Buying new fish for a new tank! Help!

[Arbados]

I just bought a 55 gallon tank with a fluval 403 filter and an appropriate heater. I have just started preparing a salt water tank and would like some advice as to whether I have everything set up right and how I should proceed.

I started my tank by buying the "sand in a bag" (not sure what it is exactly called) with some water in it (my LFS said that it will help cycle my tank more quickly). I added this to my tank 6 days ago and let it run with my filter and heater set at 75 degrees. Today, I added about 75 pounds of live rock to the tank and situated it to give the incoming fish as many hiding and territorial spots as I could muster.

My salinity was at 1.026, but from reading these boards felt it should be lowered a bit so I removed some water, replaced it with fresh water and after about 2 hours of circulating in the tank the salinity is at 1.022. I have about 2 inches of sand on the bottom of the tank.

I have kept the lights off for the majority of the time while it was cycling.

Now for the questions:

1) Do I need anything else at this moment for the tank?

2) Do I need anything else for the tank in the future after adding fish which I might not need at the start-up?

3) I am bringing a water sample to my LFS tomorrow and if all is well I am going to add some fish. The LFS told me to buy 3-4 Damsels. I don't know the exact names of each type but I will try and describe the ones they have. One is blue with a yellow tail, one is yellow, one is black with white stripes and one is black with white dots. They are all about 1 inch in size. I have heard that instead of Damsels I could maybe start with clown fish? Eventually, I would like to have dottybacks, hawkfish, butterflyfish, tang (not sure if my tank is large enough), angelfish, and/or wrasses. These are the look of fish I like and these are the types I will try and populate my tank with. Would the Damsels not be a good starting choice if eventaully I want to get some of the above listed fish?

4) About how many fish can a have in a 55 gallon tank with 75 lbs. of live rock?

If there is anything else that you can add I would greatly appreciate it. I think a will soon become a frequent flyer to these boards for the information posted has helped me learn tremendously. Thanks!

 

[jaws2]

ok nice start i think that the black with white spots is a domino damsel the blue with the yellow tail is a blue damsel and the syriped is a striped damsel. you must realize that you need a protien skimmer and\or power filter. the tang would have to be by it self and that does not look like you would like to do that. and the damsels must be removed if you want dottybacks, hawkfish, butterflyfish these would be good chocies be cause you also want as many as possible ( looking at your plan)



other people could give better advice than me.
good luck

 

[JasonF]

Have you got the testkits and checked for Ammonia, Nitrate and Nitrite? These should be zero for a few consecutive days before any fishies are added.

Do you have a few good books ?

 

[Arbados]

These are the levels in my tank:
Ph: 7.8
Nitrate: 10
Nitrite: 0.2
Ammonia: 0.2

I know that the ammonia should be at 0 and added some aragaMilk for the Live Rock and Ph levels.

Unfortunately, I went out today, got my water tested and the guy said all was well. I then bought a Maroon Clownfish (which is unbelievably beautiful) and a smaller Saddleback Clownfish. I also bought some flake food and an expensive $50 test kit for ammonia, nitrate, nitrite and Ph.

When I got home with the fish I tested my water and got the readings above. This was before I added that aragamilk. I am worried that these two fish might not make it with the levels and probably should have bought the test kit first and did it myself.

Are these levels extremely toxic for these fish or do they have a chance of survival? Anything I should consider doing?

Thanks

 

[wayne]

Yes they are extremely toxic and they're likely going to go up befreo they go down as the live rock settles down and anything dead rots off. Ammonia is very bad, nitrite less so in saltwater but the clownfish are pretty tough and might make it if they have been around for a while or are tankbred. Wildcaught clowns are initially quite delicate, that's why it's an ethically better choice to get tank raised.
I assume the shop didn't tell you that you'll have problems keeping 2 different species of clowns in a tank of that size, especially two large , aggressive species like those?
Lesson 1 - don't trust your shop for anything.
Apart from that things sound reasonable. The cannister will be a pain long term ,and a skimmer would be a good idea else you'll end up doing some mighty waer changes - the aqua-C remora is nice (but pricey), 2nd choice the CPR BakPak - everything ele is a poor third.
If the fish survive, fine. .2 ammonia is not too terrible, but if it goes up , watch out. Then waittill the levels are good, and stay good for a monthor so before adding anyting else. COnsider returning at least one of the clowns before the scrapping starts.
The tanks a bit small for tangs, but you'll be ok and happy with dottybacks, grammas, mybe a small centropyge angel once the tank is matured with some stuff like algae for it to browse on. Unless you really like them give damsels a miss as they can be very hard on other fish
Good luck

 

[BrianH]

Arbados,

I you want some local support try Manhattan Reefs

 

[bobrob]

Im not a saltwater expert but the people recommended damsels because they are hardy. Damsels are very aggressive fish, the only one that isnt up there is the yellow tail blue damsel. Obviously you cant get all of the fish mentioned above, but if you have damsels in the tank the damsels will get very aggressive (barr the yellow tail blue damsel). I doubt that your tank is cycled yet. If your not doing fishless cycle damsels would be a good choice but only on their own, they have too produce the ammonia for the cycle to kcik in to gear and get the bacteria going and damsels can stick it out as best as most other fish out there. You might want to get a skimmer, im not too sure about what they do but someone else will definately know. Good luck.

 

[bobrob]

Lmao. I wish the page would fully load the first time. It didnt load the first time and I didnt see anybody else's post, sorry for the unecessary post lol.