New Reef Hobbiest

MagicRainbow33

hello can someone give me some advice on my 36 bowfront aquarium
I started this tank the first or second week of Feb. of this year 2008
I got the water all to the right temperature of course then added my Fiji
Live Rock, about a week or so after that I added a Clownfish, a Pink Tip Anemone and a Cleaner Shrimp. I let that go for a few weeks. then I added
a couple Coral Fragments. Polyps. Then it was some Mushroom Rock.. After
that I decided to add a few more fish , A 6 Line Wrasse , A Bi Colour Blenny
. A Royal Gramma, and 3 Green Chromis. I let that go for a month. Last month in March I decided to add a couple more corals a Gornapora and Colt Coral. Plus I have added just recently a Toadstool coral and 5 Feather Dusters. in my tank I as well have 5 Blue Legged hermit Crabs a Turban Snail , A Bloodshrimp . I had added last month a Flame Angel. which was a bad idea. because I had experienced a Nitrite Spike in my tank. Of course I lost about 5 or 6 fish , My Blenny, My Wrasse, the Angel, My Gramma and one Chromis. I have been keeping up with all tests , The Ammonia stays at 0ppm all the time. and so far now the Nitrite is at 0ppm. I did a Nitrate test a couple days ago and it's a little high about 40. I added another Flameangel and lost that one the next day as well. So I don't reccomend FlameAngels unless your tank is well established.. and 6 Line Wrasses as well. So far in fish now I have replaced my Blenny with a 2nd one he seems to be doing q uite well. I still have my 2 Chromis and I have a Neon Goby and 2 Ocellaris Clownfish as well as a Clarkii Clownfish. and added a White-Purple Sebae Anemone all seem to be doing well. My tanks seems to be going through it's 3rd and final establishing fase.. right now.. I was in the process of getting a Protine Skimmer up and running on it but the one I have seems to not work well with my Size of Aquarium so I have decided to upgrade to a 65 Gallon tank in August or September . I don't know if adding one more fish to my tank that I have now will do any harm or not, I have a total of 7 Fish , plus 15 interts, and 8 corals , so total I have 20 things in my 36 Gallon Bowfront. As well I have a Hydor Tubo Pump in my tank as well, and I use a Fluval 305 Filter. For my next tank 65 Gallon I am thinking of using a Submersible Heater and two Filters. plus my Skimmer.

I would like to add more corals into my next tank but it seems that the more corals you add , the less fish you should have.. Could anyone please give me some advice.. Would I be able to Add one more fish in about a month to the tank I have running right now , my 36 Gallon. or should I just stay at 7 fish .. ??

Chitown1

Welcome to FTF!!!

WOW, that is a HEAVY bio load especially without a skimmer, I am surprised you did not have a complete crash and loose everything. I would def. not add any more fish. As for corals, they should not be an issue, maybe a open brain, clam, some red shrooms or colorful zoa's would be nice additions.

chadf

Welcome to the forum. Heavy bioload indeed, I wouldn't even put that many fish in my 90g. Good luck!

MeadowSky

I would recommend reading up on the cycling process. a good book that I have and love is the Conscientious marine aquarist. Lots of great info on not only that but very informative on species of fish and what will do well together. It sounds like you added alot of fish before your tank even cycled and that is what killed alot of them.

I personally do not plan on adding any coral to my tank for atleast 3-6 months. Most of them need a well established tank and many need special supplements. What kindof lighting are you using?

I would not add anymore fish to your tank. you are WAY overstocked right now. If you want to take some of the stress off of your tank, adding a sump might be a very wise idea.

You need a good protein skimmer. I have an AquaC (Hang on back) Remora. It does quite well for my 55 gallon. They are about 150$ but look on ebay and you can find them used. Clean it well. A seaclone (while better than nothing) is not going to cut that bioload

Most of all, keep in mind that these tanks we keep hold incredible species of life that we should do our best to protect and care for. Be informed about your purchases. SLOW DOWN. Buy some books and read them.

(hope I am not coming off harsh. I do not intend to, just trying to help)

501scionxb

my god you are asking for it.like sky said slow down. thats way too many in that small of a tank. before u do anything else grab a bigger better skimmer. you nitrates are goin to be the death of your tank. im still in shock from reading everything earlier. get a hold of some of the mods and us if u need any more help.

jglas26

Yeah, it might sound like a some bashing is going on in here but TRUST ME these guys know what they're taking about! Stocking that heavy, that fast, is kinda like throwing your tank at a brick wall.

Just for some reference, I have a 35g. ( which is just about the exact same as what you got ) I cycled for a bout 3 weeks. Had just 1 fish for another month, added another fish the next month.Well, I could go on BUT, the point is: I did a ton of research solely off this site and listened to the advise around here and I haven't lost one thing in my system ( 5 months running strong - knock on wood )

But anyways, WELCOME TO THE SITE!!!
we're all here for the common good.