Adding a few fish

[awestruck]

I would like to add some small schooling fish, or perhaps more Anthias but I am not sure if my tank could manage them for their needs.

I have a 58g. (36" L) reef that is not too heavily stocked. The corals are as follows:

1. 13" Bubble (queen of the tank)
2. 4" Pagoda cup that literally looks like a fat wineglass
3. 7" Meat (red)
4. 6" Neon green Open Brain
5. One 6" rock covered with green mushrooms
6. 9" Toadstool
7. 4" Sea Apple (needed a home)
8. 7" Finger

The fish are as follows:

1. 2" Coral Beauty
2. 2" Male Lyretail Anthias
3. Gold Skunk Clown

I also have 10 Astrea snails, 1 Sand sifting star, and about 10 Nassarius snails. From what I have read on RC I definitely need more of a cleanup crew. There is also Culerpa (sp. ?).

My tank has a skimmer, 3 powerheads, a canister that holds only carbon (but the spray bar moves the water at the top for good oxygen exchange), and of course the heater. There is no refugium because there is no where to put one. The sand bed is approximately 2-1/" to 3" with 80 lbs. of live rock.

My water stays stable although I seem to only be able to get my nitrates to 20 (I'm not sure how to write that). The nitrates seem to stay constant--little fluctuation.

So, could my tank hold, say, 2 more Anthias or perhaps a school of 5 Chromis? And, what else can I do to get my nitrates to zero: Any advice would be appreciated.:)

[Sk8r]

I think if you could deepen that sandbed by one inch it might help the nitrate. Don't do it all at once: just lower a ziplock with about half a cup of well-washed sand to the bottom and ease it out. I'm also just a little iffy about your number of sand-cleaners: they may have it TOO clean. You don't have any sponge or filter medium anywhere in the system and you change your carbon out every 7 days? Carbon itself, if it stays too long, can become a nitrate farm.

Chromis won't school unless threatened. And they kill off any they consider surplus to the tank size. I suspect their limit would be close to 1. I'm surprised you've been able to get the anthias to live at all in a 58. I fear two more might push it too far. Again, schooling is more of a fear response, and if they're not afraid, they tend to break up and go look for food.

I think your best bet for other fishes would be some gobies or blennies, that cling close to the rocks and provide color and movement without making much demand on the system. The fish you've got are all inclined to need to be fed to survive and that in itself may be pushing the nitrates. Gobies and blennies tend to live off the land...or rock, or sand, eating algae and detritus.

You're clearly doing something right with your tank to be able to keep the fish you have.

[awestruck]

Thanx for the encouragement. When I bought the Anthias I was told the 58g. would be sufficient--are you thinking my tank is too small for it? And, the Anthias doesn't come out and swim a whole lot. This is upsetting because I am of the mind that if I am going to house these animals, then I have a moral responsibility to do the best I can to provide them a good environment. I may sound like I'm on soapbox, and well, so be it. Also, I didn't know that schooling occured due to fear. I'm always learning something new... And, I love blennies but I thought that maybe one would be kind of threatened by the Coral Beauty. Additionally, I will definitely add more sand--slowly. Does the sand need to be live? I know this sounds kind of stupid but I worry that if I add more sand my snails will get buried too deeply and die. Lastly, fortunately I am aware that if carbon gets too old it will become a nitrate factory. I run carbon because I have a mix of soft corals and LPS. I was told that some of the softies will expel toxins which will hurt everything. Also, none of my corals are even close to each other--I am afraid they will sting each other. Needless to say my tank doesn't look as cool as many I see on RC that are packed with corals. What am I not getting?! Again, any advice is truly welcome and appreciated.

[awestruck]

Need to add something. When Sk8r mentioned carbon, sponges, etc. I realized that yes, I do have 1 sponge in the canister. When I first began my reef I started a filtration system based on what my LFS recommended --> ceramic things, carbon, sponges, etc. Because I DID NOT DO MY HOMEWORK FIRST I was under the impression this was the way to go. Then I started learning about natural filtration (sand and live rock) and after adding the sand and letting it begin to become a filtration system I slowly took the ceramic things and most of the sponges out of the canister. Needless to say my nitrates dropped from 40 to 20. Now the nitrates are stuck at 20, and maybe just having that one sponge in the canister is part of the problem. I do like the canister however, because I can put carbon in it if necessary, and the spray bar really does move water at the top of the tank. So, I guess I am asking if I should eliminate the 1 sponge and do you think that that will help lower the nitrates to 0 (in addition to adding more sand that Sk8r recommended)? Also please note that when I get on my soapbox it is directed at MYSELF--kind of like a "you should know better..."