What type of fishes goes with or is compatible with chocolate starfish,clown,shrimp.?

Question

My saltwater tank is 6 week old and I'm entering a new world of aquarums life. I believe I may have over feed my fishes at one time and even had the temp below inside the tank with the air condition on in the house and I though the fish where going to die. So if theres anyone out there who can please help me save my investment and my new found family...I would be so grateful.

I have a 40 gallon tank and we had are tank for two months and are star fish is called a red general starfish. we also have a 180 gallon tank which will be set up soon.

Answer 1

Before anyone can answer what fish you can/should add, we'll need to know the size of the tank you have so we can give you GOOD choices. You can add information to this question using the "add details" by clicking on the pencil icon under your question - this will save you from having to post a new question.

Chances are, for any of the fish we'll suggest (and those you already have) you'll need to have a heater. Your water temperature should be 76-80o, and that can bee hard to do if you've got air conditioning in the room. You should get a heater that's 5 watts for every gallon of tank water (that is, if tou have a 50 gallon tank, you'll need a 250 watt heater). For tanks over 30 gallons, a lot of aquarists like to use two heaters of the same wattage so the temparature is more even throughout the tank and if one heater stops working, there's a backup. So for the above example, instead of one 250 watt heater, you could get two 125 watt heaters and do the same job. You may also want to go up one wattage in size if the temperature increase from what the water is now to what it needs to be will be more than 10 degrees.

You also may need to reconsider the chocolate star. Not just because your tank is too new (which it is), but these need a large tank and may eat small fish as they sleep. These really aren't a good star for the aquarium. (http://www.marinedepotlive.com/chocolate-chip-sea-star---protoreastor-nodosus--inverts--stars.html , http://www.tropicalfishoutlet.com/Invertspecies.asp?InvertSubCategoryID=175&InvertType=

Overfeeding isn't good for a saltwater tank - in general, all the orgamisms are much less intolerant of poor water quality than those from freshwater. And unless you've got live rock in the tank, chances are you tank is still in the cycling process. This means too many fish or inverts and extra food are particularly bad because they will increase the amount of ammonia and nitrite (both toxic to your animals) that much more. Until your tank has cycled and you have no ammonia or nitrite (only nitrate shows up in your water tests), it might be best not to add any new fish. But if you let us know the size of the tank, I'd be more than happy to help you make some choice of good fish for the tank size and inhabitants for when you can add them.

Answer 2

If your tank is only 6 weeks old, the star fish should not be in the tank. There isn't enough bacteria to safely house him or enough food for him to eat yet.

Any fish really will work. But for now, your tank is too new to start adding tangs or butterfly's. Have patience.

Check out saltwaterfish.com they have a number of fish which can go into a new tank. It is more likely the immature bacteria that is causing your fish to look sick. Overfeeding is almost impossiable with fish. Fish will stop eating when they are full. Your biofilter is what will cause the problem. Over feeding feeds the biofilter and causes spiking.

Saltwater fish are very tolorant of temperature changes since like in the ocean, cold water washes in on currents and immediately changes the water temps by 20 degrees.

I would suggest not adding any fish for a while. When your tank is ready only add 1" of fish per 5 gallons of water two weeks apart.

Answer 3

Fish WILL and CAN over eat. he is right though with the starfish. Your tank is too new to add all the fish that you want. You need to figure out what you want in the tank and then do some research to figure out if they are good tankmates and if they would fit into your tank nicely. You can't have a predetory tank do to the starfish, but you could have a really nice tank if you planned it out first. If you don't have a heater, get one.