Am I Overstocking?

[fretfreak13]

I have a 5 month old 29 gallon dt with a 20 gallon sump complete with skimmer and fuge. It has about three inches of cc substrate and about 35 lbbs of lr (im still adding more). Currently i have 2 clownfish and a cuc. I would like to add a royal gramma, a midas blenny, a yellow headed jawfish, and a mandarin.
even with the water volume added with the sump, is this too many fish?

 

[flower]

Originally Posted by Fretfreak13
http:///forum/post/3160962
I have a 5 month old 29 gallon dt with a 20 gallon sump complete with skimmer and fuge. It has about three inches of cc substrate and about 35 lbbs of lr (im still adding more). Currently i have 2 clownfish and a cuc. I would like to add a royal gramma, a midas blenny, a yellow headed jawfish, and a mandarin.
even with the water volume added with the sump, is this too many fish?

I don't know about the jawfish, I never had one and I don't know how big they get when mature. The others are fine...however to keep a mandarine you need a refugium, they will quickly deplete the copepods they need to feed on, then starve

 

[cherylann]

If you do your H2o changes weekly , watch your tests, NH3 and PH you should be Ok barely. That is about the load I have, 2 large black clowns, 3 fire fish, a watchman gobie, and a cintron clown gobie. Thats pushing it though I check ph, salinity and calcium daily. Use a turkey baster to get rid of any detritus and a skimmer.

 

[fretfreak13]

I do have a fuge. Actually, I have two. One in the sump and a HOB one. The mandarin still isn't going in for at least another six months though.

 

[flower]

Originally Posted by Fretfreak13
http:///forum/post/3160985
I do have a fuge. Actually, I have two. One in the sump and a HOB one. The mandarin still isn't going in for at least another six months though.

Sounds like a plan...

 

[browniebuck]

you may still need to seed the tank with pods with the crushed coral substrate as well as adding probably about another 20lbs of well established LR...get your tank "overseeded" with pods to start with and you should be ok...just look for any signs that your mandarin isn't getting enough to eat.
You could also try to get the mandarin to take to frozen mysis...I did this by turning off all powerheads to the tank when I was ready to feed and using a turkey baster (get one for your tank and don't use it for anything else...don't wash it either, rinse with RO and/or saltwater) to direct the shrimp near him...just remember to turn the powerheads back on after feeding...

 

[fretfreak13]

Both fuges are seeded already, I'm just in that boring waiting period while the pod breed and stuff. Should I seed the actual tank too? I've pretty much got the mandarin thing under control. Been researching them since I got into SW from the start (seeing the mandarin at my LFS was actually what made me want a SW tank). My main concern is the jawfish though. Will it be able to burrow in CC? Is it's mouth big enought to pick up the CC?

 

[browniebuck]

out of curiosity, what made you go with CC to begin with?

 

[gio28]

i think your stocklist sounds good besides the jawfish perhaps. it would be better to have a little more depth in your substrate...also i looked around and found out that they like a variety of substrates from fine to some CC i found...just CC probably isnt the best choice.

 

[fretfreak13]

This was my first tank, and I recived it from a friend who was evitced from his house. He had a 120 set up that he had to tear down, and it happened to have CC. He gave me my substrate, the tank, and a bit of my LR. Now that the tank has been set up for five months, there isn't much I can do about the substrate I don't think. Also, I've heard that CC creates a lot of nitrates, but every time I test my water the levels of everything are unreadable, including the trates.