Has my LFS oversold me fish???

[msd2]

I just recently found the board and appreciate all the help so far. But I have a question, I am begining to think that the LFS guy kinda oversold me on fish, or at least put it to/near full capacity. Here is my setup: 55 gallon tall tank (3feet wide x 2 feet tall), there is about 70lbs of live rock, and a 5 gallon sump under the tank, there also is about 2-3 inches of LS. I dont have any trouble with nitrates, nitrites, ph, alk, amonia. Everything is amazingly stable and @ 0. But I also know that I purchased the CPR filter designed for 150 gallon tank so it seems to always work very well at skimming and keeping the water spotless.
Now the fish load:
3 1inch tomato clowns
1 2 inch seaba clown
1 banded shark about 4 inches long
3 2inch kole tangs
1 2 inch purple tang
1 carpet anemone about 7inches
1 long tenticle about 5 inches
Now all that being said everyone has been in the tank at least 3 months w/o any major issues coming up except with the kole tangs, two of them are not as deep a color as before and look more 'washed out'.
I am asking this question for two reasons
1. I want to move in the direction of a reef
2. I want to add some different fish such as a flame angel and something that schools ( I bought the tangs cause the guy said they would school, which they never have down.)
thanks in advance, and I wish Iwould of found this site before
:nope:

 

[chris17]

Wow you are way over stocked, tangs need at least a 75gal to be happy, but I dont think that a 75g is big enough at all........they are very active fish and needs space to swim. I would take the tangs back asap. The shark, wow, take him back asap also......sharks need alot more space to swim than tangs...so take him back..I agree with MissCrayon on the clowns, so...... I would suggest taking the tangs,shark,and one or the other species of clowns back to the LFS. Hope this all helps and good luck..............

 

[msd2]

Interesting about the shark, it kinda suprises me since he never swims at all, just chills under the rocks laying on the bottom. The only time I can get him to move is when its feeding time. BTW I think is is visually impaired or do the have poor vision? So if I take the Kole tangs back could I slide by with the one purple?
As far as teh clown I inherited the seabe, he is about 5 years old and is showing age, so im just kinda waiting for the inevitable....So I am hearing that when he passes (which won't be long im guessing) adding a few pec clowns for the carpet anemone wont be a good idea? (the tomato's all stay in the long tenticle). Thanks so far for your advice, its kinda what I expected :nervous:

 

[sagxman]

Let the store manager have it when you go back. If they were that low to sell you all those fish, they may have a problem giving you a refund or store credit. But hey, you want to go to a reef, with some of those refunded fish you should be able to buy some coral, (at a different LFS).

 

[msd2]

Originally posted by SaGxMAN
Let the store manager have it when you go back. If they were that low to sell you all those fish, they may have a problem giving you a refund or store credit. But hey, you want to go to a reef, with some of those refunded fish you should be able to buy some coral, (at a different LFS).
Well your totally correct, I went today to get bags for the fish and the manager said he would NOT take the fish back, even for free. He said his shippment of livestocks comes tomorrow and that he didnt have room. The clowns oddly enough get along very well (prolly cause the old seabe is getting feeble). It was kinda charming today the little tomato's pushed him ever so slowly back to his anemone after one of his 'spells' I am begining to wonder if I shouldnt get help him onto the next plane

Does anyone else have a shark? I ask because he is the one that hangs out on the bottom under the rock -everyone else runs around cept bozo (old seabe) The shark litterally runs into everything, the glass, the rocks I have to put the food right in front of him otherwise he will run into everything lookin for it :notsure: Is this normal for them, im trying to imagine him swimming around in a big tank and im sorry but it makes me chuckle it would be like watching grandma drive after she has slugged back a few too many.

 

[mr. tuna]

If that manager of the LFS, did that to me...

 

[tony detroit]

Take the shark back. They need a MINIMUM at the very least 180gal tank. They are not blind they are nocturnal. They do not like lots of light.

 

[reefduck]

Every one here is right you are very much over stocked with fish. Clowns are a very territorial fish and will figh other clown fish in the same tank. The reason that you are not seeing any fighting right now is that the younger clowns are not mature yet but give them a couple of months and they will start in on the other one.
As for the Tangs, the grow to be very large fish espcialy the ones that you have. The purple tang will difinaly rule the tank and may even kill the kelo tangs. Only one tang shoud be in a tank of your size and the still might out grow that.
The shark might seem like he fits in right now but your set up isn't going to work for him. Sharks can easiely sratch them selves on rocks in a small area and will eventualy sucome to infection. Also the are a very agresive species and the will eat all the other fish in your tank.
One thing that hasn't come up is your anenomes. I only have one question for you What kind of lighting do you have on your tank? You should have PC or MH to keep them. Although your tank seem alfuly new to have this amount of fish in it, Anemome's are very sensitive to the water conditions in your tank and should only be put into tanks that are well established.
Feel free to PM me if you have any more questions. I have only just found this board, but I have been very active on several others.
I also have a 55 Gal Tank that I'm working on making into a reef. I only have 4 fish in it. A pair of False Clown, a Yellow Tang, and a Manderin Goby.
One think that you want to keeep in mind ever time that you go to the LFS is that they are there to make money, and they don't always know what they are talking about. Some time they can be a good sorce of information but more oftem mis-information. I don't know about this forum but many of the ones that i have been on will gladly help you when you want to make addtions to your tank and reasearch...
All of us have made mistakes with our tanks and none of us are perfect. Always remember to live and learn from your mistakes. Some time this hurts more than others.
Also check arround to other LFS and see if they will take the fish back as a trade in or credit. Make sure you add fish slowly to let your system catch back up...
Hope all goes well

 

[msd2]

Originally posted by ReefDuck
Every one here is right you are very much over stocked with fish. Clowns are a very territorial fish and will figh other clown fish in the same tank. The reason that you are not seeing any fighting right now is that the younger clowns are not mature yet but give them a couple of months and they will start in on the other one.
As for the Tangs, the grow to be very large fish espcialy the ones that you have. The purple tang will difinaly rule the tank and may even kill the kelo tangs. Only one tang shoud be in a tank of your size and the still might out grow that.
The shark might seem like he fits in right now but your set up isn't going to work for him. Sharks can easiely sratch them selves on rocks in a small area and will eventualy sucome to infection. Also the are a very agresive species and the will eat all the other fish in your tank.
One thing that hasn't come up is your anenomes. I only have one question for you What kind of lighting do you have on your tank? You should have PC or MH to keep them. Although your tank seem alfuly new to have this amount of fish in it, Anemome's are very sensitive to the water conditions in your tank and should only be put into tanks that are well established.
Feel free to PM me if you have any more questions. I have only just found this board, but I have been very active on several others.
I also have a 55 Gal Tank that I'm working on making into a reef. I only have 4 fish in it. A pair of False Clown, a Yellow Tang, and a Manderin Goby.
One think that you want to keeep in mind ever time that you go to the LFS is that they are there to make money, and they don't always know what they are talking about. Some time they can be a good sorce of information but more oftem mis-information. I don't know about this forum but many of the ones that i have been on will gladly help you when you want to make addtions to your tank and reasearch...
All of us have made mistakes with our tanks and none of us are perfect. Always remember to live and learn from your mistakes. Some time this hurts more than others.
Also check arround to other LFS and see if they will take the fish back as a trade in or credit. Make sure you add fish slowly to let your system catch back up...
Hope all goes well
Lighting I run a MH 10k, and two actinic (sp?) 36 " & 5 of the led's retro'd into the hood for moonlights. its in a canopy w/a fan.
The tank has been up and running in my new place for about 9 months. It was at my friends before that for 3 years. Most of my previous experience is w/coral not fish so the learning curve is higher in this regard.

 

[sagxman]

ReefDuck makes a good point. See if you can find another LFS and explain to them the situation. They may be very helpful and give you some credit towards the fish.
That really stinks about the other LFS. I had a feeling the manager would say that. They are just trying to make money and care nothing about their customers or the animals. I would probably call the BBB. It won't do much, but you can at least blow off some steam that way and maybe someone will be deterred from shopping there.

 

[jlem]

msd2. I am moving to california next month. I could not give you much but I know lots of hobbiest around where I am moving. I would be more than happy take some fish off you hands and find good homes. I could trade some coral frags to help you start a reef.

 

[msd2]

Originally posted by jlem
msd2. I am moving to california next month. I could not give you much but I know lots of hobbiest around where I am moving. I would be more than happy take some fish off you hands and find good homes. I could trade some coral frags to help you start a reef.
Welcome to Cali first off That might workout well actually. To be honest I don't have time to run around to a bunch of different stores trying to get rid of these fish. It sucks but thats a reality, I usually put in about 85hrs/wk. Thats is the other reason I went with the lfs advise, yes I have learned my lesson. Keep in touch jlem and lets see if we can't maybe work something out when u get here. Are you moving to the bay area, housing has really come down, well for around here. I am lookin next week here in SF, south beach district flat for 675k hope it works out!
The question nobody has said anything about yet is the bozo, the old clown. How can I tell if he is suffering? I have access to 'stuff' that would make his transition painless but I also don't want to put him down if he in not in pain. Hmm not sure if anyone can really answer this huh?

 

[jlem]

Fish can live for many years so the clown is probably fine besides the oercrowding. I actually grew up in Folsom and hae moved up and down the west coast with the military. I am unfortunately going back to Lemoore for a few years. I want to retire somewhere between sacramento and Tahoe so we'll see.

 

[pontius]

I recommend the reference book "Marine Fish" by Scott Michael (or is it Michael Scott?). It goes into detail about more than 500 different types of fish....what size tank needed, who they get along with, what they eat, etc. it's about $35, but it is priceless, imho.

 

[birdy]

I second that book, and it is small enough to leave in the car so you can take it with you to the LFS and look stuff up when you want to buy a fish.
Everyone has given you good advise, you are headed towards a major disaster with those fish in that tank. Try to call some LFS's and get some credit towards fish that will be happy in your tank.

 

[scotts]

MS, First of all welcome to this board.

I thnk I might have welcomed you before but what they hey.
First off I am in Cal myself. Although it is So Cal so I hope you won't hold that against me.
Second I am glad that you are listening to the people on this board. Many people ask questions and when they are told they have a problem they start to argue about it. Good job.
Third, I started off like you listening to the lfs for advice. After 6 months I found this board and learned so much more on this board in the first 3 months than I did listening to the lfs.
I am sure there are other lfs in you area. If not I was lucky enough to donate a fish that I had bought to the long beach aquarium. You might try that.
That reminds me of one more thing, that I learned because of this board. Research EVERYTHING before you buy it. Once again for the story. On impulse I bought a beautiful 3" fish. After I found this board and learned to research I found that it completly changes it's colors and grows to over 18" long. Way to big for my 60 gal. That happens to be the fish that I donated to the aquarium.
Don't want to sound preachy, just trying to help you out.
Scott

 

[thedraven]

This reminds me of my little LFS incident... my lfs told me it would be 'just fine' to mix a tomato and a clarkii... within minutes the clarkii was clinging to life after being mauled. Poor little guy recovered, but my relationship with that lfs wont ever. Needless to say Ive taken my business elsewhere...

 

[latino277]

1st off everyone here has given you Great advise.
with the clowns....
some times it can be a little weird. I have a tomato and a pink skunk in a 125g tank and they get along just fine. at night they sleep on opposite sides and during the day they mingle and I rarely see them fighting. they have been in the tank together for about a yr and a half now :notsure:
and yes I bought them before joining this board. but things worked out fine. just keep a close eye on them and be ready to separate them if they start going at it.
good luck

 

[tyr-sog]

Originally posted by SaGxMAN
I would probably call the BBB. It won't do much,
You would be surprised. I had a problem here in Michigan with a retail store so I wrote the BBB right off the internet. My problem got resolved very fast.

 

[msd2]

Thought I would do a quick update. I followed the advice of most people on here and it all turned out well. This morning the old Bozo passed away:nope: So I figured it was as good as time as any to get the tangs and shark out. I did loose one tang while getting them out he swam right into the anenome
When I actually brought the fish in the LFS was okay about it, he ended up not only taking the fish but also gave me a 25 dollar credit. So I picked up another 20lbs of live rock and a cleaner shrimp.
LOL my tank looks so bare now! only thing left are the tomato clown, one purple tank ( I know u guys said no tangs but eh i like him and he seems like he has been doing well for the last 6 months), one carpet anemome, and one long tenticle anemome. So I figured I would let everything resettle for a few wks then go coral hunting. :happy: