fishhies!! :] new 55gal

[leeshalee]

okay so im setting up my new 55gal tank after the holidays and i want to get
a Madarian Dragonette, a flame angel,bicolored pseudochromis and a powder blue tang. i cheaked thier compatability but im still uncertain how will a flame angel and PBT do together?
also the guy at the pet store said i have to put them in the tank in a certain order depending on their aggression he says the madarin dragonette should be the first one i add. how should i put the other 2 in?? does it matter? please and than you :]
if it helps, im going to have a fowler tank.

 

[fishhead80]

Do u plan on having a refugium? I ask because the mandarin dragonette needs live copepods to thrive and a refugium will provide a safe place for their natural food to propagate. U can try to get it to eat frozen food but not to many ppl have success with that. If u have to have a tang. Try Gettn a yellow tang or scopas tang. The powder blue tang needs a much larger tank.

 

[flower]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Fishhead80 http:///t/393669/fishhies-new-55gal#post_3502829
Do u plan on having a refugium? I ask because the mandarin dragonette needs live copepods to thrive and a refugium will provide a safe place for their natural food to propagate. U can try to get it to eat frozen food but not to many ppl have success with that. If u have to have a tang. Try Gettn a yellow tang or scopas tang. The powder blue tang needs a much larger tank.
Hi,
A Yellow, powder blue, or scopas tang needs a much larger tank than a 55g. No tang belongs in a 55g, some smaller tangs like the yellow eyed Kole tang can go in a 75g.
The mandarin should not be added for at least a year to allow the copepods population in a refugium to mature to the levels it will take to keep it alive. They feed on a ton of copepods each day just to survive until you can get it to MAYBE eat frozen over time.
A 55g is a small saltwater tank and only smaller SW fish should be added to it. Here is a list to give you an idea:
1 only dwarf angelfish
Rayal gramma or dottyback (not together and only 1)
2 clownfish
1 foxface rabbit fish
Lawnmower blenny
yellow watchmen goby or after 1 year a mandarin (my goby killed my mandarin so I don't advise for them to be in the same tank...maybe it was just me)
The above list would max out the tank for fish. Also the above list is what I kept in my 55g and it was a reef tank. There are lots of really pretty fish that can't be with corals and I really don't know much about them. You don't want any fish that will grow beyond about 5 inches, and always stock thinking of the adult sized fish. A GREAT book to get as a first purchase instead of a fish that will save you all kinds of money and grief is
Pocket expert guide
Marine fishes
500+ essential-to-know
aquarium species
By: Scott W. Michael
That book is awesome, it has pictures so you can see the fish. It tells you the adult size and min tank to keep it...food and other needs and what it is compatible with/reef safe or not. If you get that book first you can go through it and decide just what you want...everything is available on-line. The reason it's so important to plan the stock list is that every fish you add will determin what can go in later. Getting a fish out of the tank once it is added is a pain in the butt big time. Also it's a good time to start the quarantine and do things right to minimize any losses.

 

[snakeblitz33]

Flower... I just wanted to say that most rabbitfish actually require about a 100g aquarium - because they grow anywhere from 10 to 12 inches long...
Flower does have a good list of fish, however.
I would also like to add my own version.
pair of neon gobies
pair of clownfish (anything but cinnemons and maroons - they get too big.)
Pair of purple firefish gobies. or your beloved pseudochromis - though an orchid dottyback would also be suitable.
flame angel
yellow tang
I would be happy with this, personally. Flower is right through, it does take a mature aquarium with lots of copepods in order for a mandarin to survive long term. I wouldn't risk a fishes life for just a few months of enjoyment.

 

[reefr]

Quote:
Originally Posted by SnakeBlitz33 http:///t/393669/fishhies-new-55gal#post_3502843
Flower... I just wanted to say that most rabbitfish actually require about a 100g aquarium - because they grow anywhere from 10 to 12 inches long...
exactly.
also, I believe a 55 does not have the real estate to keep a mandy long-term, regardless of how old the rock is.

 

[leeshalee]

hmmm well clowns would be nice though but the thing is if i get them then i would want a nice anemone to go with it problem being i have no clue how to keep the plant alive which is why i didnt want to do the reef tank

 

[reefr]

Quote:
Originally Posted by leeshalee http:///t/393669/fishhies-new-55gal#post_3502869
hmmm well clowns would be nice though but the thing is if i get them then i would want a nice anemone to go with it problem being i have no clue how to keep the plant alive which is why i didnt want to do the reef tank
anemones are chalenging animals to keep, and should only be attempted if you have the following:
-VERY strong ligthing
-strong, intermittent waterflow
-stable, pristine water parameters
-feedings every couple of weeks to a month

 

[flower]

Hi,
WOW... I have learned something new again...I looked up the rabbit fish, and my book says 75g minimum. I had no idea they got that big, mine reached about 5 inches and never grew any larger. It was a very long time ago that I had my 55g, then I upgraded to a 75g...all before I found the book I mentioned. My current 90g looks small to me, but when I was in the store and saw a 55g...it looked tiny and very thin. When I kept freshwater tanks, I really thought a 55g was huge.
Oh and ++1000 on Snakes and REEFR's posts.

 

[leeshalee]

haha ohh yes nice nice well then i guess i have a change in plans xD

 

[gemmy]

Quote:
Originally Posted by REEFR http:///t/393669/fishhies-new-55gal#post_3502880
anemones are chalenging animals to keep, and should only be attempted if you have the following:
-VERY strong ligthing
-strong, intermittent waterflow
-stable, pristine water parameters
-feedings every couple of weeks to a month
I agree with all of your points except the last one. I do not think most anemones benefit from direct feeding. In some cases, I feel this leads to the demise to the anemone. The anemone is often fed too much, too frequently. This causes the food to rot in the anemone.
Quote:
Originally Posted by REEFR http:///t/393669/fishhies-new-55gal#post_3502859
exactly.
also, I believe a 55 does not have the real estate to keep a mandy long-term, regardless of how old the rock is.
I had a mandy for almost two years in my 55. I seeded the tank with pods frequently. I also took a lot of time to wean it to eat frozen foods. The mandy was very plump when it died. It went carpet surfing when a fish fight broke out in my tank

 

[flower]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gemmy http:///t/393669/fishhies-new-55gal#post_3502899
I agree with all of your points except the last one. I do not think most anemones benefit from direct feeding. In some cases, I feel this leads to the demise to the anemone. The anemone is often fed too much, too frequently. This causes the food to rot in the anemone.
I had a mandy for almost two years in my 55. I seeded the tank with pods frequently. I also took a lot of time to wean it to eat frozen foods. The mandy was very plump when it died. It went carpet surfing when a fish fight broke out in my tank
I never thought food once taken in could rot..again I learn something new on both of your points, being a bottom dweller I'm surprized the mandy jumped high enough to commit sushi.

 

[reefr]

^
it depends if the food is thawed and what type of food you are keeping to depend on rotting or not.
also, you said it, the only reason you kept a mandy for 2 yrs is because: 1) you constantly supplied w/pods, and 2) it ate prepared foods.

 

[leeshalee]

ok ok ok ok soooo!!!!! i changed my plan.........
i shal get a
flame angel
bicolored dottyback
and i decided im going to give the mandy a try ill never learn if i never do right? i want to seed the pods and see what happens )
and of course ill have my shrimp and stars will this mixture do?? x////

[hr]

 

[flower]

Quote:
Originally Posted by leeshalee http:///t/393669/fishhies-new-55gal#post_3503061
ok ok ok ok soooo!!!!! i changed my plan.........
i shal get a
flame angel
bicolored dottyback
and i decided im going to give the mandy a try ill never learn if i never do right? i want to seed the pods and see what happens )
and of course ill have my shrimp and stars will this mixture do?? x////

[hr]

Hi,
I'm BEGGING you to hold off on the mandarin! It may just be an experiment from your view, but it is a certain death of starvation for the fish. The copepods you order, take a few dasys to arrive... and it is ment as a SEED...there is no where near enough in a single dose of it to feed a mandarine for even one day. Most people seed the copepods into a mature to tank to up the count, never in a new start up.

 

[snakeblitz33]

Order an ORA mandarin, at least. They have the *ability* to eat frozen and pellet foods which might be able to sustain them a little longer than pods alone.
I recommend getting a jar - like a mason jar and putting its food in it - and sinking it down into the same corner every day so that only the mandarin can get into it. Eventually he/she will swim into the jar and feast like a little pig. Then you should remove the jar at the end of each day so that the excess food doesn't rot in the tank or build up nutrients unnecessarily.
Good luck!

 

[geridoc]

I have never had any luck with the jar method for feeding mandarins. In my tank the jar turned out to be a way to get all of the hermits and most of my snails into one place,and the mandarin then has to fight through the crowd. I have an Ora mandarin, and it eats Nutramar prawn roe only. I have tried putting other foods into the roe, but the mandarin is very adept at filtering out everything except the roe. PITA, but a great fish anyway.

 

[leeshalee]

mann so theres just like absolutly no way i can get em to eat frozen foods huh?
and the local fish store near my house sells the pods so if i just stocked up on them or whatever that still wouldnt work?

 

[flower]

Quote:
Originally Posted by leeshalee http:///t/393669/fishhies-new-55gal#post_3503153
mann so theres just like absolutly no way i can get em to eat frozen foods huh?
and the local fish store near my house sells the pods so if i just stocked up on them or whatever that still wouldnt work?

Patience is the key...set your tank up, seed it with pods, have macroalgae and let that be the last fish added. Why is that so hard?
I had a sand sifting goby...he landed up eating the food that fell to the bottom of the tank and taught himself to eat frozen food, so when there was no more food in the sand...he still lived and didn't starve, as was the case with other sand sifters of the past. That is kind of what a mandarin has to do to learn to eat frozen foods, not like a fish you can spot feed. So instead of trying to get the mandarin to eat frozen, concentrate of having enough pods to keep him alive and hope he figures out how to eat frozen. Just don't add the mandarin until you see the pods all over in abundance.

 

[gemmy]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Flower http:///t/393669/fishhies-new-55gal#post_3503188
Patience is the key...set your tank up, seed it with pods, have macroalgae and let that be the last fish added. Why is that so hard?
I had a sand sifting goby...he landed up eating the food that fell to the bottom of the tank and taught himself to eat frozen food, so when there was no more food in the sand...he still lived and didn't starve, as was the case with other sand sifters of the past. That is kind of what a mandarin has to do to learn to eat frozen foods, not like a fish you can spot feed. So instead of trying to get the mandarin to eat frozen, concentrate of having enough pods to keep him alive and hope he figures out how to eat frozen. Just don't add the mandarin until you see the pods all over in abundance.
Very well said.
If you do what Flower suggests, you will be able to a mandarin. I was even able to train my mandarin to eat from a turkey baster.

 

[reefr]

PLEASE DO NOT DEPEND ON THE MANDY TO EAT FROZEN.