Toadstool question + sps and stocking need advice from somone other the a lfs employe

[Jessie Nicoletti]

i know its a long post srry hehe but felt i needed some advice from someone other then someone trying to sell a fish or coral

ok first question is i have a clown goby who has called a small toadstool leather coral his perch for most of the time it seems there are little yellow spots that almost look like sulphur they dont really come off they havent spread and it is just where he sits it seems, has anyone ever had this issue , do i have to worry ?

i have a 90 gal tank with a few corals and a good bunch of fish probarly stocked to the limit but not sure anyways i use a 48 " coralife power compact set up ( 4 power compact bulbs 4 lunar leds ( 2 leds burned out or something) 2 are actinic 62 or 65k 2 are 10k bulbs and i think 65k or 62k watts the tank is 48 x 18 x 23 ( dimensions may be off a bit) i curently have a torch, frogspawn, hammer, bubble, finger leather , a toadstool , a leather that is flat kinda like a fan / pancake type look going up, waveing xenia, a few mushrooms 2 small zoa colonys ( never have luck with this type for some reason) i had a monti that seems to have bleached i had it closeish to the top the lights are about 3-4 " ( just a guess) above the watter dose this mean it was to close or can it mean that my lights arent good enough ?

my fish stock is as follows with a guess as to how long ive had them
1 flame angel 1 month 3.5"
1 flamehead dottyback 3 years ( got to help with bristelworm issue) 4"
1 orchid dottyback 3 months 2.5"
1 roayal grama 3 months 2.5"
1 orange spot goby New 2 "
1 spoted mandarin NEW ( really small size) 1 "
3 pajama cardinals 2 months for 1/ 1 year for the other 2 2.5" amd 3"
5 green chromis 1 year 2-2.5"
1 yellow damsel 2 months 2"
1 yellow tail blue damsel 4 years 1 " ( i know this is wierd but he hasnt grown is there a dwarf species?)
1 yellow tang 4 years 5"
2 cinamin clowns 2 years 3" and 1.5"
2 percula clowns 2 months 3" and 2"
1 Green Wrasse 4 months 3.5"
1 snowflake eel 2 months 14" ( just a guess i havent seen him come out all the way alot)
1 boxfish 3 months 1" he was the size of my thumbnail when i got him ( also one of my fav fish in the tank)
1 red scooter blenny 2 years 3.5"
cleaner wrase 2.5"
inverts 20-40 hermis 5 turban smails 10-20 naisus snails 1 arrow crab, 1 big and 1 really small long spine urchin, 1 cleaner shrimp 1 fire shrimp

today my flamehead dottyback was chaseing the new mandarin around the tank never seen him do this before to any fish and hes been there a while and i know the eel is a risk but i read snowflakes dont really go after fish and inverts if u feed them and they are used to eating frozen foods not sure if i should be worried about these 2 fish. was curious on others who kept these fish in reef enviorments how thier expieriences were.
and also do you think i have any more room for fish? im lm leaning twords no but my lfs says i should have room and im only at half capacity .

[Original Fin]

I'm having a hard time believing this is legit, but I guess I'm biting. I suppose it's possible an unscrupulous LFS could be giving such bad advice.

You have 25 fish in a 90? I have 5 in a 55, and that's as far as I'm going to push it.
Even if that was a 900 gallon tank, I would think you'd still have problems with fighting amongst the fish you have selected.
You've had 13 of these fish for longer than a year. That's already more than I'd be comfortable with. Within the last 4 months you've added 12 more...Why? How is it you keep nutrients in check? How can you possibly have enough biofitration?

If it were me, I would not add any more fish. In fact, I'd re-home at least half of what you currently have. Repost this in the fish forum, and Lee may be able to help guide you on which ones to keep together.
Sorry if this seems less than helpful, but you could very easily be on the verge of a disaster. Good luck

[Jessie Nicoletti]

while it may seem like alot the most agressive fish is the tang folowed by the dottyback other then that none of them ever have agressive interactions the chromis sometimes get on to chaseing the yellow damsel when he gets to one half of the tank and the sets of clowns dont get along all the time but i keep them well fed and have a carpet anenome and long tentacle anenome the other fish are non agressive to other species though can be agressive on there own ( i avoided similar coloration and shape for the most part) this tank has been runing since 03 and most arent big i do want to get rid of the flamehead dottyback and get my parameters checked 1nce a week to every other week. amonia is non present nor are nitrites or nitrites an issue i had a imbalance of calcium and alkalinity but got that under control calcium is still a bit high but 2 or more watter changes should fix that . also i have a 200 gal rated protien skimmer and 20 gallon maybe 30 wet dry trickle a aquaclear 110 with a 6 year old biological filter bag ( has a bunch of stones designed to hold massive amountes of nitrifying bactiria i also havent lost any fish recently though i lost a shrimp and i think the flamehead is responsible though he hasnt bothered the new one .

[Original Fin]

You've got a few peaceful members in there, but there's also a whole bunch of agressive...11 damselfish, an eel, royal gramma. I'm not saying they don't play nice in your tank, but they're certainly not known for it.

[Jessie Nicoletti]

ok i really need my toadstool question answered thats more important to me as there is no real agressivness in the tank when i look at it. and i need some imput on my lights

the damsels can be agressive but usaly agressiveness is only present with fish that look the same or similar ( i do want to get rid of my flamehead dottyback and maybe the yellow damsel, the eel is fine as long as i dont catch him catching fish or my cleanershrimp then im not worried he is only maybe the thickness of a dime. the clownfish pairs used to be at eachothers throats but now they leave eachother alone till they get within 6 " of the anenome the cinamins are hosting the perculas get chased away for a second or two. i have never had any issue with my gramma or orchid dottyback ( they were added same day).

i should also note i dont plan on adding anything other then some shrimp , crabs maybe a tiny bit more liverock if i can ever find a piece that will fit where i need it to lol ( and its a wierd spot). i plan on adding maybe up to 6 more corals depending on if theres any species that catches my eye i am right now still wanting to get a ellegance coral, a devils finger leather, purple hornet zoa;s ( i saw them and they look really nice) and some acan i really want a montipora that plates but after my last one bleached after it broke im skeptical of adding a new one.other then that i like my hammer coral and frogspawn so im thinking of geting another of those if i can a find a spot and b find another color variation.

[Jessie Nicoletti]

You have 25 fish in a 90? I have 5 in a 55, and that's as far as I'm going to push it.
Even if that was a 900 gallon tank, I would think you'd still have problems with fighting amongst the fish you have selected.

you say you have 5 fish in a 55 what kind of fish are they and how big , im no newb to the hobby though there are plenty of things i dont know about it i try to learn as much as i can. as for fighting other then the regal angel i got recently there really is none ( he was bullied for the first 12ish hours by the tang , it was like the tang was looking to chase him around yesterday) today the tang dosent pursue him or even try to go after him unless he swims close

i am looking to get rid of my flamehead dottyback as i have stated before but not sure how to get him other then tearing apart all my liverock ( im sure you can understand why that action would be painful who wants to destroy thier work)

[Original Fin]

you say you have 5 fish in a 55 what kind of fish are they and how big , im no newb to the hobby though there are plenty of things i dont know about it i try to learn as much as i can. as for fighting other then the regal angel i got recently there really is none ( he was bullied for the first 12ish hours by the tang , it was like the tang was looking to chase him around yesterday) today the tang dosent pursue him or even try to go after him unless he swims close

i am looking to get rid of my flamehead dottyback as i have stated before but not sure how to get him other then tearing apart all my liverock ( im sure you can understand why that action would be painful who wants to destroy thier work)

Jessie-

I have 2 ORA Ocelaris Clowns, a Pajama Cardinal, a Bi-color Dwarf Angel, and a Mandarin.
You could experiment with acrylic fish traps. You'd probably catch every other fish twice before you got the one you wanted though. Or maybe not. If the dotty is one of the alphas, it may get first dibs on feedings. You basically leave the trap in tank for several days to desensitize all your fish to it. Then you hold off on feeding to get them all good and hungry. Then put your food in the trap and stand by on the trigger string.
Early on, I had to remove al my rock to catch a problem Blue Devil (go figure) Damsel. I will never do that again.

[Indy2009]

One of my clownfish..seems to want to host both of my toadstools, I have the same problem for the last year..Don't really think you have anything to worry about