Help Me

[cspostin]

For christmas I got the family a 55g tank. We started by putting sand and crushed coral in it. I have also got some live rock and dead coral in it. I have started doing this in Dec and now it is Feb. All my levels are ok and I want to start adding fish and things but don't know where to start and what to get. I have been researching but can't find what fish goes best with each other. Of course, the kids want some clown fish because they loved the movie Finding Nemo, and my oldest says plus Dory. So can anyone help me with this? How many fish should I get and what goes best with what. Should I add live coral and annenomes. I am very new to this and need lots of help, so if anyone can help I would appreciate it. Thank you.

 

[teresaq]

Hi and welcome.
first you need to decide if you want a community or aggresive tank.
fish only with live rock or reef.
for comunity. you could get
2 clowns
firefish goby
royal gramma
some type of sand gobie
and a couple of small clown gobies.
add a couple of cleaner shrimp and you would have at least three members of the nemo crew.
sorry, dory wont fit. too big.
agressive? i think its to small for most aggresive fish.
what type of lighting do you have. you would need really strong lights for an anemone. there are low light corals you can keep with pc lights. powercompact. if you have just regular florecent lights, then the only coral you could get would be a sun coral and you have to feed them everyday/

 

[watson3]

Please tell us what specifically your levels are at..What kind of lighting system do you have ..Filtration system? The clowns will go fine once you decide which kind, but the Regal Tang (Dory) is pretty much a no go in a 55..

 

[cspostin]

Originally Posted by watson3
Please tell us what specifically your levels are at..What kind of lighting system do you have ..Filtration system? The clowns will go fine once you decide which kind, but the Regal Tang (Dory) is pretty much a no go in a 55..
My level are at:
Hydrometer: Between 1.021 &1.022
pH: 7.8
Nitrate: 0 on both tests
Ammonia: 0
My Lights:
Daytime Light: Aqualight T5 10,000K Daylight & True Acting 03 Blue T5 Fluorescent Lamp
Night: True Actinic 03 Blue 360 Degree output, 30 watt.
Filtration System:
Emperor 280 Power Filter-the double bio wheel
Penguin power head

 

[cspostin]

Originally Posted by TeresaQ
Hi and welcome.
first you need to decide if you want a community or aggresive tank.
fish only with live rock or reef.
for comunity. you could get
2 clowns
firefish goby
royal gramma
some type of sand gobie
and a couple of small clown gobies.
add a couple of cleaner shrimp and you would have at least three members of the nemo crew.
sorry, dory wont fit. too big.
agressive? i think its to small for most aggresive fish.
what type of lighting do you have. you would need really strong lights for an anemone. there are low light corals you can keep with pc lights. powercompact. if you have just regular florecent lights, then the only coral you could get would be a sun coral and you have to feed them everyday/
Want to go with more of a community.

 

[watson3]

Originally Posted by cspostin
Daytime Light: Aqualight T5 10,000K Daylight & True Acting 03 Blue T5 Fluorescent Lamp
Night: True Actinic 03 Blue 360 Degree output, 30 watt.
So three bulbs or two?

 

[1journeyman]

Wait, back up. Let's discuss substrate for a moment.
Tell us specifically what you added. Sand and crushed coral can be a very bad combination.
Welcome to the forums, btw!

 

[cspostin]

Originally Posted by watson3
So three bulbs or two?
Three

 

[cspostin]

Originally Posted by 1journeyman
Wait, back up. Let's discuss substrate for a moment.
Tell us specifically what you added. Sand and crushed coral can be a very bad combination.
Welcome to the forums, btw!
I have both. Not live sand. One of the first things I read said to use crushed coral, so that is what I got. Should I not have, what should I do?

 

[1journeyman]

Either will work, a combination is difficult.
CC will collect detritus and must be vaccuumed out. Sand, on the other hand, needs criters to properly clean it. A combination of the two can't really be cleaned properly by either method.

 

[cspostin]

Originally Posted by 1journeyman
Either will work, a combination is difficult.
CC will collect detritus and must be vaccuumed out. Sand, on the other hand, needs criters to properly clean it. A combination of the two can't really be cleaned properly by either method.
So should I try and take out the crushed coral? How would I go about doing that.

 

[1journeyman]

I would scoop it all out and go with one or the other.
I'm a fan of sand myself, but that's up to you.
Sand is better habitat for critters.
Better at buffering water
Better at natural filtration
Easier to care for if done correctly. (You need to make sure you do the appropriate depth, that you have a brisk flow, that you don't have dead spots, and that it remains full of detritus eating critters)

 

[cspostin]

Originally Posted by 1journeyman
I would scoop it all out and go with one or the other.
I'm a fan of sand myself, but that's up to you.
Sand is better habitat for critters.
Better at buffering water
Better at natural filtration
Easier to care for if done correctly. (You need to make sure you do the appropriate depth, that you have a brisk flow, that you don't have dead spots, and that it remains full of detritus eating critters)
So once I scoop it out, fill with live sand? How many pds for 55g?

 

[1journeyman]

Go here and use the calculator.
If you want a shallow bed keep it 1-2 inches at most. Unless you want a deep sand bed (and the cautions and care associated with it) stay under 2 inches.
As I said, make sure you keep a brisk water flow over the sand to keep detritus up.