more newbie questions

~chelle70~

~chelle70~

New Member
I have a 55 gal. Right now I have a yellow tang, 4 damsels, 4 clowns, chocolate chip star, 2 hermit crabs, cleaner shrimp and an anemone. I dont have any live rock, at least for a while. I have had no big problems and have only lost a couple of fish. My question is this, how essential is a protien skimmer?
Also, can I add more fish or is this enough?
What advise can you give me??
I read a couple of books before I got into this, but I admit, I started this pretty clueless, and still am. I think I have just been very lucky with my fish. I had a freshwater tank for about 5 yrs before changing over to salt. I am enjoying my tank and I love working with it. I just feel like I still dont have a clue what I am doing. :happyfish
 
sato

sato

Member
In the beginning I went for awhile without a skimmer also. This was a huge mistake, the skimmer is one of if not the most important piece of equipment you will own.
I wouldnt add anything else until you get a skimmer for it(Dont waste money on a seaclone, get something good from the start so you dont have to upgrade later).
 
sato

sato

Member
What you look for in a skimmer is size of bubbles and amount of contact those bubbles have with the water. The smaller the bubbles the better and the more time in contact with the water the better.
But that isnt a stat you will find on the box or anything.
I am a big fan of AquaC, I love their skimmers. Red Seas Prizm isnt bad either but I prefer the AquaC over it.
Just think of it this way, if its retails under $150 its prolly not going to be a good skimmer.
 
jd

jd

Member
I just orderd my Aqua C Remora, should be here this weekend, it came very well reccomended.
Do a search for them and a ton of sites with good prices will come up, ill look and see what place i got it from
I have a 55, and have been running it for 6 months, i wish i would have got one from the start, seems like it will make life a lot easier
 
scotts

scotts

Active Member
First off welcome to the board.
Let me tell I started off without knowing a thing, now I know just enough to be dangerous. However someone has to tell you the bad news so it might as well be me. Your stocking list is...uh....well going to lead to problems in the future. First off most people on this board recommend a larger tank for a tang. However that is not what I see as your most immediate attention getter. Damsels are notorious trouble makers. Some people like them and most people learn to hate the little guys, they get to be mean and territorial. Also 4 clowns in a tank will lead to problems as well. When they grow larger will start having problems and could eventually have continuous fighting.
So anyway hate me all you want, just trying to help.
Scott
 
saltn00b

saltn00b

Active Member
umm i have gotten from some other sources that with my 75g i wouldnt need a skimmer until i hit the 6 mo. mark. any thoughts?
 
maeistero

maeistero

Active Member
immediate skimmer, stay away from the prizm's if you can. they don't skim enough for the money.
i'd agree too many clowns. although my 2 domino damsels have been awesome, blue damses are murderers though around here.
MANY, MANY more snails and hermits. i'm having trouble as of late keeping them alive more than a few months, but they do wonder's on keeping my lr and tank sides clean.
you may need to test water conditions a bit more if you are losing that many fish. post yours or search other threads for acceptable parameters. also consider that with that many fish (i'm talking what's alive and what used to be alive if they were together) you are probably overloading the tank without considerable testing and water changes.
feeding also might be a factor, over or under.
 
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