Stocking Question

[JSmith]

I need some advice. I have a 29Gal bow front sw reef tank(no corals yet). I have a mated pair of percula clowns(about 5-6inc combined) 2 yellowtail damsels(about 2inch combined) and a blue finned damsel(about 2 inch). 3 peppermint shrimp, 1 emerald, numerous bluelegged crabs and snails.

My qeustion is do you think i have to large of a fish load in the tank. The reason i ask is my friend is starting up a tank and he said he would take my damsels if i got them to him before he stocks it. Also do you think the clowns would be more liklyto spawn if i gave away the damsels?

btw my water quality has been good so far with that fish load.

Thanks

 

[JSmith]

Bump!

Anyone?

 

[GregAW]

Looks good to me but then, my experience is 30 years old and we did things back then that you'll be warned against doing today. You may be should cover the back glass so all that stuff doesn't show.

 

[CoraLife]

my first suggestions is to get rid of the damsels when you have the chance! also if you get rid of the three damsels you should look at maybe a firefish, goby / pistol shrimp/ or a small wrasse!

 

[TropicalNorth]

My opinion is that your tank is not overstocked. All your fish are smaller species that are suited to that sized tank and you only have 5 fish. If they all get along fine then theres no reason to take any fish out unless you want to. Damsels are known to be aggressive but if none of the fish are getting picked on then they should be fine, just keep an eye on them.

Your clowns would only be more likely to spawn without the damsels if the damsels were bothering them. Otherwise they are probably just as likely to breed with them there or not there. I don't know much about breeding clowns, but they will breed with other fish in the tank.

 

[Catch22]

As is looks cool. Leave it alone.

 

[JSmith]

Thanks for the advice, well the damsels ended up making their own decision LOL once they saw that net they havent come out of the live rock in like 12 hours lol and im not breaking down all my live rock in an attempt to catch them.

 

[CoraLife]

obviously the fish are gunna hide at the sight of a net. from past experiences of the fish the net took them from their home(the wild) put them with other fish(LFS) and then took them again to be brought to another strange place(your aquarium). so they are obviously going to be scared of it. it doesnt look like you have too much live rock in there so i would just take it out , put it into a bucket(keep it wet) and catch the little damsels. if you decide to add even one more fish down the road the three damsel will make it more than impossible to be happy. also IMO there are many more effective(have a purpose) and beautiful fish out there that aren't damsel. o would suggest a pistol/goby pair, very amusing, maybe a colourful wrasse for some character and pygmy angel for its beauty( flame, bicolour, potters, my personal favourite) or even some other inverts such as cleaner shrimps starfish crabs and snails or possibly corals. the possibilities are endless and all will lead to a more interest/ functional ecosystem!

also i don't want to be rude but im not favouring the rockscape. maybe you could try a couple mounds or have it more spread with caves and such.

look forward to see you progress and keep us posted with lots of pictures!

 

[JSmith]

also i don't want to be rude but im not favouring the rockscape. maybe you could try a couple mounds or have it more spread with caves and such.

look forward to see you progress and keep us posted with lots of pictures!

i agree with you on the rockscape, ive toyed around with different layouts, just havent really found one that i really like and has the caves that are functional(its actually been setup different multiple times since that picture)

i think ill need some epoxy to really get a stable base with the look i want

 

[CoraLife]

if your sandbed is deep enough and it wouldnt cause too much of an issue with your fish dig up "HOLES" a for the rock to sit in then surround the base peices with sand so it is stable. only do this if it is not too much of a stresser for your fish!