you so much for the replies. Everyone has valid points; I really do appreciate it.
Right now, I'm just going to aim to have one fish in each tank. So basically 5 more fish for my order tomorrow.
What goes with firefish?
 
Thanks for the book suggestion. Do you have any more resources you could recommend? The store is in Arkansas (it's ok - laugh it up).
 
I love that you are on here and asking questions. That is awesome. I Hope we can help you out! Okay...I'm off to read more of your posts now. Just had to appreciate your resourcefulness.

Schismgrl18 said:
Hey hey,
I am so lost. I work at a pet store (please don't boo me off the site yet) and I've tended the freshwater fish there for almost 2 years now. However, the guy who used to do the salt no longer works for us so I have inherited the tanks. I am reading as much info as I can, but I still need help. All the fish are doing great and eating well, water parameters: ammonia is 0, nitrates 0 - but I just did a water change-, pH is at 8 but to my knowledge, has been maintained with buffers? Our water is incredibly acidic), salinity at 1.022, all have the evil crushed coral substrate. It's a MARs system with a 100 gallonish sump. I have 12 tanks sections divided up into about 10 gs and two 30 g sections. The following is what are currently in the tanks:
10 G Sections:
Section 1: 3 firefish
Section 2: 1 Niger Trigger
Section 3: Coral beauty
Section 4: 1 Lawnmower Blenny, 1 Maroon clown
Section 5: 3 various annoying Damsels
Section 6: 1 chocolate chip starfish (what does he eat?!)\
Section 7: Blue legged hermit crabs and turbo snails
30 G:
Both 30 G's have their own Yellow Tang. One tank also has 6 Clarkii Clowns.
I know the tanks water capacity is very small in relation to the number of fish I have, but I have been told over and over the filtration system is excellent and the fish are only there for a few days before they go to bigger and better homes (yea, I know).

The issue at hand is that I'm being pressured to stock the tanks heavily. I have no idea what's compatible with what, but I've been looking at charts and such. All I've really come up with so far are a royal gramma and a flame hawk in 1 10. I have a massive availability list and cross referencing is taking a lot of time (granted, I'm enjoying it).

One customer has requested a Radiata lion, but in the event he doesn't pick the fish up, what would be compatible with him? The tangs will probably sell before the week is out, so if I order him, I have full intentions of putting him in the larger sections. Would a Banggai cardinal be ok with the Yellow Tang? Are there any very hardy butterflies that would go with anything I've mentioned?

Water changes of 25-30 percent are done weekly. Please let me know what other info I need to include. Any suggestions are far as stocking or tips in general would be awesome. Thanks so much for your time.
:help: Vanessa
Click to expand...
 
With so many people buying smaller tanks and CRAVING angel fish they shouldn't have, I'd recommend stocking a pygmy cherub angel at some point. They are adorable, gregarious and are supposed to be reef safe (mine is).

Also, sexy shrimp are a fun and interesting fad. Buy and sell in odd numbers...like 3 or 5. They will fly out of your store...who can resist some sexy shrimp!

I have a clown fish, a cherub angel and a sassy yellow watchman goby - at least two of these guys have territory issues and my guess is my YWG would too even though I don't think they are supposed to as a species. Anyway, I added them all at the same time and have had no territory issues as a result. Just a helpful hint to pass on to buyers.

Lastly, every reef owner loves a porcelain crab. They are so fun to watch and are reef friendly. Pom pom crabs too.
 
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