**Can I, should I, would you???**

[Anonymous]

Ok here we go guys...i have a 50g FOWLR. And this is what i have: Maroon Clown (gs), Royal Gramma, Damsel (orange tail), Cherub Angel. Cleaner Shrimp, crabs and snails.

I would like to add another fish...can or should i do it? If so what fish do you guys recommend?

 

[Anonymous]

I say get either a mandarin or a small naso tang!
Just kidding.

How are your phosphate and nitrate levels? Got a good skimmer? Any nuisance algae?
If the answers are; zero, yes, and nope - then I would think you can try another very small, but active fish.

 

[srbayless]

Howdy,

I'd say no. First off, how big are the fish you have now. A maroon can get fairly large, upto 4-5" on average. All of the fish you have can be aggressive. Adding another fish might get the tank too crowded and start some serious turf wars.

What fish did you have in mind? I find that people who ask this question have seen a fish they want to buy. Let us know what fish you were looking at, and we can let you know for sure.

Scott.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the quick responses.

moe:
Last reading on nitrates was 10ppm,no nuisance algae, berlin skimmer. I have never taken a phosphate reading (just the basic ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, ph).

srbayless:
I haven't looked at a particular fish yet. I actually wanted some advice before beginning to look, I don't even want to look before doing some research to see if it would be feasable. All the fish are b/t 1.5 and 2"

Again thanks for the quick responses and i look foward to seeing what you guys have to say next

 

[Anonymous]

Well, I think srbayless has a good point with the aggressiveness of the fish. What are the dimensions of your tank?
How much LR do you have in there?
How long has the tank been running?
How are the nitrite and ammonia levels, now that you mention it?
And do you have any kind of cannister filter on there?

 

[SPC]

I would say not to add anymore fish, of course I believe in low stocking levels = a healthy tank.
Steve

 

[scavdog]

Hmmm,
Nows a good time for an excuse to buy a BIG tank

 

[JeremyR]

<<And do you have any kind of cannister filter on there?>>

Why would she want one?

 

[Anonymous]

The tank is a 50 g reg., has approx 45lbs or LR, 2.5-3" of LS. Have a wet/dry with Berlin Protein skimmer. I have run this set up since late April so 4+ months.

From what i have gathered from you guys thus far it apears that if you were me you would not add another fish. Maybe to make the tank more lively i will look into adding more inverts.

 

[bigtank]

That maroon clown will get pretty darn big. They will reach 6"+. Mine is getting huge and eats a LOT.

IMO, another fish is a bad idea at this point, unless you remove the damsel. Then I would recommend something small, but not too small (it has to be large enough so the clown won't beat it up).

 

[davelin315]

I was never one to stock my tank lightly (my reef is busting at the seems with fish right now) but your nitrates are a concern. If they are at 10 ppm, and you have the filtration you describe, your tank may not be able to handle its biological load. You need to get your tank to where the nitrates go down to 0 or undetectable, and then you can start worrying about what and how much to add. There is some formula to follow for # of inches of fish per gallon, but I don't know it since I never followed it. Everyone always falls into the same trap at one time or another, overstocking, and in a small dose, it's okay. However, if you overdo it, you'll start losing fish, and then you'll regret doing it. When I had a 55 FO tank, long long ago, I used between a 3"-8" substrate over a reverse flow undergravel with additional mechanical filtration. The substrate was crushed coral, and I had 0 live rock in it. My occupants at one point were 2 eels about a 1.5' long each, a trigger, a lion fish, 4 damsels, a butterfly, an angel, a blue box fish, and a tang, and probably some more fish in there as well. I was meticulous about water changes (5-10 gallons per week and a 50%+ every month or so when I bleached my corals). I never let the phosphates become detectable, nor the nitrates. I have no doubt my tank was very overstocked for the majority of time I had it, but I never had any problems as I had tons of hiding places to prevent aggression and did a lot of housekeeping to keep the water quality tip top. If you are going to overstock, make sure you're careful to avoid aggression, and also, get your water to premium quality to not stress anyone out. It's a bad thing to overstock, but it's also a very hard thing to avoid when you see something that you've just got to have. I still make the same mistakes today that I made years ago, but I've never killed anything off because of attrition, just improper research on diets (a linneatus tang in my reef that I assumed ate the same thing as other tangs, but which I found out is more of a planktivore - is that a word?).

 

[hectina]

I would be careful about the nonsessile inverts you want to add. Every fish you own has the potential to attack and eat newly added crustaceans. Personally, I would remove the damsel and pick up a nice hardy tang (blue or yellow). I removed two from my tank, and it is so much more peaceful.

Also, if you are running a wet-dry, your tank will produce nitrates rapidly.

 

[jmeader]

I pretty much agree with Dave Lin. However, since your tank is still pretty young, you might see the nitrate level come down to zero over the next several months. If not, then you are already into the overstocked, otherwise known as extra work, area. But over time the fish will keep getting bigger and more aggressive. At some point in the future you will have to make some changes to curb the aggression that will occur.