Is this overcrowding?

kyarnkid

kyarnkid

Member
I have two yellow tail damsels and one True Percula in my tank right now. I also have 10 blue legs and 10 snails with about 40lbs of rock, some live rock some "dead" rock.
I plan on adding one more True Percula, 2 Crab Eye Gobies, 1 Dwarf Angel, and some more inverts and rock.
Is this too much or can I add more?
Please tell me I can, thanks
Please tell me I can
 
mr . salty

mr . salty

Active Member
"Please tell me I can",,,Sounds like you have already made up your mind.I doubt if anything we say will change it,but first it would help if we knew what size your tank is.How old is it,what are the water readings,and what are you using for filteration.Also if you have a skimmer or not.....
 
kyarnkid

kyarnkid

Member
It is 2 months old and it is a 55 gallon and I use a sandman filter and a emporer 400 and I have a prizm protien skimmer, but I do not have it on since I really don't need it. My water quality is very good right now. I think my ammonia problem I have is going away.
Do i need to turn on the skimmer?
 
mr . salty

mr . salty

Active Member
To tell you the truth,A two month old tank shouldn't even have all the livestock you now have in it.I would STRONGLY suggest you add nothing new for at least two or three months.That will give the tank a chance to mature a little.You also say your water is "VERY GOOD". There is no way that a two month old tank with that heavy of a bio load could have "very good" water.If you are still showing any ammonia at all,your tank is still in the cycle....Like I said,You need to wait it out for a couple of months.Then maybe add ONE more fish.A 55 with live rock doesn't leave alot of room for fish....And what you have planned WILL be a disaster.Way overstocked.....
 
kyarnkid

kyarnkid

Member
So Mr Salty,
2 damsels and a clown(which are all resilliant fish) are to much for a 2 month old tank. I plan on adding all those fish within a year to a year in a half not right now.
You suggest I add on one more fish? Thats all? even for the life of the tank?
Why?
And should I turn on my skimmer now or wait till I get coral?
 
bentrue

bentrue

Member
turn on your skimmer. with the fish that you have in there now your skimmer will most likely do your system good. a skimmer is not used only for tanks with corals in them.
you said at the end, "until i get coral" does this mean that you plan on adding corals anytime soon? i am by no means an expert, but you really need to slooooowwww down on your tank.
i know this is an exciting hobby, and easy to lose patience, but you will only end up killing everything in the tank if you add things too fast.
 
bbreaux1

bbreaux1

Member
id have to disagree with salty i think you could fit those in a 55 with the rock maybe with one goby instead of two and im not sure how the damsels will get along with all the others i have no expereince with them but heard they could get agressive and i dont believe its too soon to have 3fish after two months if the person used the two damsels to cycle and then added the clown a bit after the cycle was finished just dont know if they did this since they said they had an amonia problem.
 
mr . salty

mr . salty

Active Member
Originally posted by kyarnkid:
<strong>So Mr Salty,
2 damsels and a clown(which are all resilliant fish) are to much for a 2 month old tank. I plan on adding all those fish within a year to a year in a half not right now.
YES that is alot for such a young tank.And we havn't even talked about hermits and snails in a cycling tank yet.They will be lucky to survive the high ammo and nitrites.
You suggest I add on one more fish? Thats all? even for the life of the tank?
I didn't say that one more was ALL you could have in that tank,I just said you should wait a month or two before adding one more fish....At this stage your tanks bio system is very unstable,and adding too many fosh too quickly will cause ammo and nitrite spikes.Maybe even a total recycle or CRASH...
Why?
And should I turn on my skimmer now or wait till I get coral?</strong><hr></blockquote>
 
kyarnkid

kyarnkid

Member
Thanks guys,
I will slow the thing down, but could I atleast add a cleaner shrimp in a couple of weeks? I want to add another True Perc, but I guess I will hold off.
BenTrue, I am adding coral in about a year and a half, I am waiting quite a while before I begin reefing.
Why should I only add one Crab Eye Goby, I heard there fun in pairs. Are there demands to high to meet?
Thanks guys for the great input
 
kyarnkid

kyarnkid

Member
By the way Mr. Salty,
I never said that I had high nitrites or high ammonia.
I stated that I had a little ammonia problem after I added a Clownfish. But, I think I just shocked my system and that was the reason for the increase in Ammonia, It went up to .25, but I checked it last night and it is down to .05 and going down.
I have little or no Nitrites right now( I use Quick Dip tests do I beleive they are not that accurtate, but they show that I have no Nitrites.)
My Nitrates are in great shape too as well as my PH. That is why I stated that I have good water conditions.
Also is my tank still cycling?
I just wanted to clear that up MR.SALTY and thank you for your help. I am in no way pointing criticism towards you I just wanted to clear up what I stated. Thank you
 
mr . salty

mr . salty

Active Member
If you have ANY ammo at all after adding livestock,That means that your tank is very unstable/immature.I believe,and I'm sure others will also,that a tank is not fully cycled till the bio system is compleatly setup,and the tank is totally stable.This can take anywhere from six months to a year.During this time you MUST be very careful about adding anything to this young tank...Also,might I suggest that you throw away those quick dip test kits.They are hardly worth the money you spent on them.I am now worried as to what your water parimeters really are!!!
 
karlas

karlas

Member
i use fastest kits they are acurate, i have the lfs check the water also and they get the same results i think they use seachem. i also use some from aquarium pharmacuticals and get the same readings also. u can pick them up at probably any lfs
 
mr . salty

mr . salty

Active Member
The aquarium Pharmacuaticals kit is probably the most popular kit used.It is easy,accurate,and lasts a long time.It is the one I have used since I started...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top