55 Gallon Saltwater Aquarium Update

[FLESHY]

Note to you. Sbuses tank is overstocked, even by my standards, and I have done some crazy stuff in my day.

That being said, it is a grow out tank, but it is still terribly overstocked.

Your tank right now is most likely overstocked as well.

A zebrasoma tang would work well for picking at micro algaes...maybe a scopas?

 

[Wiggles92]

Note to you. Sbuses tank is overstocked, even by my standards, and I have done some crazy stuff in my day.

That being said, it is a grow out tank, but it is still terribly overstocked.

Your tank right now is most likely overstocked as well.

A zebrasoma tang would work well for picking at micro algaes...maybe a scopas?

I kind of figured that the aquarium was overstocked now considering the maximum adult sizes and temperaments of the fish (obtained from LiveAquaria.com):

False Percula Clownfish: 3.5", peaceful
Three Spot Domino Damselfish: 6", aggressive
Blue Damselfish: 2", semi-aggressive
Yellowtail Damselfish: 3", semi-aggressive
Three Stripe Damselfish: 4", aggressive
Two Stripe Damselfish: 4", aggressive
Mosquitofish: 3", peaceful

So we're looking at a potential total of 38" of fish (I know, inch per gallon rule = bad), and most of the fish are aggressive to some degree... We've noticed the most aggression coming from the Three Stripe Damselfish, so it will be the first to go if we need to reduce the stocking levels to help alleviate aggression. We might also add some more live rock to provide additional hiding places.

Those tangs are pretty neat, but I thought that the Zebrasoma tangs needed larger aquariums?

 

[sbuse]

Note to you. Sbuses tanks are overstocked, even by my standards, and I have done some crazy stuff in my day.

That being said, it is a grow out tank, but it is still terribly overstocked.

Your tank right now is most likely overstocked as well.

A zebrasoma tang would work well for picking at micro algaes...maybe a scopas?

i know i know. i just can't help myself. and i had to make a change to your statment to make it accurate(see the red). as long as my water quality is maintained at perfict levels i will keep getting fish. once the levels slip i will get a bigger tank, more filtation and we all know that those actions lead to more fish. i just can't stand those tanks with one or two fish in them. my A.D.D can't take it.

 

[nonstophoops]

I kind of figured that the aquarium was overstocked now considering the maximum adult sizes and temperaments of the fish (obtained from LiveAquaria.com):

False Percula Clownfish: 3.5", peaceful
Three Spot Domino Damselfish: 6", aggressive
Blue Damselfish: 2", semi-aggressive
Yellowtail Damselfish: 3", semi-aggressive
Three Stripe Damselfish: 4", aggressive
Two Stripe Damselfish: 4", aggressive
Mosquitofish: 3", peaceful

So we're looking at a potential total of 38" of fish (I know, inch per gallon rule = bad), and most of the fish are aggressive to some degree... We've noticed the most aggression coming from the Three Stripe Damselfish, so it will be the first to go if we need to reduce the stocking levels to help alleviate aggression. We might also add some more live rock to provide additional hiding places.

Those tangs are pretty neat, but I thought that the Zebrasoma tangs needed larger aquariums?

Tangs generally do need bigger quarters, but there are a few that you can sneak by with in a smaller tank. The Yellow or Scopas tangs are the two that really stand out in my opinion when it comes to this. Not ideal, but doable.

I think you may want to look into getting rid of more than just the 3 stripe out of your damsel group. They all are quite aggressive, I don't really consider the blue damsels semi-aggressive either. Remember the clownfish is a damsel too so that is quite a few damsels too many. I would never recommend more than 3 damsels in a 55. Personally I wouldn't do any besides the clowns. They all turn out to be bruisers.

The Coral Beauty would definitely be the best choice here as far as dwarf angels go. They are hardy, beautiful, and pretty cheap.

I would definitely not look to get any more fish until you get rid of a few of the damsels you have. The tank is overstocked so if you want to add anything else makes some changes/trade ins first.

 

[nonstophoops]

i know i know. i just can't help myself. and i had to make a change to your statment to make it accurate(see the red). as long as my water quality is maintained at perfict levels i will keep getting fish. once the levels slip i will get a bigger tank, more filtation and we all know that those actions lead to more fish. i just can't stand those tanks with one or two fish in them. my A.D.D can't take it.

First off, not sure what you mean by "perfect levels" for your water??? Can't imagine that your nitrates are at 0, among other things.

There is a lot more to it than water quality too.

That is a lot of constantly stressed out fish that will eventually start acting on that stress by fighting/killing other inhabitants which sounds like it is already taking place some. As the daily stress continues you are most likely shortening the lifespan for all the fish.

There is a big difference between a tank that is properly stocked with multiple fish and the setup you have. Sadly, you are probably going to end up with a tank with 1 or 2 fish in it when all is said and done, even with them all in a 120(still would be overstocked).

I strongly encourage you not to get more fish, it is just a death wish for all the inhabitants.

 

[Wiggles92]

Tangs generally do need bigger quarters, but there are a few that you can sneak by with in a smaller tank. The Yellow or Scopas tangs are the two that really stand out in my opinion when it comes to this. Not ideal, but doable.

I think you may want to look into getting rid of more than just the 3 stripe out of your damsel group. They all are quite aggressive, I don't really consider the blue damsels semi-aggressive either. Remember the clownfish is a damsel too so that is quite a few damsels too many. I would never recommend more than 3 damsels in a 55. Personally I wouldn't do any besides the clowns. They all turn out to be bruisers.

The Coral Beauty would definitely be the best choice here as far as dwarf angels go. They are hardy, beautiful, and pretty cheap.

I would definitely not look to get any more fish until you get rid of a few of the damsels you have. The tank is overstocked so if you want to add anything else makes some changes/trade ins first.

One of the three spot domino damselfish died last night from ich; the other one is showing signs of ich, too. Both of them only started to show the ich yesterday morning, and we hadn't had a chance to remove them to a hospital aquarium. Not sure why they weren't quarantined, though; I'm usually pretty good about that, but they were added before I could say, "Wait; quarantine those fish!" The ich doesn't appear to have spread to any of the other fish, but I think that we're going to have to remove them all to a hospital aquarium anyway just to be safe.

 

[Wiggles92]

We moved all of the fish into a 10 gallon hospital aquarium to begin treating them for ich. We transferred water from the main aquarium plus the smaller of the two heaters and the HOB filter from the aquarium in order to make the transition easier on the fish. We also placed seven pipe joints on the bottom of the hospital aquarium to provide the fish with hiding places. The plan is to lower the specific gravity by a little bit every 12 hours until it's around 1.009 by removing some of the saltwater and adding freshwater. We'll be doing this entire treatment according to the sticky. I guess we'll see if all of the fish make it through the treatment period before we consider getting rid of any of them; no sense in trying to sell sick/potentially sick fish.

We're also going to slowly raise the SG on the main aquarium to about 1.025 in order to prepare it for the introduction of coral sometime in the near future.

 

[nonstophoops]

We moved all of the fish into a 10 gallon hospital aquarium to begin treating them for ich. We transferred water from the main aquarium plus the smaller of the two heaters and the HOB filter from the aquarium in order to make the transition easier on the fish. We also placed seven pipe joints on the bottom of the hospital aquarium to provide the fish with hiding places. The plan is to lower the specific gravity by a little bit every 12 hours until it's around 1.009 by removing some of the saltwater and adding freshwater. We'll be doing this entire treatment according to the sticky. I guess we'll see if all of the fish make it through the treatment period before we consider getting rid of any of them; no sense in trying to sell sick/potentially sick fish.

We're also going to slowly raise the SG on the main aquarium to about 1.025 in order to prepare it for the introduction of coral sometime in the near future.

Sounds like a good plan here. I will say that there had to be signs before that, damsels won't die from ich in one day, they are too hardy and the parasite isn't able to spread fast enough.

Raise the temperature in the Hospital tank too, it helps fish fight off the parasite and will also speed up the lifecycle of the parasite to kill it off faster. The hyposalinity only affects one stage of the life of the parasite, so you have to have all of them burst during that cycle.

 

[shua71]

I kind of figured that the aquarium was overstocked now considering the maximum adult sizes and temperaments of the fish (obtained from LiveAquaria.com):

False Percula Clownfish: 3.5", peaceful
Three Spot Domino Damselfish: 6", aggressive
Blue Damselfish: 2", semi-aggressive
Yellowtail Damselfish: 3", semi-aggressive
Three Stripe Damselfish: 4", aggressive
Two Stripe Damselfish: 4", aggressive
Mosquitofish: 3", peaceful

So we're looking at a potential total of 38" of fish (I know, inch per gallon rule = bad), and most of the fish are aggressive to some degree... We've noticed the most aggression coming from the Three Stripe Damselfish, so it will be the first to go if we need to reduce the stocking levels to help alleviate aggression. We might also add some more live rock to provide additional hiding places.

Those tangs are pretty neat, but I thought that the Zebrasoma tangs needed larger aquariums?

I would suggest you get rid of ALL the damsels. They're a pain and will kill. You list some as aggressive and others as semi-aggressive. It really all comes down to the individual fish. But from experience, all damsels are super aggressive to the point of killing eachother and new tank mates

 

[shua71]

Also I see you have cyano(red slime). That is not algae and when I had it no snails or inverts could take care of it. What I did was suck it out daily with an airline tube and toss it out, doing a 20% water change daily and I got rid of it. I also manually used a powerhead to blow it off the rocks as well. Good luck