new here with some questions

[chars]

Hi all! I'm new to this board, but I've been lurking a bit and see that you all are so very nice and helpful and do not treat anyone like an idiot!! I'm new to saltwater and have some questions, so please don't flame me for lack of knowledge! I've been doing some research, but can't seem to find a conclusive answer to either of these things. I have a 55 gallon tank that is cycled.
Question 1: On one of my pieces of live rock, some of the hitchhikers I have are Spionids polychaete (identified in the hitchhiker thread here). I know it says they are benefiticial, but they are numerous and my hermits are ignoring them. Should I worry? Do I need to do anything to take their numbers down? They are no where near taking over the rock or anything.
Question 2: This tank is my 9 year old son's, and we are doing our best to recreate the tank in Finding Nemo. Through lots and lots of research, I know that most of the fish in that tank are not only incompatible, but are too large for our 55 gallon. So, our stocking plan is as follows:
3 chromis (already in the tank)
2 oscellaris clownfish (in quarantine)
1 royal gramma basslet (from movie)
1 firefish
1 sea star (from movie) (ended up with 3 hitchhikers on lr)
1 cleaner shrimp (from movie)
clean-up crew (already in the tank)
Now, my question is, we would like to get a yellow tang (from movie). I have been reading conflicting info about whether the tang is ok for our size tank or not. I have also seen several pics of 55 gal tanks that have yellow tangs on different message boards. I don't want to do anything that is bad for a fish, of course! If the yellow tang is not going to work for our tank, we were looking at bangaii cardinalfish. Which involves yet another question, because I was originally told we could house 4, but I have now been told that we can have no more than 2 because they are very territorial with their own kind.
Anyway, thanks in advance for any help and advice and I really love this board and hope that I can make this a "home"!

 

[fishieness]

star fish are very delicate, i recomend not getting one until your tank is established.
make sure to go slowly in adding fish.
a advice on weather a yellow tang will beokay in a 55 gallon is ALWAYS conflicting.... i have noticed that the only people that say it is okay are people who's largest tank is a 55. I say, if there is realy that much controversy, then it may be okay for the fish, but not great. IMO, no because of this. i think it is pushing the limits.
how long as the tank been cycled?
and you are already planning on putting in 7 fish..... that seems like a lot if you want to put in some bangaiis too.

 

[rev]

Originally Posted by chars
Question 2: This tank is my 9 year old son's, and we are doing our best to recreate the tank in Finding Nemo.
Another one to join the club. :cheer:
I am still wondering what fish "auntie Deb" was.
I have the clown,royal gramma,cleaner shrimp,yellow tang.I will not get a moorish idol,or a puffer.Flame angel is next and that will be it.

 

[chars]

First of all, I did not purposely get the starfish already, they hitchhiked in on a piece of live rock, as you will see that I put in my first post. I had not planned on adding one until last. Anyway, we have them and they are doing fine.
We are going slowly in adding fish, that is why there are only 3 fish in the tank and 2 in quarantine for another 3 weeks.
The bangaiis are still up for question because I am still finding out info about them, and they would not be added at all if we put in the yellow tang, which is why I am trying to get the info about the yellow tang. The tank was already cycled when we got it, it had been set up for 6 months. The person we got it from had moved their fish to another tank and was getting rid of the 55 gallon setup and all the substrate and live rock.
Rev - the problem we are having with the fish from Finding Nemo, of course, is that most of them were not actually compatible or are too big for a 55 gallon tank! However, after a couple of weeks of backbreaking research of looking at fish pictures and trying to figure out which fish were in the movie, I ran across this website http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finding_Nemo
that lists all the fish! So, Auntie Deb is a Four-Stripe Damselfish. HTH!

 

[rev]

haha.thanks!Just so happens I have a 4 stripe.

 

[littlebuck]

Well a couple things u might want to check on, The Blue tang AKA dory needs a tank atleast 75 gallons if not 100. even the yellow tang is suggested to be in a larger tank. You need to figure later on down the line they are gonig to get bigger. Also having one damsel in your tank, hes going to be a trouble maker. IMO You might want to wait after you put those 2 fish that u have in your Qt tank due to thats gonig to be 5 fish. I would do more research about the fish you want to put in there and see how well they will do together. That way you dnt spend moeny and have to bring the fish back if they dont get aloe together. But i am in no way an expert but reading alot of these posts and seeing what other people have said. Alot of the fish you want to put in there need a bigger tank. I hope you get some more help out there good luck with everything.

 

[fishieness]

oh, sorry, i was not aware that there were already starfish in there. But since your tank is 6 months old, just keep good water quality and a SG of 1.025-1.026 and they wil be fine :joy:
a 3-stripe could do well, but they actualy get upwards of 5 inches! but i would recomend putting it in last to avoid any possible trouble. However IMO, one more fish would be your last, you may be fine already with that list you have in the first post.

 

[chars]

Littlebuck, I am not adding any damsels or tangs. I had questions about the yellow tang as a possibility, but I am finding out that my tank is too small even at 55 gallons, so we probably won't do that. I'm going to continue researching, though, and getting people's opinions and experiences. That's why I'm here. If you'll refer to my original post, you'll see my stocking list. The info about Finding Nemo was only our starting point, since after I started researching, I found out that most of the fish are incompatible or too large for our tank. Unfortunately, we cannot make plans for a bigger tank at this time, or any time in the forseeable future, so I don't want to make plans for fish that would have to be moved to a bigger tank as they grow. The only other fish that are definite at this point after the clownfish are the royal gramma basslet and the firefish. We are looking at 2 bangaii cardinalfish or 1 yellow tang, but as I said, I am still doing research on both and still getting opinions and experiences.
That's what I love about message boards!! Research often is so scientific that it's difficult to understand everything, but with message boards I can find out what people have actually had work for them or not work for them.
Also, can anyone answer my first question? And in regards to the worms in question 1, can they sting a human hand?
Thanks!

 

[littlebuck]

well u said So, Auntie Deb is a Four-Stripe Damselfish so i figured that you were putting it in there. you can if you want i was giving you MO, Well sorry that you took it the wrong way but i was just trying to help you out a little bit. but good luck with your tank

 

[wax32]

First off: Welcome to the boards!
Having been in this hobby for almost a year I can tell you one thing... the various clowns I have owned have all been MEAN. When I first started I had a pair of A. ocellaris like you are considering... brought them back to the LFS. I am now restocking my tank post-Katrina and picked up a small tank-raised tomato clown... even MEANER! This thing is even pounding 2 damsels. I think when the bugger sleeps tonight I will net her out.
Now, I realise you want to do the Nemo thing for your kids, but realise that clowns can and likely will start some trouble for your other fish. The firefish in particular is at risk: mine was terrorized by the pair of ocellaris. The gramma and chromis are 50/50 and if you decide on a yellow tang he will probably not be scared of the clowns. At any rate I'd add the clowns last.

 

[chars]

Littlebuck, I was answering Rev's question about wondering what Auntie Deb was. No biggie - I appreciate your advice!
wax32 - problem - we already have the clowns in qt. We've had them for almost a week. Everyone else that I had talked to said they were fine to add at any point, and these were the main fish that my son wanted so my parents got these as an early birthday present (his birthday is today). This is mainly my son's hobby. He is 9 today, but he is so responsible about his fish. We have 4 tanks now, 6 if you count the 2 qt. He has a 1.77 gallon with a betta, a 2.5 gal with 3 guppies and an african dwarf frog, a 10 gal with a dwarf gourami (awaiting tank-mates) and now the 55 gal saltwater tank. Of course, he's not solely responsible for these, but he is the one who feeds them and he helps take care of the tank maintenance and water tests. So, since he wanted a Finding Nemo tank, I did my best to do so!!

So, since I already have the clowns, could we put them in the tank when their qt time is up, then put them back in qt whenever we add new fish so the new fish have time to establish space in the tank? (Just keep fish in qt, basically?) I don't know if that made sense or not, but see if it did...

 

[fishieness]

tomatos and moroons are the most agressive species, that is probably why you were having trouble with your tomato, however i have never heard of ocellarous clows getting agressive....... Were they agressive to new fish? or jsut in general?

 

[fishieness]

if your clowns ever do get mean to new fish, re-arange the rockwork, they will feel out of place and will msot likely calm down. If they are mean to the chromi once they go in, then they are probably just establishing their territory and looking for a play to call their own. I doubt it will last long, but if it does, then you can decided if youw ant to keep them or not

 

[wax32]

In Chars: You'll never be able to catch them out of the tank, they will hide in the rock. Best thing in your situation will be to watch them, and if they get aggressive when you add new fish, rearrange the rock to confuse them.
fishieness: in general. Was a surprise to me too since I had read that they were like puppy dogs!

 

[wax32]

I agree with fishieness... SOME aggression right at first is to be expected (move the rocks to help this), but if it goes on for more than a week it can become a problem.

 

[chars]

Wax and Fish, thank you for the rock info. I had not heard that. The clowns will have been in qt for a week tomorrow and everything I've read says they need to be in a month, so 3 more weeks before we find out if we have to re-do the scape!
Also, it would really help to know if those worms can sting or not if we have to move rocks around!! Anyone? Plus, I would like to be able to hand-feed the starfish at some point, so I don't really want to stick my hand by the rock if those worms will hurt me!
Thanks!
This board is so much nicer with the advice than another board that I go to!! :cheer:

 

[fishieness]

i have an incredible amount of spionid worms and have never gotten "stung" but let me check
*puts hand in tank*
nope, they are prefectly fine :joy:
as for feeding the star fish, i would recomend feeding them with some type of stick like a skewer instead. Your hands have oils in them that are not only bad for your tank (not too mad if dont in moderation), but as i mentinoed before starfish are delicate and depending on the species, could take a beating from too much oils.
hmmm... i only belong to one other board and they are all nice there...... yet to see a mean one. although sometimes there are mean threads here, but it takes a while for one of those to happen

 

[chars]

Thank you for risking your hand for me!

I wouldn't say the other board I go to is mean, just that when certain posters offer advice, it is done in a end-all, be-all manner that is degrading and makes the postee feel like a piece of nothingness if they find advice somewhere else that they know is as good or better!
I have a friend locally who has been keeping saltwater tanks for over 25 years, so I defer all of my questions to him, but it is nice to see what others have been through and have to say about things, and that is why I frequent the message boards!! I also ask every employee at every reputable lfs around me!! Everyone has a different opinion, experience or reference, so I take all of the advice, do my own research and then come to a conclusion and do what works best for my tank. That is what I have done with everything I have ever done in my life! It's just who and what I am - which is probably why I became a teacher!

 

[wax32]

Hehe. I had to look up the worms you were talking about, no they don't sting ya.

What kind of starfish are these anyway? Are they red, brown, blue, what?

 

[wax32]

You know the most important thing for your new tank? A digital camera! We need to see pictures!