New to saltwater and bought tangs

[OhCheezy]

So I decided to join this forum, after the amount of rudeness I unfortunately experienced on the facebook group I joined. Hopefully this place is different.

Anyways, background story. I'm a total newbie. My father went out on a whim and brought home a saltwater aquarium (I think he's having a midlife crisis honestly). Needless to say, we don't know anything about the subject. Been mostly pulling resources from our maintenance guy who works at the LFS where my dad purchased everything and I've been doing my own studying/researching on the side and am slowly learning things.

We currently have 2 percula clownfish, 1 picasso clownfsh, 1 blue hippo tang, 2 yellow tangs, 2 three stripe damsels, and about a dozen hermit crabs. We're getting a shipment later this week of 3 firefish, 1 foxface, 1 orange stripe prawn goby, and 1 neon goby, 2 cleaner shrimp, and 1 banded coral shrimp.

Our maintenance guy is a professional, and comes to our house about every 3 weeks. Basically, the dude set everything up, from the tank to the sand to the water to the live rock. The live rock and water were from an established system. We were told about going slow with the livestock so he helped us pick our fish (we got around 15) and said that was enough for now. He put half of it in it first and wanted to wait a couple weeks until he put in the second half. Fast forward a couple weeks, water was tested yesterday and is in normal range. Fish and coral are fine and have no signs of apparent stress as of right now. Our maintenance guy said he would go ahead and put in the rest of the fish later this week (they have been in QT) , which are the foxface, firefish, gobies, and shrimp.

I have come to the understanding that putting in tangs in a non-matured tank were NOT such a good idea, and that putting this many fish is also NOT a good idea. I am just wondering how soon we can put in the second half of the fish, even if the water levels are good. Tomorrow, I will call our guy and ask if he can hold the fish in QT for longer.

Our tank is a Red Sea Max S-series 150 gallons, 63 inches in length, 21 inches in width, and 22inches in height, I'm not sure if this helps with anything. Here is the link to the tank description.

http://www.redseafish.com/aquarium-systems/max-aquarium-systems/red-sea-max-s-series/

My parents also wanted to add more fish in the far future. Here is the list:
-1 anthias
-2 blue chromis
-2 dartfish
-1 six line wrasse
-1 royal gamma
-1 yellowtail damsel
-1 longnose hawkfish
Is it true that the tangs will kill these, once they are more mature/territorial?

In the meantime, is there anything I can do to help my tank mature/establish more? Should I add more coral? When should I add copepods? I was also told that I am lacking in the clean up crew department?

Sorry for the long post and questions. Any suggestions are welcome. Thank you in advance.

 

[lou dog420]

I have never heard about the tank needing to be more mature to add tangs. Just make sure to keep plenty of algae in there for them. Also do some research, careful thought needs to go into what tangs to add and when to add them. Otherwise they will just kill each other. Also I would advise against the blue reef chromis. Success rates are very low. They kill each other off. I had five, all gone within a month. Oh, and by the way welcome to R2R.

 

[Jason mack]

Welcome tooR2R.. beautiful tank .,, how long has it been running ,

 

[OhCheezy]

Welcome tooR2R.. beautiful tank .,, how long has it been running ,

Hi, it's been running for about a month now.

 

[OhCheezy]

I have never heard about the tank needing to be more mature to add tangs. Just make sure to keep plenty of algae in there for them. Also do some research, careful thought needs to go into what tangs to add and when to add them. Otherwise they will just kill each other. Also I would advise against the blue reef chromis. Success rates are very low. They kill each other off. I had five, all gone within a month. Oh, and by the way welcome to R2R.

I had someone state to me, "A brand new reef tank has like 4 stages before maturity in bacteria can even handle three tangs, let alone the rest of the list of fish." Oh, I didn't know that about chromis. I kept reading that they are hardy fish for beginners and that it's better to keep them in odd numbers. Thank you for the tip!

 

[lou dog420]

It is true you should take your time stocking, to give your biofilter time to adjust. You could dose some bacteria to help speed up the process a little. Something like MB7. Your tank only being a month old, you are going to go through some algae outbreak soon.

 

[Joeganja]

Just want to add besides the fact of adding tangs you either add them all at once in a trio usually is better for the zebrasoma species if they are all the same type or you add specific tangs in order. I would probably hold off on tangs for another couple of months at least until the end of February to make sure your tank is as matured as posssible. With that being said any zebrasoma species such as the yellow tang, purple tang, etc. should be added last to the list of tangs. Best bet would be to add any of the Ctenochaetus species such as a kole tang or lavender tang first because they are one of the most docile and peaceful of the tangs. For your sake try not to add any acantharus species because they tend to get inch fairly easily like powder blue tangs and achilles. Any of the naso literatus or elegans should not be considered for a tank your size. But if you wanted to the "regular naso" seems to be very hardy and a fish with a great personality. But purchase them when they are less than 4-5 inches. Hippo tangs I see as a hit and miss. Either great fish with great personalities or total jerks and being a paracantharus species don't have the best immunity to diseases. You want to avoid getting ich as much as possible so we are trying to guide you away from adding any very sensitive fish to a newly established aquarium. That being said I would first add a species from the Ctenochaetus genus and then wait a couple of months and add your next tang or maybe a blue throat trigger ;)

 

[I Take Cars]

hawkfish eat shrimp :)

 

[lou dog420]

I added a captive breed blue hippo to my established yellow, they get along great, even seem to enjoy each others company. Then I added a kole, and the yellow killed him. Sucks because I really liked the kole, beautiful fish.

 

[OhCheezy]

If I add kelp plants such as smooth leaf or grape, will it help with nitrate levels? Would it be okay to add in live kelp plants this early?

 

[chickofthesea]

If I add kelp plants such as smooth leaf or grape, will it help with nitrate levels? Would it be okay to add in live kelp plants this early?

If you add macro algae to the display your fish and critters will eat it up. If you want to add plants put them in the sump. You are smart to join this group. Everyone is super helpful and friendly.

 

[Jason mack]

Hi, it's been running for about a month now.

I would definitely take it easy the first couple of months, like a lot have already said on here .. patience is a big key too success in reefing ...

 

[wpeterson]

First of all, welcome to the community! R2R is one of the most knowledgeable and friendly national reef communities. You also might consider looking for a local fish club to meet other people keeping reef tanks near you.

Your tank looks great and should be a solid foundation for a fish only system or maybe something more down the road. It's wise to add fish slowly to your tank to allow the biofilter to grow to match their needs. As long as you have enough space and nitrifying bacteria, you should be able to feed your tangs dried algae or other appropriate vegetarian food.

I'm a little bit jealous - it's amazing to start a reef tank for the first time. My family had such a great time watching our tank grow and mature the first time around. You never get to do that again :)

Welcome! No question is a dumb question, enjoy the community and keep us up to date on your adventure with your tank.

 

[Betty1964]

Welcome to Reef2reef. You joined for the same reason many of us did: some of the websites are particularity vicious.

Read everything you can and learn. Keep in mind that the guy who is telling you what you should get works at the LFS: meaning he probably gets a commission. As you learn more, you will become more confident and more proactive.

Be aware that everyone has an opinion. You will learn pretty quickly whose opinion has validity and who other people just kind of ignore. Never be afraid to ask a question here: we don't do the "that's a stupid question" thing.

 

[NeverlosT]

In a similar vein to just about everything on the internet... the advice is free, and often worth every penny.

Thankfully, you have found your way to somewhere that good advice flows much more frequently than bad, and hating on newcomers for making many of the same mistakes that we made years ago doesn't take place much.

Since your tank was started with cycled rock and water, it is likely that it will only experience a minimal "cycle" and that most if not all of the needed beneficial bacteria are already in place to handle your fishes waste (your LFS fellow knows this). You will know if it isn't ready because the algae will show up in force (a sign that your nutrients are climbing).

Definitely consider the fishes carefully, tangs will often get territorial, but some don't (they have personalities... like people, some are just mean).

Anyhow, welcome and good on you for seeking help from other reefers.

One great tip, when someone gives you advice, look into their system if they have a build thread. You will get a lot of folks online who will act like they are God's gift to reefing while their tank is actually a swamp. Take everything with a grain of salt. Good luck!

 

[V4Vendetta]

One great tip, when someone gives you advice, look into their system if they have a build thread. You will get a lot of folks online who will act like they are God's gift to reefing while their tank is actually a swamp. Take everything with a grain of salt. Good luck!

Best advise for newbie I've read in a long time

 

[Cole.mormon]

Plus one