anyone with caribbean fish exp.

[billford]

istarted a 125g 30 days ago i ordered 6 small blue chromis called the store and they said they had them drove 3 hrs across chicago in major snowstorm only to find blue green chromis so anyway people on the forum found my choice of fish bad can anyone suggest some fish /stocking rate for a newbie i like carib.blue tang yellow head jawfish in a few months

[jonbry123]

Bill,

I'm not sure of what you are asking. Are you looking for suggestions for stocking a Carib biotope or are you asking if it's ok to have the Blue tang with a jawfish?

Scott

[billford]

im asking for suggestions on type and how many thanx

[jonbry123]

If your looking to create a Carib biotope the tang and jawfish would be great choices. Consider also the Royal Gramma- a beautiful basslet. It is difficult to say just how many fish you could place in the tank as one, I don't know what your filtering capacity/type is andwhat type of skimmer your using. The Atlantic Blue tang can get to be a large fish up to 10 inches in lenght given time. Don't put this fish in your tank yet as it needs to cycle. If your using the Chromis to cycle the tank that is fine and good to see you have a DSB in your sump. The old rule of how many fish in a tank always was "1" of fish per 5 gallons. This may or may not apply again depending on how well the filterings system(s) is on the tank. Also if you add an agressive fish such as the tang it's agression can be exaggerated in small confines.

[billford]

how long do you think i should let the tank cycle before adding the tang can i use it alone to help cycle im debating about the chromis if i get them i want to keep them also is it a problem if i dont have the DSB in the sump i mostly wanted it for cooling in the summertime i dont want to add heat in the basement as far as lights

[jonbry123]

How long it takes to cycle depends on a couple of things, one how much organic waste is generated is at the top of the list. If I understand correctly you have no fish in the tank now? If not you've got to add them to start the process. You can also purchase live bacteria cultures to further along the process. Petsolutions had a cycle solution that stated the tank could be cylced within 48hrs, though I would be suspect about that. Where is the DSB now? Is it in the tank itself? Yes you definitly want the tank to have cycled before adding the tang, it would be unable to tolorate the ammonia and nitrites that will skyrocket in the beginning of the cycle process.

[billford]

yes the DSB is in tank ive been feeding the tank flakes for the snails also i think the live rock helped the bed is bubbling now dont have any fish all the params are pretty stable what do you think for my first fish the tang alone or the chromis basically what im asking now is do you thinkthe small tang and chromis will get along if i add one first to help with getting my feet wet or should i choose one and exclude the other from the tank thanx for your time