Final Stocking suggestions 30 gallon

[Bmgrocks]

Got everything used and for free, so will be updating.

30 gallon stock list

2 55 watt Actinic and 2 55 watt 10,000k bulbs
SeaClone 150 protein skimmer (Most likely Replacing)
some Jebo heater, my water is kinda cool,

1.024 Salinity- is that ok?
73 degrees is that ok?
nitrates .5ppm
nitrItes 0
Ammonia 0

Got around 40 lbs of live rock


Fish list

1 ocellaris
1 Royal Gramma
1 orange firefish
1 Cherb Angel (Pygmy)

clean up crew

1 Green Matrix crab
2 pepperment shrimp
? Snails and Hermits?

thinking of getting some fish tomorrow,
if i do,

Which do i get first?
How Many at a time?

Suggestions Welcome

 

[Bmgrocks]

and do Crabs, Snails, and Shrimp need to be acclimated?

 

[birdy607]

not in the way fish do what i usally do is put the bag in and let it sit there for a bit then just pic the animal out so that the fish stores water does not get into mine but with fish acclimate them with putting a cup of water in every fifteen minutes but if your getting a fish let me reccomend putting the clown in last i have a 29 gal so u may want to shorten your list to three but just one fish at a time be patient let everything take its course you'll be happy with the result

 

[MiddletonMark]

IMO, I'd skip the Angel. Potentially an issue if you get corals, and that's just a small space for one IMO.

As for temp - if just fish, I guess 73 would work. If going for coral, I'd warm it up more to 77-82.

 

[birdy607]

i would take off the chereb angel too aggressive

 

[BiggySmalls]

mine isnt aggressive but i am not sure about the corals, i dont have any yet

 

[moonyguy]

I would suggest a goby of some kind. I like diamond goby.

 

[Bmgrocks]

ok, well i went to the store yesterday, not having read this forum, and i

purchased a
Green Mythrax crab
2 Peppermint Shrimp
1 Royal Gramma

Sad news, having not acclimated my shrimp and crab, i lost a pepperment shrimp today, he was perfect last night and all morning

I found him stuck to a rock, lifeless, no gill movement etc


Good NEWS
the other peppermint is doing well
the mythrax crab is also doing just as well
and my royal gramma has come out of hiding


So you say to not go with the Chreb Angel, they max out a 3" and from what i've read their pretty docile

I got a new heater, my temp is 79 degrees,
using a VisiTherm Stealth

 

[sophia101]

Everything in your tank sounds good so far, BUT the angel, like the others say does get aggressive and will nip at your corals. Just to be safe, I would go with something different like a goby. I love gobies...and almost all of them you could choose for your tank. The reason you lost your peppermint shrimp as you said is because you didnt acclimate him. I think thats the worst thing you could do-hate to break it to you. Newbies do these things, I was once one. You learn from your mistakes I actually reccomend doing the drip acclimation for the shrimp as they are a bit more sensitive. The crabs and snails i just float for 10 or so minutes and then plop em in the tank. Keep us updated & I hope everything works out. Merry Christmas!

 

[Bmgrocks]

so why is it that the other pepperment is in good health,

does it depend on the individual shrimp?

yeah being my first SW i still have a lot to learn, africans are a whole nother world lol.

Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays

 

[saltycreefer]

Have any of you guys personally kept cherub angels? I have one in my nano and it's great! I have also put them in a lot of my service accounts reefs with absolutely no issues. I would highly reccommend one.

 

[DesertBandits]

I have had a 29 gallon with the same 5 fish for 1.5 years. My list:

1 pygmy angel
2 perculas
1 green chromis
1 mandarin

The worst choice i made was the clowns and the chromis together; since they are both damsels, they don't like eachother so much. My angel is definately the king of the tank, but agression between it and the others has not been a problem. BTW, my fish are all about 2in long as of this writing, all around the same size. Also I have several different types of LPS, my angel does not pick at them.

Based on my experiences, you do not need to remove your fish. I would keep him unless you had some coral nipping issues (these are hit or miss). Also as far as aggression goes, the angel wants everyone in the tank to know who's boss but that's as far as it goes.

 

[Bmgrocks]

im glad to hear about everyones fish and experiences, i really am

but what about the shrimp..lol.......

don't mean to come off rude

 

[birdy607]

hmmm did u say he was between the rocks could he have gotten stuck?

 

[birdy607]

maybe u could try a jawfish i dont have one but they are really cool and not a threat to corals

 

[birdy607]

o you said on the rock es i would haft to agree not acclimating him can cost you big time

 

[Bmgrocks]

yeah, tear......fortunately i know now, and that is definately not going to happen again...


Though it goes against my better judgement, i want to make sure

My angel selection

Im torn between dwarf angels

Cherb gets around 3"
Flame around 4"
Bi-Color 6"
Coral Beauty 3"
Lemon Peel 3"

Out of these redily availible species, would they be ok in a 30,
i'm aware of 1 angel per tank, but i like color variation, and really have an eye for

The Coral Beauty
and Flame Angel

So if its possible to keep these species in a 30 gallon, who should i choose

Coral Beauty
Flame Angel
or Cherb Pygmy

AGAHH......frustration........

 

[birdy607]

id go with the coral beauty but thats me i dont know ever think you might not want one and just have smaller fishes?

 

[birdy607]

you also need to consider your bio load and how many fish if your
protien skimmer is good you'll probably be ok but just be careful

 

[Bmgrocks]

oh im extra careful about my water quality, im doing water changes on my africans almost 3x a week,

promise not so much on this salt water, maybe 10-15% weekly water changes.