Cycled in...added 3 fish...help..

leeleeah

leeleeah

Member
hello again everyone...
Just an update and a few questions today. I've had my 50 gal. tank up for one month with LR and LS. Parameters are good so today I added a keyhole angel (small), a very small yellow tang (about 1 1/2 inches long) and a hawian puffer. Everything is good with the fish.....although I think my tang is trying to be a bit territorial with my keyhole angel. My angel is in hiding and the lights are off, but my tang keeps going over in my angel's cavern and swishing his tail at him. Poor thing. Is this normal for the first day in the tank?
Also, I added Aquasafe 5 tsp. for total tank size to give an extra slime coat for adding the new fish and my new skimmer went nuts....(putting out lots of tiny bubbles) so I just turned it off. I know the skimmer is reacting to the aquasafe...my question is should I just leave the skimmer off until the aquasafe dies down a few days or turn it back on and risk the tiny bubbles hurting the new fish?

Thanks in advance.....
 
yosemite sam

yosemite sam

Active Member
By keyhole angel, do you mean a melas angel? They are black and white. To be honest, a 50 gallon tank is too small for either the tang or the puffer, and you should really consider taking them back. You are already having problems with territorial issues. Also, you may have added too many fish too quickly, especially with the puffer, which can be a messy eater. You really need to monitor your water parameters to make sure you don't have an ammonia spike. A one month old tank is very very young and shouldn't have so many fish.
And yes, just leave your skimmer off for a few days.
 
leeleeah

leeleeah

Member
Are you sure? The hawain puffer only gets 2 inches long from what they told me. I've had a keyhole before in this tank along with a much larger yellow tang and they both did fine. Since I've had them before I just stuck to what I knew when I went to my lfs today. Just wondering about the tang.... never saw one do that before....
 
yosemite sam

yosemite sam

Active Member
What does the puffer look like? Several puffers are from hawaii. And yes, a 50 gallon tank is too small for a tang.
 
leeleeah

leeleeah

Member
okay, here is a pic of the puffer I bought...I got the pic from this site I hope they don't mind me using it just for i.d. purpose....My lfs called it a "toby" I absolutely love this guy. He adds so much personality to the tank. What do you think? I've heard they don't get very big (only 2 inches). I don't plan to add but just one more fish to my tank if I can find it later on, but I worry about adding it because I've heard they can be aggressive (royal gramma) and I don't want to add it if it is going to bother my angel. P.S. The angel is called a "keyhole angel" Centropyge tibicen is the only other name I could find for it. When I looked it up on this site it was under "keyhole angel". I'm going to wait a few more weeks before adding anything else. I acclimated all three fish for 2 hours. They seem to be okay for now with the lights off. The yellow tang has found another crevice for now it seems. Please let me know about the puffer....I would hate to have to take him back.
 
matt b

matt b

Active Member
Originally Posted by leeleeah
http:///forum/post/2465923
okay, here is a pic of the puffer I bought...I got the pic from this site I hope they don't mind me using it just for i.d. purpose....My lfs called it a "toby" I absolutely love this guy. He adds so much personality to the tank. What do you think? I've heard they don't get very big (only 2 inches). I don't plan to add but just one more fish to my tank if I can find it later on, but I worry about adding it because I've heard they can be aggressive (royal gramma) and I don't want to add it if it is going to bother my angel. P.S. The angel is called a "keyhole angel" Centropyge tibicen is the only other name I could find for it. When I looked it up on this site it was under "keyhole angel". I'm going to wait a few more weeks before adding anything else. I acclimated all three fish for 2 hours. They seem to be okay for now with the lights off. The yellow tang has found another crevice for now it seems. Please let me know about the puffer....I would hate to have to take him back.
the puffer is fine. BUT i would take the tang and angel back. the tang and angel will out grow that tank and make problems. just have the puffer let it go for 2 weeks to a month a another smaller sized fish and so on. and plz research befor you buy. dont trust your fish store they just want your money and will sell you anything.
 
yosemite sam

yosemite sam

Active Member
When you can, try and use the scientific names, since common names can sometimes refer to several different animals. The puffer you got can get about 4" long. They also require a lot of food, both a mix of algaes and meaty offerings.
The problem with tangs in tanks like your 50 is that they require lots of swimming room and live rock to graze off of. A 50 really is too small, even for a small tang.
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
The aquasafe is also, basically a waste of money and I would not bother with it.
Your skimmer is critical in a new tank with a suddenly much larger bioload. Watch your parameters very closely and get the skimmer running ASAP, IMO.
 
leeleeah

leeleeah

Member
well thank you so much for your advice. I had a tang before and he was about the size of my palm after 3 years. My tank doesn't have alot of LR so there is more swimming room for him ...... I know my lfs and he will let me trade him later on. Sam, do you think I need to take my keyhole back? I would really hate to do that but if I have to I will. I do research my fish because my tank was set up before for 5 years with a lion fish and two groupers. They all did great before, but that was when I lived at the beach and had more access to great lfs.
 
leeleeah

leeleeah

Member
ophiura,
I've heard that micro bubbles are bad for fish. I worry about the skimmer producing too many bubbles while the aquasafe is in there. The aquasafe was used for adding new fish for the slime coat to protect against stress. I also use Prime. You say to run the skimmer, but someone else said to keep it off for a few days....which one?
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
THe whole slime coat aloe thing is a marketing ploy, IMO, and not worth the expense.
You have a real risk of an issue with water quality, because it is a young tank and these are "big" delicate fish (I don't just mean actual size), and your skimmer is a front line defense. It you do have a water quality problem, the aquasafe won't do much for you. I would never add the aquasafe stuff again, and keep the skimmer in good shape.
If you really can't run the skimmer I would watch parameters closely (which you should do anyway now) and try and get it running ASAP without bubbles.
I know it is hard, but the fact that you had a tang for 3 years that didn't outgrow that tank is a bad sign, as it means it was stunted. Any tang that does not outgrow a tank like that in several years is sadly not healthy. I know you may have kept these fish before, but please remember that none of us are trying to sell you anything, so we don't stand to gain anything. Mostly it comes from experience and genuine concern for the well being of the fish. Groupers, lionfish (except dwarfs) and tangs should outgrow that system easily within a year if all is truly well.
There are many fish suitable for this size tank for their lifespan.
 
yosemite sam

yosemite sam

Active Member
Originally Posted by ophiura
http:///forum/post/2465992
THe whole slime coat aloe thing is a marketing ploy, IMO, and not worth the expense.
You have a real risk of an issue with water quality, because it is a young tank and these are "big" delicate fish (I don't just mean actual size), and your skimmer is a front line defense. It you do have a water quality problem, the aquasafe won't do much for you. I would never add the aquasafe stuff again, and keep the skimmer in good shape.
If you really can't run the skimmer I would watch parameters closely (which you should do anyway now) and try and get it running ASAP without bubbles.
I know it is hard, but the fact that you had a tang for 3 years that didn't outgrow that tank is a bad sign, as it means it was stunted. Any tang that does not outgrow a tank like that in several years is sadly not healthy. I know you may have kept these fish before, but please remember that none of us are trying to sell you anything, so we don't stand to gain anything. Mostly it comes from experience and genuine concern for the well being of the fish. Groupers, lionfish (except dwarfs) and tangs should outgrow that system easily within a year if all is truly well.
There are many fish suitable for this size tank for their lifespan.
Definitely listen to Ophiura. Keep the skimmer off for a day or two if you can't get the bubbles down, but you're really going to have to monitor your water parameters very carefully.
As for the angel, I don't know much about that species, but from doing a quick web search, they appear to be one of the larger dwarf angels, and can grow to 7" or 8" eventually, which means that they will eventually outgrow your tank.
 
leeleeah

leeleeah

Member
well i am truley grateful for the advice...even though I had the tank set up before, I had to move away from the beach and give up all my fish to my lfs. This is the same tank but set up new with some much better equipment. I am a person to "stick to what works before" but now that I don't have much access to really good LFS I am limited to what to add as far as livestock. I've just added the AquaC Remora and have not had any experience with it so I was unsure about the bubbles. I don't usually use Aquasafe...only Prime. Should I have just used prime for adding the fish instead of the aquasafe? It seems to have caused more problems with the skimmer than I expected. I thought by adding it that it would have given the fish a little more help for stress.
 
leeleeah

leeleeah

Member
yes I have a QT tank that has been set up for 4 weeks. A 10 gallon with a piece of LR and biowheel HOB filtration.
 
leeleeah

leeleeah

Member
well....just upgraded my lighting, bought the skimmer, now the fish....not a lot of funds left at present....LOL, but when I do decide to do that, can you give me some ideas on what to buy for my tank size?
 
yosemite sam

yosemite sam

Active Member
A 20 or 50 gallon-per-day (gpd) unit should be fine. There are several models out there that are pretty good. Just make sure to get one with a pressure gauge.
 
leeleeah

leeleeah

Member
okay, so my next shopping excursion begins...It might take me a month or two to save up, but any ideas on price range for RO/DI?
 
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