Fish feeding & number fishes help

H

hocabien

New member
I am in the process of cycle my tank, after cycle my tank, I will start adding fishes to the tank slowly 1 every other week. Here are the fish that I am planning to get;

1-damselfish
1-clownfish
1-pacific blue tang
1-yellow tang

I have a 55gal tank and I am planning to get these fishes as small as possible. Do you think that I have enough room for all these fishes.

Anyone know what types of food they eat and what should I feed them with?

Thanks,
 
4 fish will work in your 55 gallon tank, just not those 4 fish.

The pacific blue, or hippo, tank, needs a much, much bigger tank. It will be cramped and unhappy in your 55. The yellow tang really needs a bigger tank as well although some people keep them in a 48" long tank. Look at the fish on LiveAquaria.com for recommendations on appropriately-sized tanks for particular fish. You might be ok with a Kole or similar bristletooth tang in the 55, although the recommendation is for 70 gallons. Also check out dwarf angels as many of them will work in a 55 gallon tank.

Damsels tend to be mean and many people avoid them for that reason.

The clownfish is a popular choice and a good addition. The standard tank-bred clowns, like the ocellaris and the percula, are good choices. Some clowns, such as the maroon, can become very territorial.

With a new tank, I would space additions to your tank by at least 2 weeks. You may have an ammonia spike if you add fish too quickly as it takes time for your biofilter to ramp up.

Also, you should quarantine your fish before putting them in your main tank. Failure to quarantine may lead to your tank being wiped out. Read the quarantine threads in the Fish Disease or other forums.

It is great that you are asking about fish before you get them as many people don't do research in advance and end up with problems.
 
Dr Colliebreath said:
4 fish will work in your 55 gallon tank, just not those 4 fish.

The pacific blue, or hippo, tank, needs a much, much bigger tank. It will be cramped and unhappy in your 55. The yellow tang really needs a bigger tank as well although some people keep them in a 48" long tank. Look at the fish on LiveAquaria.com for recommendations on appropriately-sized tanks for particular fish. You might be ok with a Kole or similar bristletooth tang in the 55, although the recommendation is for 70 gallons. Also check out dwarf angels as many of them will work in a 55 gallon tank.

Damsels tend to be mean and many people avoid them for that reason.

The clownfish is a popular choice and a good addition. The standard tank-bred clowns, like the ocellaris and the percula, are good choices. Some clowns, such as the maroon, can become very territorial.

With a new tank, I would space additions to your tank by at least 2 weeks. You may have an ammonia spike if you add fish too quickly as it takes time for your biofilter to ramp up.

Also, you should quarantine your fish before putting them in your main tank. Failure to quarantine may lead to your tank being wiped out. Read the quarantine threads in the Fish Disease or other forums.

It is great that you are asking about fish before you get them as many people don't do research in advance and end up with problems.
Click to expand...

Thanks,
I will find another fish to suit my tank. As for quarantine, how long do you quarantine them before you can put them in the DT? As for food what type of type of food do you feed your fishes?
 
I quarantine 5-6 weeks, and longer if necessary to treat disease. It is a pain, but IMO it is well worth the expense and effort.

I feed my fish a variety of foods, with the basics being (in no particular order): PE mysis shrimp, Rod's food, Omega veggie flakes with spirulina, NLS pellets, nori, live blackworms, and chopped seafood from the grocery store (I get salmon, shrimp, scallop, and clam, chop it up, put it in ziplock bags, freeze it, and slice off small pieces to feed).
 
^^^^^What he said^^^^^

There is an endless variety of SW fish foods. Variety and added vitamins, like Selcon are a good idea. Using a QT is vital, I think not using one may be the main reason turnover is so high in our hobby. Many/most of the problems on our disease section could have been prevented with a good QT regimen. On the Tangs: this is a common problem and can start wars on our forum. But, any reference work will say the same thing. A 55 is a small SW tank and Tangs are large fish that really need swimming room. Tangs become very aggressive when cramped and that also contributes to poor health if they don't have enough room. here's RCs sticky on tangs & space needs:http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1946007.
 
Dr Colliebreath said:
I quarantine 5-6 weeks, and longer if necessary to treat disease. It is a pain, but IMO it is well worth the expense and effort.

I feed my fish a variety of foods, with the basics being (in no particular order): PE mysis shrimp, Rod's food, Omega veggie flakes with spirulina, NLS pellets, nori, live blackworms, and chopped seafood from the grocery store (I get salmon, shrimp, scallop, and clam, chop it up, put it in ziplock bags, freeze it, and slice off small pieces to feed).
Click to expand...

As for nori, can I get them from Chinese crocery and what types?
 
Some will have salts, peppers or other spices; some is roasted; etc. Don't use anything but pure nori. It is safer just to go to your lfs. You won't be using so much nori that there is any real cost savings to the market.
 
Ok with the food now fish types.
My LFS doesn't have a lot of marine fish to suit my 50gal tank "bigals" so I am going to start with 2 fishes when my cycle completed. I am going to started with 2 yellow tail damselfish, a month later I am going to added 2- three stripe damselfish, another month after will be 2 clownfish. What do you think of that?
 
Anyone know where to buy online fish (Marine fishes) in Canada or anyone know where to get good fish in Ontario, Canada beside Bigals, they don't have a lot of fish.

Thanks,
 
I would start with the clownfish.....and then add the 4 damsels at the same time for agression issues.............
hocabien said:
Ok with the food now fish types.
My LFS doesn't have a lot of marine fish to suit my 50gal tank "bigals" so I am going to start with 2 fishes when my cycle completed. I am going to started with 2 yellow tail damselfish, a month later I am going to added 2- three stripe damselfish, another month after will be 2 clownfish. What do you think of that?
Click to expand...
 
First, kudos to you for asking questions and making adjustments in your thinking before you add fish to your tank. Thoughtful planning will save you a world of grief (and money) down the road.

Second, you can't keep four clownfish in a 55 gallon tank. They will fight. Keep it to one pair.

I also agree with the others that you may want to keep something other than damsels. With a few exceptions, damsels are very territorial and may fight with your clownfish (which are also in the damsel family). A 55 gallon tank doesn't really provide enough space for them to keep the distance from one another that they would need to avoid problems with aggression.

There are lots of colorful fish you can put in your tank. If you can't get them locally, you may be able to order them online. It's a little more expensive, but getting variety and healthy fish is worth a lot. Are you in the US? Knowing that can help us recommend a source of livestock for you.
 
rssjsb said:
First, kudos to you for asking questions and making adjustments in your thinking before you add fish to your tank. Thoughtful planning will save you a world of grief (and money) down the road.

Second, you can't keep four clownfish in a 55 gallon tank. They will fight. Keep it to one pair.

I also agree with the others that you may want to keep something other than damsels. With a few exceptions, damsels are very territorial and may fight with your clownfish (which are also in the damsel family). A 55 gallon tank doesn't really provide enough space for them to keep the distance from one another that they would need to avoid problems with aggression.

There are lots of colorful fish you can put in your tank. If you can't get them locally, you may be able to order them online. It's a little more expensive, but getting variety and healthy fish is worth a lot. Are you in the US? Knowing that can help us recommend a source of livestock for you.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I am not adding any damsels. I live in Ontario Canada, do you know where I can order them online in Canada?
 
I bought 2 clownfishes last night. I have acclimation them on a drip drop for an hour. When I put them in a DT, they stay at the top corner of tank. I feed them some food and they swim around eating them, then next morning they still stay at the top corner of the tank. I think they properly still stress, am I right. Is this normal and are the clown fishes going to be OK? Please help.

Thanks
 
I bought 2 clownfishes last night. I have acclimation them on a drip drop for an hour. When I put them in a DT, they stay at the top corner of tank. I feed them some food and they swim around eating them, then next morning they still stay at the top corner of the tank. I think they properly still stress, am I right. Is this normal and are the clown fishes going to be OK? Please help.

Thanks
 
Do you have a lot of water movement in the tank? If not, they may be staying at the top of the tank for oxygen and you should get a couple of powerheads in the lower areas of the tank.

Also, do you have places for them to hide? Sometimes they will crowd together in a barren tank.
 
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