New Fish - CC to LS Switch ? HELP !

[msg martin]

I recieved one reply to this... It was suggested that I get rid of the CC and go with LS. HOW do I do that at this time? Will that make the tank start the cycle process all over again? Please Advise on this if you can and the fish list as well..
Thanks.
HI -
I have a 55 Gal tank which has been set up since 01 Jan 07 - it has Crushed Coral base with rock formations. ( not live rock ) - Milleniun 3000 Filter - Heater - 2 Light Canopys ( Normal bulbs ) I have one fish - a Red Spotted Hawkfish - I would now like to add more fish - But I am unsure of which ones would work in the tank and together.. Any help is greatly appreicated ! I have a complete test kit and all levels are correct.
Here are our WISH LIST FISH
Porcupine Puffer
Spanish Hogfish
Blue Hippo Tang
Horseshoe Crab
Clownfish
Heniochus Butterfly
? Too Many Fish ?
? Any not work together with the others ?
? Any not work with the crushed coral & rocks ?
? Any fish I am missing that I should add? For cleaning etc?
? What order should I add the fish ?
THANKS !!!
MSG Martin

 

[geridoc]

Originally Posted by MSG Martin
Here are our WISH LIST FISH
Porcupine Puffer
Spanish Hogfish
Blue Hippo Tang
Horseshoe Crab
Clownfish
Heniochus Butterfly
MSG Martin
Martin: Forget the tang, the horsehoe crab and the puffer. Tangs are open water fish that need lots more rooom than you have in order to be happy. Horsehoe crabs become enormous and enormously destructive. Puffers have great personalities, admitted, but the eat (and poop) a ton, and get way too large for your tank. Also, puffers seem to get special pleasure in nipping at flowing fins and guess what feature attracted you to the heniochus - yes, its flowing dorsal fin, otherwise known as lunch to a puffer. As a general rule, when considering fish for you tank, look at the adult size, not the size of the newborn that you are purchasing.

 

[reefforbrains]

Your crushed coral will be fine, it just has become out of date with the trends to be more natural looking. General preference is sand for a few reasons.
Sand is easier for the fish to sift and also for critters to move through.
Sand looks more like a natural environment you see when diving.
Crushed coral can require more maint because refuse can get stuck in the bed and require routine vaccuuming.
If its earlier enough in the game for you, might as well swap now while its easy. If you had a tank full of friends it will be a bear.
Your fish list is pushing it in my opinion because such fish like the Porcupine gets very large and very quickly will outgrow your tank.
The same can be said for the Horseshoe crab. They actually like to burrow in sand,( in case your keep your crushed coral) but are often a poor choice for home aquariums because they also get to monsterous sizes.
the tang in a 55 will surely get some interesting remarks, but I will agree that a 55 is a bit small for such open swimming fish such as most tangs.
Just my opinion........

 

[puffer32]

The only fish on your list that will work is the clowns. And I would switch the CC out now before you put any fish in the tank.

 

[kinder7668]

hi i'm no expert but i too made the mistake of getting cc and i recently switched to sand nd all went well....heres how i did it take some water out of your tank into a -gal bucket put a heater and some air in it put your fish in it.....i then emptied about 20 gal of water into 5 gal buckets slowly remove cc water in tank will get cloudy but by the next day will be ok..... i then added aragonite and a couple bags of live sand.....rise live sand bag poke a holi in the top of it to let the air out then put it in the water hole facing up lay it on the bottom of the tank take a knife cut it open flip it gently dump it out .....due to cloudyness you may not beable to position your rock back in place but it will clear up over night and as lons as you have heat and air in you bucket your fish will be fine .....after change my nitrites went up for a day but not too much i brought them down with water changes and my nitrate also came up a bit but quickly came down all my fish lived and the change went well for me good luck

 

[puffer32]

You cam also syphon the CC out with a tube and pump. I put my sand in with a pvc pipe, I kept moving the pipe around the tank to distribute it all over the tank.