What Should I Get Next?

[The-Raven]

I have a 55 gallon semireef (basically just the corners have rock, about 2/3 of the tank is open water/sane) and I currently have a 3-stripe damsel, yellowtail damsel, true perc clown, and a yellow tang.

The tank has been up and running for about 8 months now, the only major problems have been mass algae growth and snail/hermit genocides. But both seem to have calmed down now and I'm beginning to look up all the old sites that I haven't been to in a while - including this one - in search of what to get next. During the first 3 months of my tank's life I slowly built up the rock, life, and hardware, and now that they've all had a while to settle in, I'm getting ready to build it up to it's max.

I have no coral, but I would like to sometime this summer. I did experiment with an orange sun coral, which looked great for about 2 months, then died suddenly in february or so.

In terms of non-fish, this is what I plan on getting:
Zebra, Blue-legged, and Red-legged hermits. Nerites, Nassarius, and Bumble bee snails. And for something a little larger, Electric Blue Hermit - I've had 3 of these throughout the life of my aquarium, none of them are no longer with us


But in terms of fish, I'm planning on getting some neon/golden neon gobies, for cleaning and such.

What else, if anything, should I put into my tank? I'd like another big fish along the lines of a tang, and maybe some smaller wrasses or damsels. I also wouldn't mind something a little more exotic.

What's your ideas?

 

[The-Raven]

I forgot to add that I'd like to get more algae-grazing inverts... any suggestions?

 

[Mr Miagi]

It sounds like your clean-up crews are taking a beating, and you may have a predator, like amantis shrimp in your tank. Until you can identify the cause behind all those clean-up crew deaths, I suggest an Urchin! They mow down algae very well.

How did you feed the sun-coral? Each individual polyp requires feeding. Not just some, and not others. Its one reason why their upkeep takes alot of work, and the waste they can produce is high. Corals and what species you can keep really relies on what lighting you have. So....what do you have in the way of lighting?

Fish wise, youve got alot of potential there! WOOT! Im not 100% about the neon gobies cleaning your tank though, I think they feed from the normal food you place in the tank for them, not algae. (Wait and see what someone else thinks).

 

[The-Raven]

It sounds like your clean-up crews are taking a beating, and you may have a predator, like amantis shrimp in your tank. Until you can identify the cause behind all those clean-up crew deaths, I suggest an Urchin! They mow down algae very well.

How did you feed the sun-coral? Each individual polyp requires feeding. Not just some, and not others. Its one reason why their upkeep takes alot of work, and the waste they can produce is high. Corals and what species you can keep really relies on what lighting you have. So....what do you have in the way of lighting?

Fish wise, youve got alot of potential there! WOOT! Im not 100% about the neon gobies cleaning your tank though, I think they feed from the normal food you place in the tank for them, not algae. (Wait and see what someone else thinks).

most of the stuff you said is stuff i knew and forgot to say - i do remember you from when i used to visit here, so hopefully you'll keep up on my thread heh.

Lighting is power compact flourescent...

As for my sun coral, i used a small tube and sprayed it down with brine shrimp and plankton about twice a week - i can't honestly say i got each polyp directly, which doesn't surprise me since it started dying from the back edge (didn't even see it until it was about 1/3 gone)

about my cleaning crews dying off, i couldn't really pinpoint a cause, it wasn't like they died all of a sudden, it was slowly over time, some of them are still alive today, but not nearly the numbers i had before. and i did witness my hermits cannibalizing each other on several occasions. i would think if i had some sort of virus, bacteria, or mass predator, it would have affected my fish as well, which is hasn't. I did notice an aptasia once or twice, and then when I scheduled a day for myself to go in and get it, i wouldn't be able to find it anymore.

I wasn't hoping for the neon gobies to clean the tank, i know they won't as a matter of fact. Had a pair early on in my aquarium who seemed to enjoy giving my tang a pruning. but they are fun to watch.

 

[SkiFletch]

If you're concerned with algae eating, I would like ot suggest a lettuce nudibranch and an emerald crab as well. Both of them mow down most algae species

 

[richard t]

You say you would like another Tang. But your tank IMO is not big enough for the one you have, nevermind two.

And which ever fish you decide to chose you will have a hell of a time introducing it to your DAMSELS.

Your power compacts will allow you to go reef, but they have limits. I would only keep softies unless your tank is only shallow.

 

[Mr Miagi]

Well, maybe your clean-up crew starved. Or, have dwindled down their numbers to an appropriate figure themselves. I wouldnt add any more, as suggested by Ski, an emerald crab, or urchin might be the go.

Try mushroom corals and zoanthids for your first corals. Your very limited with PC's.

 

[Aquascaper]

JMO:

Remove the Yellow Tang and get one or two Dwarf Angels (totally differnt colour morphs though)
Get an Algae Blenny (sometimes called a lawnmower blenny) to remove algae from the glass and rocks, Emerald Crab for any bubble algae and various types of snail.