Saltwater & Reef

emceeee · 08-30-2008, 02:55 AM

I am in the cycling phase with yellow tail damsels and they are tearing each other apart

. I have a 50 gallon SW tank. I want one big happy family of community fish. No fighting. I've been thinking about:
Flame Hawkfish
Spotted Cardinal Fish
False Percula Clownfish
Purple Firefish
Coral Beauty, Dusky Angelfish
Sixline Wrasse

No fighting!

Comments, ideas?

Thanks very much!

**melosu58** · 08-30-2008, 07:52 AM

First comment, The proper way to cycle. IMO dont put those damsels through that. Second comment, the sixline and the hawkfish are pretty fiesty. I`ve heard many a person say their sixline terrorized their tank. IME the hawkfish is pretty mean also at least IME. The others look pretty good. BTW welcome to AA.

Innovator · 08-30-2008, 09:32 AM

All fish are territorial in their own right. "Peaceful" tanks are a fallacy, but there are compromises. I agree with Mel on the Hawk and 6line, but I don't see anything that might be overbearing towards another...the usual nit and pick behaviors

**cmor1701d** · 08-30-2008, 10:17 AM

I agree with all of Mike's comments, and Innovator's comment that all tank's are a compromise as far as agression goes. Crowd a tank and any one may become agressive, especially to their own kind.

emceeee · 08-30-2008, 11:57 AM

Thanks to Melosu58, Innovator, and CMor1701d for replying, and for the welcome. As much research as I thought I did before embarking upon this adventure, I somehow did miss any discussion of the cruelty of cycling and its alternatives. If I decide to forgo the hawkfish and the sixline, what could I substitute instead? I don't want to overload the tank but would like to get a colorful assortment of docile fishes. With 50 gallons, I should be able to get more than 5, right. No live rock, no reef. Fake, but not tacky decor. In fact, all my friends are awestruck by the decor.

MCluett · 08-30-2008, 12:10 PM

some sort of goby would be good and it will help out your cleaning crew with sifting through the substrate and they come in a wide variety of colors.

emceeee · 08-30-2008, 12:47 PM

Thank you MCluett. I also like the Yellow Assessor and the Midas Blenny. Would they work?

This brings to mind another question - feeding. Right now my cycling fish are getting Spectrum pellets - 3 per fish, every other day and my bottom fishing crabs get one algae pellet twice a week.

After cycling, can I stick with one food for all the fish? If I mix carnivores and herbivores, doesn't that make the feeding process so much more complicated? Is this a factor I need to take into account?

My reference guide, Marine Fishes, by Scott Michael, recommends feeding some of these fish several times a day, but my "consultant" at the fish store and the people at Foster and Smith that I've spoken to all say I should disregard that advice and feed each one 3 - 4 times per week.

So far I am very impressed with the speed and the quality of responses I have been receiving! Thank you!

roka64 · 08-30-2008, 12:47 PM

Welcome to the site!
You probably want some LR. This provides a place for your beneficial bacteria to reside and hiding/sleeping spots for your fish. Royal grammas are popular. You could also look at a pistol shrimp/shrimp goby combo. I wouldn't expect to the the goby much, but thi is one of my fav combos.

Kurt_Nelson · 08-30-2008, 02:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by emceeee

...I don't want to overload the tank but would like to get a colorful assortment of docile fishes. With 50 gallons, I should be able to get more than 5, right. No live rock, no reef. ...

You might be pushing it with 5, although others may have a different opinion. It all depends on what kind of biological filtration you have going on. With no live rock, I'm assuming you have a wet/dry in a sump, or a couple big cannister filters? Let us know what you have in that area and we can probably make more educated guesses as to how heavy you can stock.

Not sure about putting 2 angelfish together in a 50g... maybe others will chime in about that.

You mentioned mixing herbivores and carnivores, but with your list including the angelfish, you're doing that already. It's best to feed the fish what they want to normally eat and not try to push their diet into a "one size fits all". Even with all carnivores, you want to mix up their diet all the time. I'd use the pellets & flakes sparingly, and focus more on a variety of frozen foods and "blender mush" that you can find recipes for. Just think if you had to eat chicken - and ONLY chicken - each and every day.

Oh... and welcome to Aquarium Advice! (You can still take the damsels out and return them to your LFS if you've got your ammonia spike already. No need to keep them in there if you're at that point of your cycle. And even if you haven't gotten ammonia yet, you can still take them out and just go the cocktail shrimp route.)

**melosu58** · 08-30-2008, 02:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by emceeee

My reference guide, Marine Fishes, by Scott Michael, recommends feeding some of these fish several times a day, but my "consultant" at the fish store and the people at Foster and Smith that I've spoken to all say I should disregard that advice and feed each one 3 - 4 times per week.

Definitely dont feed several times a day. That is very bad advice. I feed mine every other day and on the off days I put a clip of seaweed selects in the tank for my tangs to forage on. As far as what to feed remember one thing. Fish like and need a variety of foods. I feed flake, frozen mysis, frozen vitamin fortified brine, freeze dried seaweed and frozen emerald entree. Variety is the key.

Also I am interested on what type filtration you have now.