can i add?

I have a 55 gallon standard tank with about +/- 70lbs LR, a 3" sand bed and a 29 gallon sump/fuge. AquaC Remora Pro w/Mag3 for a skimmer.

What I have Stocked:

1) a coral beauty
2)female lyretail anthias
3)2 true percula clowns(bred from picassos but without the pattern)
4)2 blue/green chromis
5)a domino damsel(docile)
6)a 3 stripe damsel(not very agressive but semi teritorial)
7)a cleaner shrimp
8)2 peppermint shrimp
9)an emerald crab
10)white legged hermit crab
11)various snails
12)some soft corals
13)one lps

My Parameters are:

Ammonia:0
Nitrite:0
Nitrate:10-20
PH:8.3

No phosphate test, calcium test, or alkalinity test


I understand my tank is pretty stocked but would you think it is alright to add a yellow watchman goby, green mandarin(on prepared foods) or some other kind of bottom dweller....i dont really have anything at the bottom level of my tank mostly mid and upper column swimmers so i dont think i would have a problem territory wise and i feel like my filtration could handle the bio load. Do you think it is too much or will I be ok?

 

That Nitrate level tells me that you may want to up your water change routine or feed less. What is your maintenence on the tank like, how much/how often & what do you feed? It's best to keep Nitrates as close to 0 as possible. I would also consider getting a better skimmer for your sump, an Octopus would be good they pull out a lot of stuff, Remora's are decent for smaller tanks but as you get up to the 50g+ I think Octopus and other brands perform much better.

As far as adding another fish, a small one won't impact your bio-load much but you're pretty stocked as it is. If you can get your Nitrates down it would be best before adding another fish.

 

I think you should be alright.. It depends on how established your tank it though. If you see your levels going up after you make these adds you may have a little bit of a problem though being that some of these fish can be hard to catch. I would add one at a time so your system has a chance to catch up.

 

nitrates are a little up because i turned the skimmer off for a couple days, i added stress coat and it went haywire but i think two days is enough time to wait on before turning it back on tonight. water changes are at every 2 weeks 20% and as needed besides that... i could go a little lighter on feeding but my anthias only eats frozen and its difficult to spot feed her so i usually throw a little extra frozen in so that the other guys dont eat all her food especially the angel lol...well i guess its better the frozen foods than my corals(shes very well behaved and hasnt touched anything yet going on a week and a half)....the remora is rated for 50 the remora pro is rated for 90... nitrates at that level isnt really an issue health wise to anything, it just means a little more algae but even that is minimal in the tank...my mangroves do a great job and bringing everything down.

 

the tank has been cycled about 2 months or so almost id say....the 2 damsels and the chromis were in since i got the tank running....long story short i bought live sand and live rock off a guy and he was shutting down his tank one way or another so i took these guys on as well as another 2 damsels and a moony to save them from being sacraficed to the porcelain gods and only had a mini cycle on the tank that lasted maybe a week and a half because everything was bought live and i used a bacteria booster to get it started.....i found homes for 2 of the damsels and the moony and kept the other 4 a full month before i added anything else....in which i added the coral beauty and anthias....then i waited a week and added the 2 clowns...and im in no rush to pick up the fish imediately but wanted something to complete the tank so i was thinking yellow watchman or green mandarin do you guys have any other bottom dwellers to recommend...im open minded

 

You just posted yesterday asking if you should get a pistol to go with the watchman ALREADY have?

 

Juat wondering why you were using the stress coat, are you using RO/DI?

 

Not my post about pistol shrimp

And the coral beauty either roughed himself up in the rock work or my emerald nipped him and has an abrasion

 

Oops sorry!

 

Lol no problem, it happens