?? from a new guy

[terrence]

Hi everyone...I've learned alot from checking out this message board. Now I have a few questions of my own. I have a 75gal, double hooded Eclipse. No skimmer or anything else. It's F/O and I have about 60lbs of decorative lace rock sitting on about 4 inches of crushed coral. I do my water changes and check my levels every week. I've been up and running for almost 8 months and have 15 small fish, very compatable, 2 stars (maybe 3....I've only seen a small brittle once in 2 months) and a Snowflake Ell. I did have a couple die....a Dotyback which I may have injured moving the rocks. And a Flame Angel (looked good....found it dead after 6 weeks) Same thing with a Longnose Hawk. A small 6 line Wrasse may have been killed....or maybe they were just eating it after it died. I purchesed my new fish two at a time over several months. So.....Here are my questions.
1.) How long does a tank have to run before it's considered "mature' or 'established'??
2.) How often should I remove the rocks and clean(?) them??
3.) I clean the glass every 3 or 4 days from a brown algae buildup...is this common??? The rocks are all brown, too.
4.) I feed them 1/2 frozen bon-bon Brine shrimp...1/2 bon-bon bloodworms, a couple of freeze dried krill that I powdered (the scooters seem to like that) and maybe alittle piece of frozen Algae......this is in the morning at aboy 7am.....and again at night around 6pm......I also give them some flakes in the middle of the day. It appears they eat everything within 5-7 minutes....but I wonder if I'm over feeding.....can you underfeed them??
Well.....that's about it for now.....thanks in advance for your replies.......like I said at the beginning...........I've learned a lot from just reading this board!!! Terry

 

[fshhub]

1 mature is generaly several months or a year
should at leasst cycle before adding fish or anything first though
2 never
3 i clean much less often, get lots of snails and an algae eating fish to help out
4 I would feed a little less often, maybe one time a day or so
you can overfeed too
Welcome aboard

 

[jacksonpt]

1) Depends on the the tank - generally 6 months to a year depending one the way it is setup (LS/LR, sump, etc.).
2) never
3) This is normal - it's diatom algae. Investing in a good cleanup crew will help this problem
4) Sounds to me like you are waaaay overfeeding. You say you test your water every week - how are you nitrates, nitrites, and ammonia levels? For comparison, I feed my reef once every other day (either flakes or frozen) and my FOWLR once every 3 days (frozen).
I agree with JW - the flame angel probably starved. Angels generally get the vast majority of their nutrition from grazing on algaes that grow on LR. Also, LR would be a very good addition to your tank - not only would it boost your biological filtration, but it will also give some diversity to the life in your tank, something that all fish (especially tangs and angels) would appreciate.

 

[terrence]

Thanks for the info...............I thought LR was something you got in to when you became more exp.....can I do that without the extra lighting and skimmer????
My community consists of.....2 Blue Damsels, 2 green Chromies, 1 Domino and 1 three striped Damsels, 2 scooters Dragonets, 1 Manderan Goby, 1 each....yellow tang, flame hawk, cardinal,
o. clown, valenti puffer, stripped bleenie....3 stars...1 ell.
I've had everything from 2 to 8 months. Nothing is larger than 3 inches...and with the exception of the Domino....don't seem to be getting any bigger.....which is Ok with me.
What would you suggest as a 'clean-up crew' thanks, terry

 

[jacksonpt]

ok, just so it's easier for me to read, you've got...
75g
2 blue damsels
2 green chromis
1 domino damsel
1 3-stripe damsel
2 scooter dragonetts
1 madarin goby
1 yellow tang
1 flame hawk
1 cardinal
1 clown
1 valenti puffer
1 striped blenny
3 starfish
1 eel (what species?)
I may be way off the mark her, so someone correct me if I'm wrong...
First of all, that's waaay to much for a 75 gallon tank. Second, how long have you had the mandarin? The fast majority of them will only eat live food, live food that is only available on live rock. I seriously doubt yours will survive for very long - I recommend you return him to your LFS. Third, depending on the type of eel, you may run into some problems with it eating the smaller fish... especially the mandarin, the blennies, and the damsels/chromis. Fourth, you've got a lot of territorial fish on that list. If they aren't fighting now, the probably will be soon. Keep an eye on the damsels, chromis, and tang. Fifth, watch that puffer. I'm not too familiar with puffers, but it may pick at the starfish.
If you're not going to keep corals, you probably don't need any additional lighting. If you're going to keep that many fish, you'll want a much larger tank AND a skimmer.
I suggest return 3/4 of the fish, feeding less food less often, and doing a lot more reading before you go any further. By the looks of things, you've made a common beginner mistake - went too fast, bought too much, knew too little. I bet 90% of us where there at one time (including myself).
From now on, do some research about the fish you are about to buy before you buy them. In the mean time... do some reading on this board about stocking 75g tanks, bio-loads, water parameters, etc..
As for a clean-up crew - snails and hermits, keep it diverse. Get 3-4 different types of snails, and 2 types of hermits. Ordinarily I'd also suggest a couple of shrimp and maybe a crab or 2, but I'm not sure they'd last long with the puffer.

 

[terrence]

Hi Jackson...Thanks for the reply.
The Damsels and Chromis were the cycling fish I bought in May. I only lost two..the other Domino and 3 Striped. The tank cycled by Aug....about 10 weeks. I did read about the various fish and didn't purchase anything that would exceed 4 inches. I introduced them 2 at a time...every two weeks for the next 4 months. I've had the manderain since 11/1 and the ell is a snowflake. The Domino is now 3/4 inches and chasing the other fish but not nipping their fins. I do plan on taking it back......I guesss I'll trade it in for some snails.
I thought I was being patient....because I wanted to buy a whole bunch as soon as my tank cycled.
Will a skimmer make it better??? Or should I just decrease the population??
I've already cut down on the feeding...and I don't have to clean as much daily as I was doing.
I guess my main problem is I'm now retired so I don't think of it as a problem to spend lots of time on my tank!!!!
Thanks for your candid advice!!!!! Muchly appreciated!!!!!

 

[terrence]

Hey Jackson...it's me again......Terry.
I forgot to mention I added 25lbs of live sand in one cornor of the tank. I thought this would help the Manderain and Scooters. I don't know if it does anything for them.....but they're all over the rocks and seem to go after the freeze dried krill that I powder.

 

[jacksonpt]

Glad to help out Terrence. I guess you are one of the lucky few who has a mandaine that will eat prepared foods. Still, keep an eye on him, just to be safe.
A skimmer will definitely help. I guess the bottom line is this - How are your water parameters, and are your fish healthy/happy? If you parameters are good and your fish are happy, then who cares what I say - keep doing what you're doing. The problem with this hobby is that there are 18,000 ways to have a successful tank, so no one person can say "This is what you need to do to be successful." There are some common practices that will help your chances, but ultimately your critters are the only ones that can judge how well you are doing.
I know you said that you did some research and didn't buy anything that will excede 4 inches. Well, the snowflake will get large - 12"+ easily, and the tang will get large as well, I've seen them pusing 8" before. Everything else (as near as I know) should stay reasonable small.