Order to introduce fish

[StartingInUtah]

I am just getting ready to add fish to my tank within the next couple weeks and am wondering if I could get some help on the order to add my fish and any special tips of introducing these fish. I have decided on the type of fish I want and now I just need to figure out what order to add them and how to do it. I am introducing a few snails and hermit crabs this weekend as a clean up crew and will go from there. I know that I should only add one or two fish at a time and then wait until the water parameters are back to normal in a few weeks to add more. This is great and I will do this.

My tank is a 75 gallon FOWLR aquarium that might be changed to a reef tank in the future after I feel like I am in the right place with the fish and feel good about taking care of what I have. I already have the lighting for the coral so it should not be too costly at that time to convert it over.

Here is the list of fish that I want in my aquarium:

Coral Beauty Angelfish
Royal Gramma
Midas Blenny
Banggai Cardinal
Ocellaris Clownfish
One Spot Foxface
Longnose Hawkfish
Kole Yellow Eye Tang
Carpenter's Flasher Wrasse

I would like to add a 10th fish but want something very interesting that would get along with these fish, the CUC and coral in the future. If there is any advice on what to get I would love to hear it.

Any help on what order to add these fish or how much CUC to get in there this weekend so I can start planning would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your help.

 

[baron1282]

With the bigger fish you got on the list, I would suggest cutting the list down to only 8 fish.

The Yellow Eye Tang and Foxface alone will be at the max for your tank.

For your cardinal if you want to keep it, I would suggest you get at least 3. They don't like large groups but they do well in small groups.

As for as order goes, when I put my fish in, I couldn't stick to an order because the stores never had the fish I wanted when I wanted it. So I suggest just get the fish that is in the stores at the time and adding them slowly. I always fed my fish and turned the lights off when I was adding a new fish.

 

[bribo12]

I'd add the tang and angel last. Like was said I'd drop the foxface at least. That's a high bioload with 2 6-7" fish in there

 

[Bectan01]

Do you know how to acclimate your new fish and inverts properly?

 

[StartingInUtah]

I do not know all the details on how to acclimate my fish and inverts properly yet. I have been taking it one step at a time and now that I am ready to introduce them I need to learn how to acclimate them. Any help on that would be appreciated as well.

 

[BigRedsReefs10]

Look up the drip acclimation method

 

[baron1282]

Drip acclimation is so easy!

All you do is get an air hose you would use for any aquarium pump, get the water from your tank flowing in it by basically sucking on it like a straw. Let gravity do the work! You tie a knot in the hose and get it to start dripping instead of just rushing out. The knot will be your control on how much you let the water drip.

Get a clean bucket or large bowl and put your fish in the bowl. Mostly large bowls work or small buckets because you don't start out with a lot of water from the bag the fish is in. You let the water from your tank drip into the bucket or bowl with the new fish in it. Let it go for about 10 minutes and get a small cup and take water out of the bowl with the cup. Let the drip continue again until it's filled up some more and take more water out. Continue to do this for about 40 minutes and your water from the tank should be the majority of the water now in the bowl or bucket.

Take your net and take the fish out and into your tank. Simple!

 

[StartingInUtah]

Thank you for your help with the drip acclimation. That seemed to work well as I added a small cleanup crew of about 10 snails and 5 tiny hermit crabs a week and a half ago and they seem to be doing well. My plan is to start adding fish this weekend and I would like to start with two of them. I need a little advice on this. Above I was told to add the cardinals in a group of 3, is this necessary or will 1 be fine alone? I only ever seem to see them alone in other tanks and this is my preference so I can have a variety of fish. The fish I would like to add this weekend are a Bengaii Cardinal and a Royal Gramma however the Midas Blenny or Carpenter's Flasher Wrasse are also options to start with (in some combination) if i cannot find the Benggai Cardinal or Royal Gramma. I should be able to find what I am looking for, though, as I have several saltwater fish stores within 20-25 miles of my house and several more if I travel a little further. Before I add fish, though, I want to make sure everything is looking okay and I also need to decide on 1 or 3 Benggai cardinals as this could change my plan of which fish to add.

I took a water sample to a friend to help me test it and he said that all the parameters looked good however I do have a concern. The cleanup crew seems to be doing well but where they are clearing the algae off the rocks they leave spots of white behind. Is this normal or is there something else I need to test for or make sure is looking right before I start adding my fish? When I did a search it sounds like maybe my calcium is low or something and I have not talked to my friend yet to see if that was something he tested for.

I am also wondering if I can get some advice on feeding my fish. I am assuming I will be able to find what I am looking for this weekend so what do I need to feed a Benggai Cardinal and Royal Gramma or the Midas Blenny or Carpernter's Flasher Wrasse if those are what I end up with and how often?

Thank you to everyone for your help again.

 

[baron1282]

Saltwater Aquarium Fish for Marine Aquariums: Kaudern's Cardinal - Tank-Bred

I like the Benggai Cardinal and I do suggest 2 or 3, but no more. They can do fine on their own, but I think they look better when in a small group. I also think they prefer a small group, but a large group is when they get aggressive towards one another. They thrive in a group of two or three, but not in a bigger group.

If you are doing a Fish Only with Live Rock, you do not need to worry about calcium as that's for more of a reefer thing. The white could just be poop, or the rock just being cleaned. I wouldn't worry about it, as long as your test show good results, I wouldn't worry. Plus the salt we use has a good dose of calcium already that would be enough for a FOWLR tank. If you can take a picture and post it, so we can see. It would help us a lot in determining if you have an issue.

Feed once a day and enough food where they can eat it all in two minutes. Remember your clean up crew needs to have a little food as well. So you should be fine. I feed my guys Frozen Brine shrimp, Krill, Mysis Shrimp, and Plankton. Squid as well! I got a pack that has a lot of food in it. I also feed Spectrum Pellets and a good marine flake food!

What I normally do is put my tank water in a small dixie cup and drop the food into it to thaw out. I put some pellets or flakes in to add to the mixture and I stir the food up and drop into the tank. I found a cube is normally enough for all my fish and I have 7 bigger fish right now. you might want to cut your food in half if you have smaller fish as to not use as much.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002E7IU4/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

They do have different size pellets for smaller fish as well. So check that food out!

I would also suggest Garlic as an additive. It helps to get picky eaters to eat. It may also help improve the immune system, but I don't think that has totally proven!

Amazon.com: Kent Marine 00657 Garlic Xtreme, 1-Ounce Bottle: Pet Supplies

 

[BigRedsReefs10]

If you really want the carpenters it should be the first fish in. They are extremely timid and need to establish them selves before others are added.

 

[StartingInUtah]

So the Carpenter's needs to be added first even if the other fish added are peaceful fish? I love the look of the Carpenter's but are there any other types of wrasse that might be better suited for my aquarium with the other fish I want to add?

 

[baron1282]

I really like the six line wrasse! Should be among the last added. Can be aggressive, but I never had an issue with mine.

Peaceful fish fist and foremost, let them get established for a few weeks and then any aggressive fish last.

Just remember that there might be some aggressiveness at first, but it should die down within a few days. This goes for all fish.

 

[shesacharmer]

Suggested Order

I suggest you study each fish over at liveaquaria.com. That will tell you what each fish needs to eat, how big they get, and whether they will be reef compatible down the road.

As for the Begaii...I have just one in my 75 and he seems perfectly content. Not aggressive and doesn't stand for being bullied.

I got the One Spot Foxface as my largest fish. I chose the Flame Angel since it stays smaller. I got two Royal Grammas and they are doing well being friendly. I got one PJ Cardinal and it's honestly my least favorite fish...it sort of helicopters around off to the side of the tank. A single Red Firefish adds some interest and I got two Ocellaris Clowns. I also got a Sailfin Blennie which is very comical and entertaining and a Neon Cleaner Goby which is so small I have a hard time keeping an eye on him.

I'd steer clear of any Wrasse with "line" in the name...they can be buttheads. I chose the McCosker's Flasher Wrasse and he hasn't been shy at all very lovely and a good eater.

My tank was used and came with three Damsels. I gave the smallest one to the LFS since it was about to be bullied to death by the other two. The biggest of these is the worst bully...I'm training him not to bother the others by showing him the net when I catch him chasing anyone. So far it's working but I'm going to hate trying to catch him if that doesn't work.

Hope this helps...oh yeah...if your fish are all young and small the order is less important. I was told to add the Angel last which I did and I haven't had any problems other than the jerky damsels that came with the tank.

 

[StartingInUtah]

Thanks for the replies again. This is very helpful information for me. I have added a few fish over the last couple months and of course things have changed in what I have wanted and what I have got. I went to the store to get a Carpenter's Flasher Wrasse and a Benggai Cardinal. and I am not sure what it was but the Carpenter's that was at the store was not at all what I thought I would be getting and was not colorful at all. It was the orange color that they seem to be in every picture and there were no other pictures. I didn't really like it at all if I am being honest, so I decided I was going to go another way.

That day I came home with a Striped Fang Blenny and a Benggai Cardinal and they have been doing very well and are very interesting. That all threw off my plan, though, as I originally had the Carpenter's and a Midas Blenny on my list and those had to both be changed by what I decided on. So I started researching more and came up with a new plan. Basically that new plan was the same as the old one except I was looking into the Christmas Wrasse or Hoeven's Wrasse down the line when my copepods have had more time to increase their population. So this weekend I went to the store because I was ready to add another fish and because several local stores had sales. I went with the intent of either adding a Royal Gramma, an Ocellaris Clownfish or a Longnose Hawkfish. I ended up walking out with two Clownfish and put them in the tank on Saturday night and yesterday all four fish in the tank seemed very happy.

Anyway, because I decided to get two Clownfish instead of one I do not want to overload my tank and I am debating about the Wrasse again. I would like to watch and see how my tank does before deciding if I will be adding a Wrasse or not. That brings me to my most recent question. I would like a smaller sized Wrasse. I love the look of the Six-Line because of the coloring and the size that it gets but I don't want one that is going to torment my other fish to death so I am going to steer clear of that. I also love the Christmas Wrasse and Hoeven's Wrasse but I know they sometimes have a tendency to eat a clean up crew. I am still not sure about them. I have been told to look at some Fairy Wrasses. So that is my question. Does anyone know of a good Fairy Wrasse that stays small that they would recommend and please tell me why you would recommend it?

Thank you again for all your help.

 

[Mebbid]

Most carpenter wrasses and flasher wrasses in general that I've seen have been juveniles. They tend to color up a lot when they grow up a bit. Don't give up on a fish just because it's a little guy

 

[StartingInUtah]

The Carpenters that I saw was about 3 inches long. I really just lost interest in them and would like to find another option or drop the wrasse altogether. My worry is that I add in a fairy wrasse or something and it gets bullied or is too scared or something and I have lost my window to add one. At the same time I know that my aquarium is still pretty new and needs time to build up the copepods, etc. needed for a wrasse. I am trying to decide what to do with that now. I am starting to be really interested in an orange back fairy wrasse now. Does anyone know much about them? Is it too late to add something like that now that I have already added 4 fish (a Striped Fang Blenny, a Benggai Cardinal and two Ocellarus Clownfish)? My next couple fish that I am planning on are a Royal Gramma and a Longnose Hawkfish or maybe some type of fairy wrasse depending on what interests me most when I go and what I can find. Does anyone have any advice to share? I am always open to listen to comments and always welcome advice.

Thank you in advance.