Nano owners - few questions :)

[SaltwaterKitty]

I have a AP24 and I know that I will only be able to have a small handful of fish in it.

As of right now, I have my CUC and one Royal Gramma. I did not quarantine him as there was nothing else in the tank at the time. He has been in there about 4 weeks now with no issues. My plan is to add a pair of clowns and possibly a pair of bangaii cardinals.

First question ... is that too many fish for my tank (24g)?

Second question - for nano owners that will just have a few fish, whats the best way to run a QT? If I only plan to add fish two more times, does an entire separate tank need to be set up and running all the time? I will not add any more fish until I am doing it the right way ... just want to make sure that I am doing what I need to do and not doing anything that is unneccesary.

Thank you for the info!!

Kat

 

[JonnyJ]

hey!

Do you have a skimmer on the tank? How many lbs of live rock?

 

[SaltwaterKitty]

As of right now, I do not ... tried the Bio Cube and it didn't fit with the cover (maybe you know this as an AP owner) ... the sapphire one is probably what I will need to get, just need to do it. I have a very small bioload right now so it's not been a necessity up to this point.

I have about 40lbs of LR right now.

Kat

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

First and foremost you don't need to set up the the QT forever. You can set it up as needed. How I do it is I get a small tank like 10 gallons and then I do a water change from the main tank of 5 gallons. I drain it right into the QT, then I add 5 gallons or replacement water to the display and another 4 1/2 - 5 gallons to the qt. I turn on the Hang on filter and run it and add the heater. I let the heater sit for a few hours and then turn it on and get the tank up to temp. I have a piece of PVC that I put in the tank for the fish to hide in. The next day I make my purchase and add the fish to the QT. Then I watch them for a week or two and if needed I keep them quarantined but if they are doing well I add them to the display. Then I break down the QT and put it away after a good cleaning.

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

As of right now, I do not ... tried the Bio Cube and it didn't fit with the cover (maybe you know this as an AP owner) ... the sapphire one is probably what I will need to get, just need to do it. I have a very small bioload right now so it's not been a necessity up to this point.

I have about 40lbs of LR right now.

Kat

As far as skimmers go yes the sapphire will allow you to close the lid. I had a tunze in the pod but it was open top and I didn't have a lid to try closing it with.

 

[bizarrecorals]

6 fish in a 24 gal is not too bad, you should've put the gramma in last, some get territorial.

you should run a qt tank like any other tanks, I doubt that'll be the last 6 fish your be buying. Check the water frequent and put coppersafe in it, some people here might tell you that you need to drop the salinity to 1.015-1.014, but thats pointless in a home aquaria, try to keep the qt tank at the same perimeter as your main tank, much less stress on the fish.

 

[NYreefNoob]

in reality, the gramma will harras and more then likely kill the other fish, if anything id do a pair of gobies and a pair of clowns, i dont qt any fish, i do a 5 minute freshwater dip ph and temp adjusted and do a 30 min prozi dip

 

[SaltwaterKitty]

Sadly, I had only become aware of the RG territorial issues AFTER the LFS told me it was a "great starter fish" when they were fully aware of the status of my tank as I had been in there quite a few times (they sold me my CUC, test kits and also knew my plans for stocking the tank)

I'm not sure what we'll do about the RG in reality but I do know this ... I will never step foot into that store again because based on not only this, but a few other actions of the store - I realized that they are ONLY in it for the money, not for the well being of my tank.

Thank you all for the great info!!

Kat

 

[Imbarrie]

Are you mixing your own water for water changes?

The reason I ask is you could possibly use the same container as a q tank.

 

[SaltwaterKitty]

Yes, I am. I just use a 5 gal bucket for my water changes.

 

[basiab]

I have the same tank. I do use an hob skimmer but you can probably do without it if you change 2 gallons a week on schedule. I use a glass top instead of the hood because I use T5's.
I just got rid of my gramma because after 2 years he was getting too bossy and I had a feeling he needed a bigger setup. I lost a chalk bass that I had for 2 years and I have a feeling the gramma was the cause since he has been very bold lately. I had him and the bass plus a spotted cardinal (6 years), a fire fish (2 years) a green clown goby (new) and a neon goby (3 years). You can probably sneak in some clown gobies or sand dwelling ones on the gramma. But any swimmers will be running from him.

 

[SaltwaterKitty]

I have the same tank. I do use an hob skimmer but you can probably do without it if you change 2 gallons a week on schedule. I use a glass top instead of the hood because I use T5's.
I just got rid of my gramma because after 2 years he was getting too bossy and I had a feeling he needed a bigger setup. I lost a chalk bass that I had for 2 years and I have a feeling the gramma was the cause since he has been very bold lately. I had him and the bass plus a spotted cardinal (6 years), a fire fish (2 years) a green clown goby (new) and a neon goby (3 years). You can probably sneak in some clown gobies or sand dwelling ones on the gramma. But any swimmers will be running from him.

These are all very disappointing replies after being told he was a great starter fish. Even after everyone's replies (besides this one), I went to another LFS that has a better rep and even they told me the gramma would be fine and the ones they have don't bother a soul. I'm not sure what to do actually but I'm sure I will figure it out soon enough. I won't put up with it for sure.

I'm considering a bangaii cardinalfish (or a pair), a pair of clowns and a goby.

Thank you for your response!!

Kat

 

[basiab]

If you keep the gramma the clowns and goby will probably be ok because the goby will stay out of his way and the clowns are fiesty. Just make sure it is a clown type that does not get too big. The cardinals are probably going to have a hard time being bullied by the gramma. They are just too timid.

 

[KathyC]

If you think you can get the Gramma out of the tank, I would buy the new fish & QT them, and when you are ready to switch over, take out the Gramma, rearrange the rocks, add the new fish and then put the Gramma back in after a week or two

 

[TRIGGERMAN]

As I have been reading the replies I was thinking exactly what Kathy said. When you change the environment there is no more territory. I always switch up my rock work 1) because I get bored and want to be creative but 2) if I see any hostility. The gamma might not necessarily be extremely aggressive towards your other fish it's really a fish by fish basis. I'm sure people will agree and I'm sure there is some that have seen me say this before. When someone classifies a fish as "aggressive" or "territorial" it is a generalization and is not always true. Seeing how the fish is acting in the store helps too ,watch it for a little while. Try to put them together if they fight then pick which one you like better and get rid of the other or just try to switch out the fish with someone else. Sometimes someone will buy a fish specifically because it is an "aggressive" species and it turns out it is not and it's the reverse effect. So instead of the fish picking on others it is the one being picked on. Realistically Life is a dice game give'em a roll them and see what you get.