Newbie, need advice on adding fish

[melthompn]

I want to know if I can add a small gobie (like a clown, neon, or watchman gobie) and a skunk cleaner shrimp. I am in no rush and just want to make sure I don't over load my system. I had a fire fish but he went missing almost 2 weeks ago. I'm assuming he died. Unsure y was fine one day then gone the next. Cannot jump because tank is enclosed.

My tank is almost 7 weeks old. It already cycled about 4 weeks ago. My ammonia, nitrite, nitrate are 0. Ph 8 mg 1320. Alk 7 ca 440. I have a CUC of about 30 different snails and 4 hermit crabs.

 

[anthonys51]

what size is your tank, do you have a sand bed, if so how deep (watchman will need a sand bed) and do you have live rock in it.
are u running a protein skimmer,

 

[uncleL]

We need a little bit more information about your tank size equipment lighting and what type of aquarium for Reef would you like to have

 

[melthompn]

I'm sorry I just added all my tank info to the about me page and I thought it linked to my post. Anyway I have a biocube 29 with live rock, sand bed maybe 1-2 inches at most. I currently have 2 piccasso clowns 1 banggnai Cardinal. 5!corals hammer, torch, zoa, ricordea, and open brain. No protein skimmer unsure if will get one. Have uv sterilizer. I power head. Do 10% water changes every week and 30% once a month with my cleaning. Hope that helps.

 

[homer1475]

2 clowns and a banggnai in a biocube, I can't see why you couldn't add a small goby.

I'm heavily stocked in my biocube(moving up to an 80 when its finished cycling), and I have a pair of clowns, neon dottyback, flame angel, citron clown goby, warpaint goby, and a skunk cleaner. All happy and fat.

 

[anthonys51]

i wouldn't add any more fish, being its a new tank i would wait a little to see how things go. the more stuff you add to your tank, the harder it will be to keep nutrients under control. you can add corals, their bioload isnt as high as fish. Plus your tank hasn't really fully cured/cycled yet. the nitrogen cycle might be done, but saltwater reef tanks takes 6 months to a year to really mature.

 

[homer1475]

Sorry missed the part about it only being 7 weeks old. I would definitely wait a bit, but adding later down the road wouldn't be an issue.

 

[melthompn]

No on the shrimp too right? By the way I'm loving this entire experience and the forums on here are amazingly helpful. I've definitely already made some mistakes due to lfs advice but I've learned to do my full research before buying anything.

 

[bat21]

You can add a shrimp. However, Bangais have been known to eat shrimp. Get a large cleaner if you get one. And shrimp can be annoying how they steal food from corals.

 

[anthonys51]

Yes shrinp add less bio load than fish. So shrimp are ok. But as bat21 said shunk cleaner shrimp can get really annoying I fight with mine all the time when feeding corals

 

[melthompn]

Hmmm. That might be a pain when feeding my brain coral. I only wanted him to help with my CUC and keep my fish clean. Personally they are cool yet creepy. Lol

 

[mitchb]

Do yourself a favor and buy a protein skimmer. Water changes and a UV sterilizer won't replace a skimmer. Something inexpensive like an Aqua C remora will allow you to add more fish.

 

[A.Astore]

I must agree that shrimp end up being more annoying than beneficial once corals that actually need fed whole pieces of food are introduced. I have sun polyps in my tank and the shrimp flock to it once they see the pipette enter the water so they can steal all the food. I now have to stand guard until the corals are able to get some of the food in. The only nice thing is the shrimp do clean between the polyps. The corals that are able to pull in their food and cover with polyps seem to be less troubled by the shrimp (my hammers, open brain, and trumpets for example) so you may have less issue with this but it is definitely something to be aware of!

 

[melthompn]

I do plan on getting a skimmer it's just hard to figure out which one will b best for my biocube. I am keeping it stock with no mods so only place is in first chamber. Just hard to find one that will do a good job and fit. I do think I will nix the shrimp and wait for a while to get a small gobie. Thanks everyone for their input. I only plan on one candy cane coral, few more ricordea and maybe one more zoa then I'm done.