Help! Want to add more to 220 gal Tank

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jubranham

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Aug 11, 2011
Messages
10
So my boss has a beautiful saltwater reef tank that he's recently set up. He's filled it with plenty of fish, coral and inverts but he wants to add more..
His tank is 220 gallons and it's holding all of these marine creaturs at the moment:

3 x Gold Head Sleeper Gobies
3 x Green Chromis
2 x Mandarin Gobies
1 x Engineer Goby
1 x 6-line Wrasse
1 x Mystery Wrasse
3 x Banner Cardinals
1 x Yellow Watchman Goby
1 x Bi-color Pseudochromis
2 x Fancy Percula Clown Fish

1 x Blue Tang

1 x Green Star Polyp
1 x Xenia
1 x Mushroom Rock
1 x Combo Rock
16 x Tiny Reef Hermits
10 x Trochus
2 x Emerald Crab
2 x Cleaner Shrimp
1 x Duncan Coral
12 x Mexican Turbo Snails
2 x Hammer Coral
4 x Brain Coral
2 x Frogspawn
1 x Yellow Polyp
1 x Bubble Coral
2 x Gorgonia
1 x Leather Coral
1 x Riccordia Mushroom
2 x Red Starfish
1 x Zoanthid Polyps
1 x Maxi Mini Anemone
1 x Plate Coral
1 x Goniopora Coral


So my questions are :

Is he at his maximum capacity? If yes, when would he be able to add more?

And if he is not at his maximum capacity, how much more can he add to the tank?


I don't know how much live rock he has in there but I'm assuming it's a large amount for all the coral he's placed in the tank.


If someone out there would be so kind to shed some light on this subject, i would forever be so greatful.


Thank you and ya'll have a nice day!! :)
 
How long ago did he set this up? Cause thats ALOT of fish for a new setup. Escpecially the two mandarins...they better eat prepared foods or he is gonna have two starving mandarins.

In the big picture yes, he has more fish room BUT itr also depends on how long the tank has been set up and how he added his last batch of fish.

Just my opinion.....
 
Thank you Carey for taking a minute to reply back!

I know! It does seem like a lot, doesn't it??
I believe he set this tank up a few months ago and recently added all of his goodies.


He's a fish enthuses but also a very busy man. I'm pretty sure he's having someone feed and maintain the water lvls and all the other maintenance that comes along with having an aquarium.

I'm not sure when he added his last batch of fish or if he just added them all together at once. He's been going through an aquarium here in dallas called North Dallas Aquariums but I'm not so sure he's pleased with their care and knowledge.

If he were to wait a little while, how long would he have to wait to add more fish? How much more room do you think he has just based on the amount of stuff he's already put in there?:confused:




How long ago did he set this up? Cause thats ALOT of fish for a new setup. Escpecially the two mandarins...they better eat prepared foods or he is gonna have two starving mandarins.

In the big picture yes, he has more fish room BUT itr also depends on how long the tank has been set up and how he added his last batch of fish.

Just my opinion.....
 
If he added a significant amount of fish say in the last month I would wait a few weeks to add anything further. He does have a maintenance company for it but they to be honest, are most likely more concerned with selling stuff than the actual tank and it;s best interests.

if it were my tank the next thing i would add would probably be two yellow tangs or a yellow tang and another tang of some sort, and at the same time as they can be kinda aggressive if added at different times. The blue tang is known to be a big mush so I woudln't expect aggression out of him.

The other fish i would consider would be an anthias or an anthias harem of a couple, with one male and maybe 3 females. they are spectacular fish. Bar gobys are nice too. So may options with such a large tank.

here is a link with like every fish imagineable and their tank requirements and tempermeant as well as diet.

Aquarium Fish: Tropical Freshwater Fish and Saltwater Fish for Home Aquariums.

i would stay away from angels as they arent always reef safe just fyi.

Most of the fish he has are small so there is room for more. Alot also depends on his filtering capability and current bacteria colony. You add too many fish at once and the bioload can cause huge spikes in parameters leading to possible death.

As long as the tank is being monitored for water parameters then corals he can add at will. Anything from australia is usually awesome and sought after, but also expensive. i don't think the money is an issue with your boss though. lol

The site above also has corals to pick from too, and their requirements.

I would also recommend some more cleaner shrimp and maybe some fire shrimp. I had 5 cleaners in my 6 foot 125g and they were fine until a shrimp killer took them out. lol

The only shrimp you have to worry about are coral banded ones, they are really great shrimp but you can only have one or a mated pair, they will kill each other off. But the cleaners and fire shrimp would be some great new additions.

do you know what his equipment list is? Such as a sump, refugium or wet/.dry filter? Or how much live rock he has? The live rock is the majority of the filtering in a sw tank. Also what kind of skimmer is he running? Thats very important too with alot of corals. And last but not least, his lighting setup. that can make or break his setup on corals and anemones. (which i really dont recommend at this early in the game)
 
Carey!
You are fantastic!! Wow, thats a lot of great information to run with... You're amazing!!

I don't think he realizes how much depends on knowing those particular items in order find out whats best for his tank.
I wish I knew all of the equipment but at the moment I definitely don't. I'll try and see if I can't get more information from him soon-ish.

I love LiveAquaria.com! I've been going back to that site a lot in order to find out other information that I was searching for. I was fascinated by all of the coral they have on there. If it were me, I'd just have a whole tank of coral and no fish.


Your recommendations are awesome and highly appreciated. I'm going to see what more information I can gather from him and hopefully he'll be happy with some of the recommendations thus far.

The little fish that he does have in there at the moment, are they liable to die soon because it's a new reef tank?
 
it all depends on his biofilter and how long the tank was setup, how it was cycled and when the fish were added. I would have taken months to add that many fish to my tank for an example. You sually start with a couple, like 3 or so in that size tank and go from there, adding every week or even better every other week depending on water test results.

I do stillurge caution with the mandarins, most die of starvation in just a few months, especially in a new tank. They eat "pods" small little bug like creatures that come with a mature tank. In such a new tank there is liekly not enough to feed one let alone two. And they also fight unless they are a mated pair. Look up dragonets on liveaquaria and check out what they have to say. You can also search this forum for mandarins and you';ll come up with a bounty of information.
 
Ok Carey,
I was able to get a bit of information over the past few days...

He says everything has been in the tank for 1 month. The aquarium itself has been up and running with live rock for 2.5 months.

Hes not sure what kind of filter he has.

He does not have a refugium. He does have a protein skimmer.

He thinks he has 200 pounds of Fiji Rock..

I asked about his Light set up and he said this "
…I have an enormous LED system that just came out. It is about the best sold, and contains separate blue, red, green, and white LEDs, as well as a HO fluorescent. I love this thing! It is so bright that you can almost see the fish from space. "


Based on some of that information, what do you think?

Oh yeah and he also said that he's feeding the Mandarins "tigger pods" and "artic copepods"

And the fish that he's concidering buying next :

Scott's Fairy Wrasse
Target Mandarin
and a few blue/green clams..
 
Wow, that is a short amount of time for all that to be in there. LOL

if he has the money and is feeding the botttled pods and doesnt mind spending the money then I guess all I can say is god bless him. hehehe

If it were me, I;d be waiting a month or so before adding anything but that doesnt seem to be his style, he seems like a I want it now kinda guy. :)

I would think 3 mandarins are a bit much but if he's willing to keep feeding them it should be fine. The wrasse is a beautiful fish and should also do fine. As far as clams, if he does in fact have the best of the best LEDS then they should be fine as well.

My best and honest advice is to wait a while before adding anything more, such as fish, but clams and corals he should be fine with adding at his leisure.

Just my opinion. :-D
 
Course he CAN, he has plenty of room. It;s just he added all those fish and corals in a one month time frame. No matter the setup and how expensive it is you still have to follow some guide lines LOL.

I woudl wait til the tank settles in with it's current stock adn while doing that look at what he wants. There are so many cool fish he can add still....
 
Carey's advice is right on the money. I would just add one recomendation. I think he needs an adopted son to go with the tank. I happen to know one who is available. A little old maybe (turns 52 next week) but really a nice guy. :)
 
Oh this thread is getting funny!! :)

I want to thank all of you for the support and advice. Carey, you have been such a tremendous help..

Of course my boss wants everything right now and hates waiting... Apparently he's been told to wait by the maintenance guy too. I spoke to him yesterday about my boss’s tank and he said he's very pleased with how fast his tank as matured in such a short amount of time but still thinks he needs to wait before adding new items such as clams and more Mandarins...

He definitely wants to add a Scott's Fairy Wrasses though. I've been told to search online for the best vendor that would carry the Cooks Island variety...
 
Ive been looking at the Fosters and Smith Aquatics website for a lot of information on his fish. : ) I love this website!!

I still wanted to research the fish a little bit more before I start calling them to see exactly what they have in stock.
:)
 
Liveaquaria is number one in my book. They have great customer support and I believe a 2 week guarantee on fish. They tend to be on the conservative side though which is soemthing nice in this hobby. Lots of sites will flat out lie about size requirements and diet just so you buy from them. :)

Aquacon only has a 48hr guarantee adn I'm not sure if they cover wrasses.
 
So finding a Scott's Fairy Wrasse from the Cook Islands is almost impossible!!! I can't find one anywhere..... I've called so many places and I've called online companies too...
Where else could I possibly inquire!? Wait- I know, I'll just have to take a business related trip to the Cook Islands myself and get one. I may have to wait but that's alright. ha ha
 
Hey, boss shouldnt mind the expense report, he does after all really really want the fish....LOL
 
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