<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Modo:
<strong>Gobyfan- first off I'll apologize for accusing you of a Troll. But, I have seen it plenty on these boards. Thats why I wanted you to PM me if you really were serious and not yanking our chains.
Soooo, with that out of the way. I am assuming you are going for a reef tank and not a fish only tank. Like the others have said you must really reduce your fish load. You need to do this immediately! First the Tang MUST go. These are beautiful fish and one of my favorites but they belong in large tanks no matter how small they are. Second, I would choose 3 fish from what you have already as keepers and take the rest back. IME with Damsels they are demons and harrass everything else in the tank. The same is true with Blackcap Basslets. I had one that killed a goby I had before I could get him out. Both these fish are very territorial. But, yours may not be and may make a great addition to your tank. You can only make that call by observing their behavior.
I have a Perc, Chromis and a Red Lip Blenny and alot of people will say this is max or over max on fish load in my 29g. My guys get along well and my parameters stay in range so this is balanced for me. I really don't see all these fish on your list getting along in your tank and feel that soon enough one if not more is going to succomb to stress and die.
I believe an Emporer 400 is a hang on filter not a canister (if my memory serves me right). Once you reduce your bio load (taking fish back) remove the filter media. This will only be a nitrate factory and cause problems on down the line. But, reduce your fish load first. The bacteria in this media is supporting your tank at the moment.
When you take the fish back that you are not going to keep (TANG! and others) use the credit to get more live rock. I would suggest at least 10 more lbs at min. Make sure this is CYCLED if you put more raw live rock in your tank it will crash! This will be your filter along with your skimmer. Also, your sand is a huge filter and you want to keep it "alive". This means lots and lots of critters and worms (even bristle worms....these are good despite some books and exceptions of species but we will cross that bridge later). To do this you will also need to remove the SAND SIFTING STARFISH. He eats all these critters in your sand. This is bad. If you like starfish go with the Brittle Stars. Some will advise against this but I personally along with lots of others have never had problems.
Your lighting is on the marginal side. You have a good setup and have obviously done some research to get this far. You can probably support mushrooms, different leathers and polyps. Stay away form stoney corals for the time being. Once you get things up and running you will need to uprgrade your lighting. I am running a 250w Metal Halide over my tank. It works and it's something to shoot for towards upgrades. Once you get there let me know. I did it for about $150 and my temp stays between 78-82. You will also need to do some more research on corals before jumping into stoneys. You will be able to cut your list on those down after a little research.
Stay away from the Linkia starfish (blue, red, orange, etc.) These guys are notorius for dissolving into piles of goo in reef tanks.Please steer clear of Linkias. Don't get a Jawfish either. I think we covered this earlier.
Peppermint shrimp are great additions and you could add a couple of these for sure. They will also help in Aptasia control to an extent. Your Cleaner will chase them a bit but no big deal. I have both in my tank without a hitch.
Your Xenia once started will spread quite rapidly. This is a good sign and before long you will be having to cut it back. This is a form of nutrient export and cash or credit from the LFS. Good choice on your first coral.
Anemones is a totally different story. In a tank our size I would say that they are out of the question unless thats all you want in there. But, again that is my opinion.
So, to sum this up. You have a good start on a great hobby. Maybe made some bad choices but you did the right thing and thats to come here and ask. Listen to all the experience here and then apply it to your system. You will find that there is no concrete way in doing anything in this hobby but there is a correct way and variations on that. So you have taken the plunge into this hobby. That means that you have also taken on alot of responsibility to read and educate yourself for what is best for your animals and NOT what is most pleasing for you.
My advice is up top. Please come back with lots more questions. Also, read read read read read read read and read some more.
If I left anything out I'm sure others will hop in and even correct some of these suggestions. Please do.
Hope this helps!!
Kurt</strong><hr></blockquote>
Ok....
This is what i have planned tell me if this is more of a smart bioload,
I will take back the Tang and get a credit twoards some live rock, and then i will also take back the Damsail!
But i would like to add another true perc, so my fish load will be as follows;
2 True Percula Clowns
1 Purple Firefish
1 Blackcap Basslet
1 Orange Spot Goby
THATS ALL AS FAR AS FISH!!!!
As for the Sifting Star i will probably take that back as well, and get a brittle star unsted, i would like to have at least two different type of stars. (how many starfish can you realy have in a 29g??)
I will still add a couple of Pepermint Shrimp.
And then i will start adding some Soft Corals (SLOWLY), and when the tank is at least a year old i will start adding some Hard Corals, but no Clams!!
I am wondering about the Anenome, i would like the precs to have a host for them to feel comfortable, what other option is there other than a Anenome that will accept the percs?
Oh about the extra critters on the sand bed, what would you recommend i do since the Aragonite that i have dosn't seem to have that many to begin with.
Well this is my plan so far! I do appreciate alll the advice that you have given me!!!
Thanks
