New to this.....

[Jpayso]

Ok I have a 55 gal tank that's been up since Jan. In it I currently have a yellow damsel ( that I just found out like a week ago does not do well with other fish n I don't know what to do with it ), a scooter, hermit crab, lrg zebra snail n a sml shrimp that I never see n only purchased cause my kids favorite invertebrate the banded shrimp died n the pet store didn't have any more. I would like to add a sml ocellaris clown, a banded shrimp, a sexy shrimp, a tiny blue hippo tang n maybe something else. Is that over kill?

 

[flower]

Hi,

Welcome to the site!

A 55g is a very tiny tank for saltwater. The Coral banded shrimp kills other shrimps. The Hippo tang needs a minimum 100g tank, they grow fast and they get sick easy when stressed...and rehoming is a serious pain in the but to catch that fish. They have the ability to go completely flat, you will find the fish under the last rock you remove from the tank.

Rehome the damsel, they not only kill the other fish in the tank less timid then themselves, they are known to draw blood when they bite you once they mature. Instead of a Hippo tang, maybe try a blue reef chromis (picture attached)...it has the same glorious coloring but without the worry of rehoming it later on, and you can keep more then one. A dwarf angelfish would be an awesome addition, they are very active and beautiful, the only draw back is that you can have only one per tank.

 

[Jpayso]

Is there a website that's reliable to buy fish from? Where I live there's only one store that sales saltwater fish. N the website Sunpet.com where they get their fish from don't have that fish I don't believe cause I was looking for a blue green chromis but they didn't have any chromis at all. N when I googled other names for the fish they showed damsel n it had me nervous lol. Can you see if you can find that fish on sunpet.com

 

[Jpayso]

Also I only want one of each fish except for a small/tiny school of fish. So only one drawf not bad.

 

[flower]

Hi,

This site has excellent critters! As a matter of fact, the Blue Reef Chromis picture I submitted for you to see was copy pasted from this site.They also have a 14 day guarantee, worth it weight in gold because they honor it. I have had stores claim they guarantee their fish, but they expect you to bring in a sample of your water, and if it isn't perfect (most peoples water isn't) they claim the loss was your fault.

 

[lmforbis]

I agree with Flower. I am looking at at getting 3 blue reef chromis as soon as my quarantine tank is available. Right now i have two fish in quarantine and don't want to restart the quarantine process for those two by adding more.
I would recommend you set up a small quarantine (15 to 20) gallon tank to put all new fish into to make sure they are disease free and eating well before you add them to your main tank. This can prevent one fish from bringing in a disease and wiping out your whole tank. Usually by 2-3 weeks diseases will show themselves and in a quarantine tank they can be treated.

I have also bought fish and inverts from saltwaterfish.com. Like Flower said they do honor their guarantee. That is where I have gotten almost all my coral and clean up crew and some of my fish. There are other reputable online sellers but we aren't allowed to post links to competitors.

 

[Jpayso]

I don't have space for a quarantine tank. I probably don't even have a normal setup like most. I just have my 55 gal tank n a dual filter system ( similar to AQUA-Tech's 30-60 Power Filter ) on one side n a single filter that triple filtered (AquaClear 70 Power Filter). N I'm about to add another AquaClear 70 Power Filter. Plus two wave makers.

 

[Jpayso]

Also what's needed to support coral?

 

[bang guy]

Also what's needed to support coral?

A bottomless checking account.

 

[chrisely24]

A bottomless checking account.

LOL, or a credit card with a very high limit!

 

[Jpayso]

Lol, aka it's a lot to take care of coral? Same with reef as well?

 

[flower]

Lol, aka it's a lot to take care of coral? Same with reef as well?

LOL... The hobby is as expensive as you make it. Most reef keepers go for the high light critters, that means you need the best lighting available. Good lights will run you some money. Next extra expense is going to be test kits (a few extra tests that you must have to keep coral). You also need to be more vigilant on water changes, which means more salt mix and RO water required.
Example:
Basic fish only tests = PH...Alkalinity... Nitrate...Ammonia...Nitrite
Reef test kit = PH...Alkalinity or KH... Phosphate...Nitrate...Nitrite...Ammonia... Calcium...Magnesium

You can purchase frags for much less, they are little pieces of a larger colony of coral, frags take time to grow, you pay for larger colonies...the bigger the coral, the higher the price.

All that being said, there are corals for every type of lighting, from non-photosynthetic, to the glorious SPS corals.
Example:
Mushroom and Kenya corals are pretty happy under T5HO lighting.
Chili, and sun coral don't like light
SPS corals need the highest.

As I said before, what you add to your tank dictates what can be added later, not all critters are reef safe. That just means you have to be careful about fish, starfish, snail or crab selection, and make sure they don't eat coral.

Now about that quarantine tank... I kept a 10g QT on my dresser. They don't need a lot of space, you don't have to have it on a stand, it's nothing fancy...but let me tell you, it's one of best investments you will make in this hobby, and not something you should do without.

Consider this... If you get the parasite ich, the only sure way to be rid of it, is to let the tank sit fishless for 6 to 8 weeks. So where will you put your entire fish stock from your display during that time? It would be much, much easier to just quarantine one little fishy at a time in a small tank, and avoid the problem altogether. Please believe me, the junk they sell like Kick Ich, which is supposed to be "reef safe" does not work. If you have inverts, certain "cures" are not safe for them either.

 

[pegasus]

Lol, aka it's a lot to take care of coral? Same with reef as well?

It's exactly as flower said... as expensive as you make it. If you plan to have "high light" acropora corals, then you will need superb lighting. Metal Halide lamps (high power consumption/expensive to operate), or high-end LED (high price tag/low power consumption/inexpensive to operate). However, there a lots of SPS corals that do well with moderate-to-high lighting, which can be accomplished will less expensive lighting. I have 6 bulb T5 HO fixtures on my tanks, and I have soft corals, LPS, and SPS. My soft corals that are doing well under T5 lighting are mushroom, ricordea, xenia, palythoa, zoanthid, star polyps, spiny sea fan, and anthelia. LPS are platygyra, duncan, lord acan, hammer, and blastomussa. SPS are mint pavona (low light), pocillopora, stylophora, seriatopora, montipora capricornis and digitata, yellow porite, and a few acropora such as aculeus, microclados, millepora, valida, and color-tip.

As you see, you can have quite a collection with T5 HO. I have around $300 in each fixture, which includes top-of-the-line bulbs. If I had known at the time of purchasing these lamps that I would be stocking more and more acropora corals, I would have opted for 8-bulb fixtures. While the cost of operation is higher than high-end LED, the initial purchase doesn't break the bank. Comparable in price to MH lighting, they are less expensive to operate, and create far less heat. As of right now, the only LED fixture I would be interested in is the LANI LED... but I'm not sure it's available in the US just yet. It's becoming very popular in Germany, and the reason is? It's light spread and coloration is comparable to T5 lighting that Europeans love. Just my 2c...

 

[Jpayso]

It was suggested that I get 3 blue reef chromis. If I were to get a blue reef chromis, Barrier Reef Chromis, Purple Reef Chromis Atlantic would that be equivalent? Trying to maximize color.