5 new fish coming tomorrow.. Anything I should know before adding?

[EvolvedMonkey]

I have 5 quarantined fish coming tomorrow that I plan on adding to my 2 year old 165 gallon:
CBB, Marine Betta, yellow watchman, coral beauty, and a tailspot blenny (all young fish). Is this a ridiculous amount of fish to add at once?

I currently have 13 fish:

Mandarin, fire fish, 3 blue eyed cardinals, royal gramma, purple tang, foxface, lawnmower blenny, hawkfish, exquisite wrasse, red margin, diamond goby, solar fairy wrasse.

I've always had high nitrates (35) and phosphates (0.75), but I'm running Nopox on a doser now as well as a refugium and filter changes every other day (Filter floss in 2 filter cups, and 2 200 micron red sea filter socks) in hopes to get control of those numbers.

Anything I should know before adding these fish tomorrow to reduce potential stress or problems? I read something about Ammonia spikes when adding several new fish at once, but I'm not sure if that's a risk for me.

I plan on turning off the lights for about 24 hours, hoping to help them settle in.

 

[tzabor10]

Use an acclimation box for best results. They are 100% worth it.

 

[CO2TLEY]

I think you’ll be fine with 5 in an established tank of that size. I would just recommend lights out for awhile and should be good to go

 

[EvolvedMonkey]

Use an acclimation box for best results. They are 100% worth it.

Can I put all 5 fish in a 10 inch by 18 inch box?? How long do I leave them in there? How do I feed them in the meantime?

Thanks for the advice.

 

[EvolvedMonkey]

I think you’ll be fine with 5 in an established tank of that size. I would just recommend lights out for awhile and should be good to go

How long is awhile?

This makes me feel much better. I appreciate the insight.

 

[CO2TLEY]

Everyone is different, i normally leave mine off for about 4-5 hours and get them back on just in time to get everyone fed for the day

 

[Gumbies R Us]

How long is awhile?

This makes me feel much better. I appreciate the insight.

I usually leave my lights out for about 2 hours, and they are good to go!

 

[EvolvedMonkey]

I usually leave my lights out for about 2 hours, and they are good to go!

The copperband is getting bullied a bit by the purple tang and fox face.. I put her in an isolation box for now. I'll let her out again in a couple of hours..

She's also not eating.

 

[exnisstech]

The copperband is getting bullied a bit by the purple tang and fox face.. I put her in an isolation box for now. I'll let her out again in a couple of hours..

She's also not eating.

IMO the CBB should be in a tank alone untill you get it eating food out of the water column.

EDIT : might have better luck isolating the bully rather than the fish bring bullied.

 

[tzabor10]

Can I put all 5 fish in a 10 inch by 18 inch box?? How long do I leave them in there? How do I feed them in the meantime?

Thanks for the advice.

5 might be a bit much. Probably let the blenny and goby free. They can usually hide well. Keep the others in isolation for as long as you can. @Bulk Reef Supply has a great video on this with @premiumaquatics. Reducing stress and aggression will help to prevent disease.

 

[EvolvedMonkey]

IMO the CBB should be in a tank alone untill you get it eating food out of the water column.

EDIT : might have better luck isolating the bully rather than the fish bring bullied.

I will try isolating the bully if it happens again. I distracted the purple tang with a mirror for a few hours, so she fought herself for a while. I let the CBB out of isolation while that was happening, and the dynamic seems to have changed drastically.. CBB is no longer being bullied.

The CBB is grazing on rocks, so I'll take that as a good sign.

None of the 5 new fish took any brine or mysis when I added it to the tank..

That has me a bit worried, but I'll keep trying.

 

[exnisstech]

I will try isolating the bully if it happens again. I distracted the purple tang with a mirror for a few hours, so she fought herself for a while. I let the CBB out of isolation while that was happening, and the dynamic seems to have changed drastically.. CBB is no longer being bullied.

The CBB is grazing on rocks, so I'll take that as a good sign.

None of the 5 new fish took any brine or mysis when I added it to the tank..

That has me a bit worried, but I'll keep trying.

I tried a mirror once with my purple and it was scared of the reflection lol.
The fact that the CBB is pecking at rocks is a good sign. I have one I'm working with now to get eating. I've had him 11 days and got him to eat some live black worms today. I have some brine shrimp hatching to try also. The key for me is finding something they like then giving them as much as they want so they get nice and healthy then start adding different foods. The one I've had for a while loves mastick so I've been sticking some of that on the rock and he is showing interest but has not eaten it. I've just had better luck getting them to eat in a tank alone but not everyone has that option. Hopefully yours does well for you. My oldest one is female and the new one male so I'm going to try to pair them up.

 

[EvolvedMonkey]

I tried a mirror once with my purple and it was scared of the reflection lol.
The fact that the CBB is pecking at rocks is a good sign. I have one I'm working with now to get eating. I've had him 11 days and got him to eat some live black worms today. I have some brine shrimp hatching to try also. The key for me is finding something they like then giving them as much as they want so they get nice and healthy then start adding different foods. The one I've had for a while loves mastick so I've been sticking some of that on the rock and he is showing interest but has not eaten it. I've just had better luck getting them to eat in a tank alone but not everyone has that option. Hopefully yours does well for you. My oldest one is female and the new one male so I'm going to try to pair them up.

Sounds like you and I are trying all the same things

I've been working with mastick, pushing it into holes, but somehow the foxface and tang find a way to get it out every time before she finds it.

If she doesn't start eating by tomorrow I'll be heading to the store to buy some black worms.. Any tips with the black worms, or do you just rinse them every morning to keep them alive and drop them in the tank when you think the CBB is hungry?

I've got some baby brine, and a baby brine feeder for my Mandarin, so maybe the CBB will eventually take an interest in that.

 

[Jekyl]

Even with fish that are quarantined it's still recommended to use a 2 week observation period. Plenty of horror stories out there about the fish that were "pre quarantined "

 

[exnisstech]

I just keep them in a shallow container in the fridge and pour as much water out as I can without dumping worms each day and add fresh. They usually keep a few weeks for me that way.

 

[Aqua62]

I tried a mirror once with my purple and it was scared of the reflection lol.
The fact that the CBB is pecking at rocks is a good sign. I have one I'm working with now to get eating. I've had him 11 days and got him to eat some live black worms today. I have some brine shrimp hatching to try also. The key for me is finding something they like then giving them as much as they want so they get nice and healthy then start adding different foods. The one I've had for a while loves mastick so I've been sticking some of that on the rock and he is showing interest but has not eaten it. I've just had better luck getting them to eat in a tank alone but not everyone has that option. Hopefully yours does well for you. My oldest one is female and the new one male so I'm going to try to pair them up.

I have gone thru a couple of CBB's. The first unfortunately didn't last to long, it was very picky. My current CBB I started to feed thawed out mysis shrimp only and have had him for almost 5 years now. I still feed mysis but now he takes a mix of mysis and thawed out brine shrimp.

 

[EvolvedMonkey]

I have gone thru a couple of CBB's. The first unfortunately didn't last to long, it was very picky. My current CBB I started to feed thawed out mysis shrimp only and have had him for almost 5 years now. I still feed mysis but now he takes a mix of mysis and thawed out brine shrimp.

Really hope mine starts eating mysis tomorrow, or I'm going to get black worms.

My Purple Tang has completely changed her behavior. She is going around attacking anything that moves. The mirror is up for now, and it keeps her distracted, but I'm worried it's going to drive her crazy.

Think I'm going to try to catch her and isolate her for a few days to see if that chills her out..

There are so many ways that things can go wrong when you add new fish.

 

[littlefoxx]

Really hope mine starts eating mysis tomorrow, or I'm going to get black worms.

My Purple Tang has completely changed her behavior. She is going around attacking anything that moves. The mirror is up for now, and it keeps her distracted, but I'm worried it's going to drive her crazy.

Think I'm going to try to catch her and isolate her for a few days to see if that chills her out..

There are so many ways that things can go wrong when you add new fish.

Ive had two purples. My first was a nut. I threw him in the no no box as I call it for a few days. I only let him out when he stopped flipping the F out. My next one was not as aggressive but she let everyone know she was tank boss. Lost her to old age she was an old fish when I got her so it was to be expected

 

[OrionN]

I would acclimate the CBB and maybe the angel. The other three just release to the tank.

 

[exnisstech]

Can you remove the purple? Even a tote can work as temporary housing. IME its going to be very difficult getting the CBB eating with an aggressive fish in the tank. I started my current one off in a tank with a few other fish none of them even paid attention to it but I could tell by its shy behavior it was not going to do well in there so I pulled it an placed it in a tote. Even with black worms mine spends time checking them out before eating. That would not be possible in a tank with other hungry fish. All of the fish will show interest in the worms. Sorry if I seem to be repeating myself. I'm far from an expert but IME to be succesful with these fish they have to be willing to eat out of the water column or they will starve with other fish out competing them and this is difficult to accomplish in a tank with other hungry fish.
Have you reached out to the vendor to see if it was eating and what? If it truly is a quarantined fish I would think it would have been eating since QT is typically 30 days unless they just did a short observation which is not ussualy what folks expect from a fish sold as QTed.