what is a decent cleaning crew for a 55gl tank???
- Thread starter jelezoglo
- Start date
S
sinner's girl
Guest
what fish do you have?
do you have algea? How much lr do you have? ls or cc?
some hermits, crabs, shrimps, are all good. IME, it depends so much on the tank and what else you have. I could never keep snails alive, never had enough algea, hermits, crabs and shrimps I can spot feed, plus they are fun to watch.
I would use whatever you have, and only add more when you see the need or if you want to. IMO, the suggestion for 20-55 Gallon Reef Package, has too many snails and I wouldn't put two brittles in a 55gl, they get huge! the 55-100 Gallon Reef Package, mixes CBS with peppermint shrimp, which is a bad idea (CBS eat Peppermints).
I would go with 20-30 hermits, a few crabs and say 5-10 peppermints shrimps. whatever totals $79 or so. OR a CBS, those are so cool, but will eat other shrimp and you can only have one.
I love urchins. Once your tank is established, stars are wonderful
do you have algea? How much lr do you have? ls or cc?
some hermits, crabs, shrimps, are all good. IME, it depends so much on the tank and what else you have. I could never keep snails alive, never had enough algea, hermits, crabs and shrimps I can spot feed, plus they are fun to watch.
I would use whatever you have, and only add more when you see the need or if you want to. IMO, the suggestion for 20-55 Gallon Reef Package, has too many snails and I wouldn't put two brittles in a 55gl, they get huge! the 55-100 Gallon Reef Package, mixes CBS with peppermint shrimp, which is a bad idea (CBS eat Peppermints).
I would go with 20-30 hermits, a few crabs and say 5-10 peppermints shrimps. whatever totals $79 or so. OR a CBS, those are so cool, but will eat other shrimp and you can only have one.
I love urchins. Once your tank is established, stars are wonderful
spectre879
Member
CBS are aggresive but they can not swim as well or fast as a skunk or some other shrimp types of shrimp. I kept a CBS inside of a 75 with skunk. The CBS would chase the skunk but was never able to catch him since the skunk would just speed away. :happyfish
Sadly they both met demise by a grouper, I didnt know any better and the LFS said they would be fine...idiots.
Anyways, a CBS with a group of skunk should work so long as you add the skunks first and the CBS about a month later. Only one CBS as they are carnivorous and territorial.
Sadly they both met demise by a grouper, I didnt know any better and the LFS said they would be fine...idiots.
Anyways, a CBS with a group of skunk should work so long as you add the skunks first and the CBS about a month later. Only one CBS as they are carnivorous and territorial.
jelezoglo
Member
Originally Posted by Sinner's Girl
what fish do you have?
do you have algea? How much lr do you have? ls or cc?
some hermits, crabs, shrimps, are all good. IME, it depends so much on the tank and what else you have. I could never keep snails alive, never had enough algea, hermits, crabs and shrimps I can spot feed, plus they are fun to watch.
I would use whatever you have, and only add more when you see the need or if you want to. IMO, the suggestion for 20-55 Gallon Reef Package, has too many snails and I wouldn't put two brittles in a 55gl, they get huge! the 55-100 Gallon Reef Package, mixes CBS with peppermint shrimp, which is a bad idea (CBS eat Peppermints).
I would go with 20-30 hermits, a few crabs and say 5-10 peppermints shrimps. whatever totals $79 or so. OR a CBS, those are so cool, but will eat other shrimp and you can only have one.
I love urchins. Once your tank is established, stars are wonderful
Right now we only have a domino and 3 stripe damsels. We upgraded very quickly, our 20gl was probably set up for about 6 weeks ( just enough to cycle). In it we have the 2 damsels, 1 arrow crab, 1 cleaner shrimp, 1 sand sifting star, about 10-15 little crabs in shells (don;t know their names), about 5 snails, and 1 feather duster.
The 55gl just started cycling about 3 days ago. We have about 58 lbs of live rock, a 23 lb white wholy rock, 30 lbs of live sand and 30 lbs of this really thin white sand (not live).
We do not intend to have any corals, we really want a FOWLR. When the 55 gl finishes cycling we will transfer all the stuff out of the 20 gl. After that we want to add:
1 green mandarin dragonet
1 small long nose butterfly
1 jawfish gobie
1 blue hippo tang
2 perculas
1 boxing crab
1 small koran angel
a coulpe of anemones
1 sponge
Well I guess that is it......sorry about the long message. oh what is a CBS??? Thanks for your help.....we are reaally new at this.....
:help:
what fish do you have?
do you have algea? How much lr do you have? ls or cc?
some hermits, crabs, shrimps, are all good. IME, it depends so much on the tank and what else you have. I could never keep snails alive, never had enough algea, hermits, crabs and shrimps I can spot feed, plus they are fun to watch.
I would use whatever you have, and only add more when you see the need or if you want to. IMO, the suggestion for 20-55 Gallon Reef Package, has too many snails and I wouldn't put two brittles in a 55gl, they get huge! the 55-100 Gallon Reef Package, mixes CBS with peppermint shrimp, which is a bad idea (CBS eat Peppermints).
I would go with 20-30 hermits, a few crabs and say 5-10 peppermints shrimps. whatever totals $79 or so. OR a CBS, those are so cool, but will eat other shrimp and you can only have one.
I love urchins. Once your tank is established, stars are wonderful
Right now we only have a domino and 3 stripe damsels. We upgraded very quickly, our 20gl was probably set up for about 6 weeks ( just enough to cycle). In it we have the 2 damsels, 1 arrow crab, 1 cleaner shrimp, 1 sand sifting star, about 10-15 little crabs in shells (don;t know their names), about 5 snails, and 1 feather duster.
The 55gl just started cycling about 3 days ago. We have about 58 lbs of live rock, a 23 lb white wholy rock, 30 lbs of live sand and 30 lbs of this really thin white sand (not live).
We do not intend to have any corals, we really want a FOWLR. When the 55 gl finishes cycling we will transfer all the stuff out of the 20 gl. After that we want to add:
1 green mandarin dragonet
1 small long nose butterfly
1 jawfish gobie
1 blue hippo tang
2 perculas
1 boxing crab
1 small koran angel
a coulpe of anemones
1 sponge
Well I guess that is it......sorry about the long message. oh what is a CBS??? Thanks for your help.....we are reaally new at this.....
dmjordan
Active Member
Originally Posted by Jelezoglo
We do not intend to have any corals, we really want a FOWLR. When the 55 gl finishes cycling we will transfer all the stuff out of the 20 gl. After that we want to add:
1 green mandarin dragonet
1 small long nose butterfly
1 jawfish gobie
1 blue hippo tang
2 perculas
1 boxing crab
1 small koran angel
a coulpe of anemones
1 sponge
Well I guess that is it......sorry about the long message. oh what is a CBS??? Thanks for your help.....we are reaally new at this.....
:help:
You will really need to adjust your fish wish list. Green mandarins need a well established tank with a minimun of 100 lbs of LR with a fuge to help with pods population.
A 55 gal tank IMO is way too small for a long nose butterfly, blue hippo tang or a koran angel much less all 3 in same tank. The perculas will be fine in a tank that size.
Anemones need MH lighting and a established tank.
Jawfish are jumpers so you will need to have a covered tank or eggcrate on top.
We do not intend to have any corals, we really want a FOWLR. When the 55 gl finishes cycling we will transfer all the stuff out of the 20 gl. After that we want to add:
1 green mandarin dragonet
1 small long nose butterfly
1 jawfish gobie
1 blue hippo tang
2 perculas
1 boxing crab
1 small koran angel
a coulpe of anemones
1 sponge
Well I guess that is it......sorry about the long message. oh what is a CBS??? Thanks for your help.....we are reaally new at this.....
You will really need to adjust your fish wish list. Green mandarins need a well established tank with a minimun of 100 lbs of LR with a fuge to help with pods population.
A 55 gal tank IMO is way too small for a long nose butterfly, blue hippo tang or a koran angel much less all 3 in same tank. The perculas will be fine in a tank that size.
Anemones need MH lighting and a established tank.
Jawfish are jumpers so you will need to have a covered tank or eggcrate on top.
jelezoglo
Member
Originally Posted by dmjordan
You will really need to adjust your fish wish list. Green mandarins need a well established tank with a minimun of 100 lbs of LR with a fuge to help with pods population.
A 55 gal tank IMO is way too small for a long nose butterfly, blue hippo tang or a koran angel much less all 3 in same tank. The perculas will be fine in a tank that size.
Anemones need MH lighting and a established tank.
Jawfish are jumpers so you will need to have a covered tank or eggcrate on top.
I guess we need to rethink our list. I have a question about LR and pods. 1st what are pods??? and can we buy it??? and 2nd the white wholy rock that we have....will it become live after it has been on the tank with other lr for a long time???? If so we only need about 20 more lbs and of rock so we can have the Mandarin. Our tank is covered so I guess we can have the Jawfish. Can we have one of the three bigger fish???? What is MH lighting???? Is it a blue light...we have that....
tons of ???? as you can see....thx for the help
You will really need to adjust your fish wish list. Green mandarins need a well established tank with a minimun of 100 lbs of LR with a fuge to help with pods population.
A 55 gal tank IMO is way too small for a long nose butterfly, blue hippo tang or a koran angel much less all 3 in same tank. The perculas will be fine in a tank that size.
Anemones need MH lighting and a established tank.
Jawfish are jumpers so you will need to have a covered tank or eggcrate on top.
I guess we need to rethink our list. I have a question about LR and pods. 1st what are pods??? and can we buy it??? and 2nd the white wholy rock that we have....will it become live after it has been on the tank with other lr for a long time???? If so we only need about 20 more lbs and of rock so we can have the Mandarin. Our tank is covered so I guess we can have the Jawfish. Can we have one of the three bigger fish???? What is MH lighting???? Is it a blue light...we have that....
tons of ???? as you can see....thx for the help
S
sinner's girl
Guest
if the rock is calucium base then yep, give it time with the lr and ls and it will be alive.
What is MH lighting???? Is it a blue light...we have that....
Nope, blue light is moon light.
do a search on MH lighting, you'll figure it out. I don't keep reef so I don't have to worry about lights.
What is MH lighting???? Is it a blue light...we have that....
Nope, blue light is moon light.
do a search on MH lighting, you'll figure it out. I don't keep reef so I don't have to worry about lights.
indymatt
Member
Originally Posted by Jelezoglo
I guess we need to rethink our list. I have a question about LR and pods. 1st what are pods??? and can we buy it??? and 2nd the white wholy rock that we have....will it become live after it has been on the tank with other lr for a long time???? If so we only need about 20 more lbs and of rock so we can have the Mandarin. Our tank is covered so I guess we can have the Jawfish. Can we have one of the three bigger fish???? What is MH lighting???? Is it a blue light...we have that....
tons of ???? as you can see....thx for the help
The white rock can become live rock after time. I would not put the Mandarin in before the tank has been established for a year or more. Pods are short for copepods, they are the tiny little bugs that you see crawling on live rock. The Jawfish should be fine in your tank. MH is short for Metal Halide lighting. It is expensive at first but is the preferred lighting for most corals/anemones.
Hopefully this helps!
I guess we need to rethink our list. I have a question about LR and pods. 1st what are pods??? and can we buy it??? and 2nd the white wholy rock that we have....will it become live after it has been on the tank with other lr for a long time???? If so we only need about 20 more lbs and of rock so we can have the Mandarin. Our tank is covered so I guess we can have the Jawfish. Can we have one of the three bigger fish???? What is MH lighting???? Is it a blue light...we have that....
tons of ???? as you can see....thx for the help
The white rock can become live rock after time. I would not put the Mandarin in before the tank has been established for a year or more. Pods are short for copepods, they are the tiny little bugs that you see crawling on live rock. The Jawfish should be fine in your tank. MH is short for Metal Halide lighting. It is expensive at first but is the preferred lighting for most corals/anemones.
Hopefully this helps!
jelezoglo
Member
Originally Posted by IndyMatt
The white rock can become live rock after time. I would not put the Mandarin in before the tank has been established for a year or more. Pods are short for copepods, they are the tiny little bugs that you see crawling on live rock. The Jawfish should be fine in your tank. MH is short for Metal Halide lighting. It is expensive at first but is the preferred lighting for most corals/anemones.
Hopefully this helps!
It does...Thanks alot...and can I buy these little pod bugs????
:hilarious
The white rock can become live rock after time. I would not put the Mandarin in before the tank has been established for a year or more. Pods are short for copepods, they are the tiny little bugs that you see crawling on live rock. The Jawfish should be fine in your tank. MH is short for Metal Halide lighting. It is expensive at first but is the preferred lighting for most corals/anemones.
Hopefully this helps!
It does...Thanks alot...and can I buy these little pod bugs????
:hilarious
dmjordan
Active Member
Originally Posted by Jelezoglo
I guess we need to rethink our list. I have a question about LR and pods. 1st what are pods??? and can we buy it??? and 2nd the white wholy rock that we have....will it become live after it has been on the tank with other lr for a long time???? If so we only need about 20 more lbs and of rock so we can have the Mandarin. Our tank is covered so I guess we can have the Jawfish. Can we have one of the three bigger fish???? What is MH lighting???? Is it a blue light...we have that....
tons of ???? as you can see....thx for the help
The pods that I am talking about are copepods. Mandarins primary food source is copepods and you need to have alot of them or a fuge where they can multiply in. Base rock will become liverock in time. Doing a mixture if both is an easy way to save big $$$. This is not a quick process though. It can take several months depending on how much LR and LS you have.
I wouln't put any of the three fish you named (angel, tang, butterfly) in any tank less than 72" in length. A 55 gal tank (48") with 100 lbs of LR does not leave enough room for larger fish to swim. I would stay with smaller fish for a 55.
MH lighting is short for metal halide lighting. Metal halide lighting provide the proper lighting requirements for hard and soft stony corals and anemones. They do produce alot more heat than t-5's and pc's. Place mh penant about 12" above the height of your tank. Use 1 halide bulb for every 2 feet of tank length. For a 55 gal you can use 2 150 watt bulbs.
If your blue light is a long bulb inside your lighting fixture, that is just your actinics. If they are several small bulbs than those are your moonlights.
I guess we need to rethink our list. I have a question about LR and pods. 1st what are pods??? and can we buy it??? and 2nd the white wholy rock that we have....will it become live after it has been on the tank with other lr for a long time???? If so we only need about 20 more lbs and of rock so we can have the Mandarin. Our tank is covered so I guess we can have the Jawfish. Can we have one of the three bigger fish???? What is MH lighting???? Is it a blue light...we have that....
tons of ???? as you can see....thx for the help
The pods that I am talking about are copepods. Mandarins primary food source is copepods and you need to have alot of them or a fuge where they can multiply in. Base rock will become liverock in time. Doing a mixture if both is an easy way to save big $$$. This is not a quick process though. It can take several months depending on how much LR and LS you have.
I wouln't put any of the three fish you named (angel, tang, butterfly) in any tank less than 72" in length. A 55 gal tank (48") with 100 lbs of LR does not leave enough room for larger fish to swim. I would stay with smaller fish for a 55.
MH lighting is short for metal halide lighting. Metal halide lighting provide the proper lighting requirements for hard and soft stony corals and anemones. They do produce alot more heat than t-5's and pc's. Place mh penant about 12" above the height of your tank. Use 1 halide bulb for every 2 feet of tank length. For a 55 gal you can use 2 150 watt bulbs.
If your blue light is a long bulb inside your lighting fixture, that is just your actinics. If they are several small bulbs than those are your moonlights.
N
n_sarno
Guest
sure you could buy pods but they are very expensive.. and its not worth the trouble.. I wouldnt do a mandarin in your tank.. it will die.. I dont think you could fit 100 lbs of LR in a 55 gallon tank it would be to full.. My suggestion for you for a fish list is 2 percula clowns, a jawfish if you really want one (you never really see them they dig holes under live rock), a dwarf angelfish like a flame angel or a bicolored or some other dwarf angel there are quite a few... but if your going to do a reef it may be a problem as they can be coral nippers.., and a flasher wrasse. It would be a nice mix of color and personalities in your tank. I think it would look great. Keep asking questions and reading before you buy ANYTHING DO NOT EVER just go to your store and buy something on a whim!!!
jelezoglo
Member
Originally Posted by N_Sarno
sure you could buy pods but they are very expensive.. and its not worth the trouble.. I wouldnt do a mandarin in your tank.. it will die.. I dont think you could fit 100 lbs of LR in a 55 gallon tank it would be to full.. My suggestion for you for a fish list is 2 percula clowns, a jawfish if you really want one (you never really see them they dig holes under live rock), a dwarf angelfish like a flame angel or a bicolored or some other dwarf angel there are quite a few... but if your going to do a reef it may be a problem as they can be coral nippers.., and a flasher wrasse. It would be a nice mix of color and personalities in your tank. I think it would look great. Keep asking questions and reading before you buy ANYTHING DO NOT EVER just go to your store and buy something on a whim!!!
Thanks for the info......I still have time to research more while the tank is stablished....and you are right...the LFS told me that I could have all the fish above in my 55 gl tank.....more $$$ to them I guess....lol
sure you could buy pods but they are very expensive.. and its not worth the trouble.. I wouldnt do a mandarin in your tank.. it will die.. I dont think you could fit 100 lbs of LR in a 55 gallon tank it would be to full.. My suggestion for you for a fish list is 2 percula clowns, a jawfish if you really want one (you never really see them they dig holes under live rock), a dwarf angelfish like a flame angel or a bicolored or some other dwarf angel there are quite a few... but if your going to do a reef it may be a problem as they can be coral nippers.., and a flasher wrasse. It would be a nice mix of color and personalities in your tank. I think it would look great. Keep asking questions and reading before you buy ANYTHING DO NOT EVER just go to your store and buy something on a whim!!!
Thanks for the info......I still have time to research more while the tank is stablished....and you are right...the LFS told me that I could have all the fish above in my 55 gl tank.....more $$$ to them I guess....lol
N
n_sarno
Guest
Originally Posted by Jelezoglo
It is a long blue light.....I guess I'll hold off on the anemones for now......thanks
yea not metal halides.. they're just actnics..
Of course your LFS will tell you stuff 2 get you to spend money.. Thats why this forum is so great.. We arent selling you anything so there is no reason to stretch the truth like the LFS does..
It is a long blue light.....I guess I'll hold off on the anemones for now......thanks
yea not metal halides.. they're just actnics..
Of course your LFS will tell you stuff 2 get you to spend money.. Thats why this forum is so great.. We arent selling you anything so there is no reason to stretch the truth like the LFS does..