Adding fish

[unionfishguy]

So, summer break is fast approaching, and my marine biology class has many fish that we need to find a temporary home for, or find a place for them to stay. So I had the idea to add a few of them to our reef tank that is almost self sustaining now. The current inhabitants of this tank are:
2 blue sapphire damsels
1 blue damsel
2 ocelaris clowns
1 yellow tang
1 cardinal
1 bicolor blenny
1 matted filefish
1 spiny urchin
1 sea cucumber
1 mystery fish that has only been seen three times within the last 2 years. It has been described as a white fish that is gone in a flash as soon as the student walked up. No one has caught a good enough glimpse of it to identify it. And it is VERY good at hiding.

A large amount of Green star polyps
1 Leather coral
1 Trumpet oral
1 Grape coral

And the fish to add:
2 princess parrots
2 sharpnose puffers (hopefully, if they don't get along together, then we will only add one)
4 dusky damsels
2 stoplight parrots
2 surgeon fish
1 flame cardinal

All of these dudes are 1-2.5in in length, with the stoplights and flame being the biggest, and the damsels and princesses being the smallest. Thanks for the help!

 

[ManOfSalt]

Nice little environment you got there! Apologies mate, out of all this awing at your livestock I failed to miss what your question was :)

 

[ManOfSalt]

failed to catch rather...

 

[MrDJeep123]

How big is this tank? The biggest issue is filtration. Is it adequate? That's a lot of fish to add at one time if that's how it's going to be done.

 

[unionfishguy]

The question is is it ok to add those fish? Are they compatable, or will the older fish tear them apart? The tank is 120 with a 20 sump. Operational UV sterilizer, large protein skimmer, all functioning normally.

 

[unionfishguy]

And this tank has been running for several years, thats another reason we can't figure out the mystery fish. The teacher/students that started it are long gone

 

[MrDJeep123]

The established damsels may have an issue with the new inhabitants. Just seems like a huge number of fish for a 120. You also have to take into consideration that when you add them, you'll be adding to the bioload as well. Regardless of how well established an aquarium is, you can't just thrown in 10+ new fish and not expect parameters to stay the same. Maybe if it were a 1000 gallon system... Also they will grow fairly quickly, with that so will territorial changes.

I'd consider taking them to your LFS if at all possible. The other suggestion would be to set up new tanks. I don't really know what else to suggest.

 

[unionfishguy]

Yeah, the guys at my LFS are kinda jerks........ They won't take in fish from people, and the fish have to remain in our possession because they are the fish that must also be used next year. Could we get away with the damsels, flame, and 1 stoplight?

 

[MrDJeep123]

Yeah, the guys at my LFS are kinda jerks........ They won't take in fish from people, and the fish have to remain in our possession because they are the fish that must also be used next year. Could we get away with the damsels, flame, and 1 stoplight?

I don't know anything about the stoplight parrot. The cardinal is a peaceful and nocturnal fish. It will stay in the darker areas of the tank. It may get bullied, it may not. If you have no choice, I would transition them over one at a time with at least 2 weeks in between additions.

 

[unionfishguy]

I don't know anything about the stoplight parrot. The cardinal is a peaceful and nocturnal fish. It will stay in the darker areas of the tank. It may get bullied, it may not. If you have no choice, I would transition them over one at a time with at least 2 weeks in between additions.

That explains the cardinals current behavior. This may be a dumb question, but why one at a time? This would just open up the new addition to get ganged up on by the current fish, whereas if they were to be added in mass, it would be harder topic, on certain individuals. I get the bioload part of that, though, if that's why you are saying that. There are ways around that.

 

[MrDJeep123]

That explains the cardinals current behavior. This may be a dumb question, but why one at a time? This would just open up the new addition to get ganged up on by the current fish, whereas if they were to be added in mass, it would be harder topic, on certain individuals. I get the bioload part of that, though, if that's why you are saying that. There are ways around that.

Gives time for the bio-filter to catch up. Also you can observe IF there will be any aggression. But the bio-filter is the biggest reason. If I were to put them, I think I would do damsels first. They can dispute territory if need be, then the parrot, and then the cardinal. I don't do damsels anymore because of their territorial issues. I don't know anything about the parrot other than they chomp rock and poop it out as sand.

 

[MrDJeep123]

You may be fine with the addition of the 4 you mentioned, but I'm a big fan of lightly stocking a tank. Less is more in most cases.

 

[unionfishguy]

The tank seems so empty now as it is. The yellow tang is the only one that actively cruises the whole tank. The cardinal that's in there now like to swim around the top of the back, the clowns like to stay in there corner, the damsels like to dart in and out of the live rock, the blenny either chills in the green star fields, or in his hole in the rock, which is in the back, and the filefish chills by the intakes. The spiny goes in circles around the tank, and the cucumber is very hard to find. The parrots I wish to add go all over their current tank, the damsels love to dart around, and of course the flame would find a spot to chill, away from the noisy side of the tank which faces the hall

 

[ManOfSalt]

I'm also a fan of lightly stocking a tank. Imagine living in a 7 bedroom share-house with strangers that just stay in their room. The house is fairly full, all is well, everyones got their personal space, no one really frequents the living room or the kitchen or the game room that often accept that one random dude. Now a bunch of other people come along and start to fill up space. It even works out to where you have to share your room with a couple of them. I know when I'm in an enclosed living area, the less people there are around stinking the area up the better.

Sure that's a personality trait of the type of fish I would be. Others may be more social. You could read up on which fish do well with each other, but that will only take you so far until you run into other forum posts about fish acting aggressive towards the fish that they're supposed to get along with. Adding little by little will not only allow the bio load to adjust properly, but it will also allow fish time to get used to their new tank mates. Since it's a 120, you could probably get away with more than one at a time. Since you have mostly pairs, you could probably throw in a pair a week. Getting used to a new environment with a buddy will probably go over better. Perhaps those fish will be less likely to get picked on. And maybe just add the cardinal in with one of the pair.

Alternately, the perviously mentioned idea of getting a new tank is a good idea. That's if there's space. If it isn't then ya, a little at a time is probably the best way to go about it.

 

[unionfishguy]

The more tanks idea is not likely as we are trying to get away from having 12 smaller tanks(that what most of the fish are spread out in, there are many more than the ones I wish to add to the reef. And that is a reasonable argument to adding them slowly. Should I add the damsels or the parrots first? The damsels are fast enough to get away from the other damsels, but the parrots are built like tanks(I hand introduced them into each of their tanks ((my hands were super clean, I promise)) and the bodies of the parrots were sped hard, the damsels being quite soft).

 

[ManOfSalt]

I wouldn't know as I don't have experience with either of those in the mix with those others. I would advise to roll a dice :) They're all gonna have to end up living there anyway.

 

[unionfishguy]

So experimentation it is then! My favorite past time!

 

[ManOfSalt]

haha! Well we are all doing science :D Good luck man.