Comments on my bioloads...

[weekf]

Just want to check am I overstocking my 132g 6 foot FOWLR tank? Currently have:

-10 blue chromis
-1 black and white bannerfish (poor man moorish idol)
-1 o.clown
-1 cleaner wrasse
-1 yellow tang
-1 bicolor blenny
-1 twinspot goby

No snails or crabs of anykind. No corals as well. Currently using 2 canister filters, will ditch one and get a Tunze skimmer.

Am I overstocking? I am thinking of adding another 5 dispar anthias or a flame angel to get RED color in my tank which is currently lack of. Any comments or suggestions will be nice. Thanks.

 

[ckmn101]

How much lr?

 

[melosu58]

I dont know if you are over or not but I believe you are getting close. IMO

 

[weekf]

Not sure about how much lr I have but you can see my gallery.

 

[weekf]

2 days after added another flame angel. water parameters:

salinity: 1.023
temp: 27 degree celcius
ammonia: 0
nitrite: 0
nitrate: 20ppm
phosphate: 0.5ppm
ph: 8.0

17 fishes now in total. One and a half month old (including cycle time) 132g 6 footer. Running metal halide FOWLR. I am currently like doing waterchange every 3 days. Because I want to reduce the nitrate and phosphate. Feeding once a day.

Can anyone comment if I am doing anything wrong? Thanks.

 

[melosu58]

My only suggestion would be to feed every other day due to your Nitrates and phosphates

 

[roka64]

I agree, those nitrAtes could rise quickly with that many fish in there. Keep an eye out and definitely get the nitrAtes down. They are toxic over time.

 

[weekf]

Hi Mel. I would love to do that too. But I want the fish to get healthy.

I previously feed them every other day. And when I told my LFS they laugh and cursed me so cruel to the animals. Come to think of it the yellow tang really need to be fed a lot. I want him to stay healthy so they can fight off diseases.

I am thinking of getting dispar anthias and keep feeding only once a day, may be a little in the morning before I go to work just for the anthias.

And doing so I am planning to do 10% waterchange EVERY week. I have got no problem with waterchange. I enjoy doing it anyway. That's what the RO/DI unit I bought is for.

 

[melosu58]

I wonder what they would do to me if they knew I have fed mine every other day for nine years and some of my fish are from the begining. When I say feed every other day that is the prepared food. I do sit there and put a piece of seaweed on the off days or a handful of calerpa for the tang. I dont have nothing to sell you so for me it is OK to say feed every other day. I`m just saying IME. Hope all goes well.

 

[roka64]

I feed mine every other day, they are very happy. I agree with mel, LFS needs to make money to stay in business.....

 

[afilter]

IMO you are probably OK on BIO load for now since you only have a couple of larger fish and the rest do not produce a huge amount of waste. A 132g may sound huge, but unless you have a large sump to go with it you are still somewhat limited. In comparison I have a 90g with a 30g sump( only 12g less than you) and 8 fish which I consider myself maxed. Remeber your fish will grow. Those 1" chromis can someday be 3-4" monsters.

Also, keep in mind that all that rock displaces water volume. In reality my 120g of capacity is probably more like 100-110g because of all the rock I have.

My larger concern is how fast you are adding all these fish. It seems like every few days you are posting about a new addition(not using QT if I recall). By adding the fish so quick you are not allowing your sytem to naturally react to the increased bio load. If you continue adding fish you could cause you tank to go back into a mini cycle and risk losing all you have with an amonia spike.

IMO, the best advice anyone can give in this hobby is to be patient and take it slow. While you are waiting do as much research as you can on any potential additions or changes you want to make.

This is defianetly not a hobby for the impulsive. Just think about how much time and $ you have invested so far and you are just starting out. I think a lot of SW hobbyist burn out and leave the hobby because they try to ovedue it right away and when their system crashes they give up. I have almost been there myself. My current system is 3 + years old and still growing.

Bottom line, Do not do anything else for a few months and let your system mature. A SW setup really does change a lot in the first 6 months. You do not want to reach your max bioload right away. If a natural swing occurs it leaves no room for error if your bioload is already maxed out.

HTH,

 

[20 20]

I agree, go a bit slower. Think about a sump/fuge for more water volume and nitrate export, and maybe a phosphate reactor for your phosphates. Those will help alot assuming you feed every day.

 

[melosu58]

Sounds like good advice to me.

 

[afilter]

I just re-read some of your posts and one thing I would strongly suggest it to start adding a cleanup crew of snails and crabs as well as a cleaner shrimp(a while later) instead of anymore fish.

If your tank is only 6 weeks old including cycle that means it just completed cycling. The cleanup crew does not add to the bioload and will only help by removing any leftover food and other potential amonia producing items.

Realistically you could easily have 50-60 each of assorted snails and reef hermit crabs. Not all at once of course, but 25-30 of each would not be a bad start in that size tank.

HTH,

 

[ellisz]

We have all been in your situation. When starting a new tank you want so badly to have the perfect looking tank like at the LFS or like what you see online. These type of tanks take time and patience. By not QT'ing your fish and adding a new fish or removing a fish every other week, you are asking for trouble. Stress your fish out enough and they will get ich.

When you add a fish, invert or coral, they need time to acclimate to their surroundings. A day or 2 is not going to do it. Just be patient. You tank might be able to handle your idea of the perfect tank inhabitants but you need to let your tank mature more and let it catch up with the additions you keep adding.

Good Luck.