Help, with stocking plan for a 55

[jason the filter freak]

Every time I read reviews on fish I get diffrent information about compatibility, what to feed, lighting, and water requirements etc. I figure I'd pose my list to the club

 

My main concerns are:

Is it compatible with a full fledged reef? Are they compatible with each other?

 

 

 

Clarkii Clown (Already have)

Lots of Misc snails and hermit (Already have)

Emerald Crabs (Already have) x 2

 

 

Green Psychedelic Mandarin Goby (Def want) Farther down the road

Neon Goby (Def Want) x 2

Lawnmower Blenny (Def want)

Firefish (Def want) x 1 maybe 2

Pearly Jawfish (Def want)

 

 

 

Six Line Wrasse (May want)

Watchman Goby (May want)

Flame Hawk (May want)

 

One of the following:

The question here is which is least reef destructive and will get along with the Bi-color?

Yellow Pygmy Angel

Koran Angelfish

Flame Angel

Bicolor Pygmy Angel (Already Have)

 

Copperband Butterfly (May want) This or the tang

Yellow Tang (May Want) This or the Butterfly

 

Blue Hippo Tang (May Want)

Question here is, would this be too many too large, mid to upper feeders/occupants?

With two angels and a butterfly or yellow tang

 

 

Any one?

Edited October 5, 2006 by jason the filter freak

[ReeferMan]

Cross off Koran and Hippo tang off your list, They need a bigger tank

[jason the filter freak]

A butterfly and a tang, wouldn't be a good idea?

[wolfman]

i would stay away from the six line they can get mean, i had a watchman gobby combo in my 30 gallon and he was a cool fish

[rrubberbandman]

Jason,

just a fwiw........

as you know i have a 20 gallon tank......my fish setup is as follow and i added in this order.....yasha hase goby.....sixline wrasse....2 firefish...and lastly a rainfords goby.

my yasha goby i would say is the ring leader......no one messes with him.

the sixline is like the class room tough guy...but he's so fat from eating pods he really doesnt get to mean...if this makes sense?

my firefish...being that they school together dont pay any attention to the sixline.

as far as the rainfords....i was really scared about adding him...since he is the smallest occupant...but for some reason he isnt scared of the sixline at all!!

i dont know what it is...maybe the false eye spot they have is a deterent to being picked on...i havent figured it out yet .

i know some may say i have a heavy bio-load...but thats why i do 25% WC's bi-weekly.

Bryan

[jason the filter freak]

Anyone else?

[rocko918]

Flame Hawk will kill shrimp. Is you have cleaners or blood shimp they will be a quick snack.

 

I had a flame that i thought was reef safe, Well he did not really eat anything but nipped on things. Which would not allow them to fully extend. When i lost the flame, OH MY did my sps polyps extend!!!

[lmeyer]

I would be a little concerned about the Mandarin in a 55. Make sure you have enough rock and a good source of pods. You also might want to make sure you don't have other fish competing with the mandarin for the same food source. I think the six-line would be a direct competitor. Not sure about any others. The other option is to try to find a mandarin that takes frozen food (I've heard there are some that have been trained to do so).

[dzekunoi]

So far my Copperband and Yellow are OK together. You saw them.

 

I keep watching!

[Rascal]

Jason:

I have or have had many of the fish you are thinking of, previously in a 54G. My comments:

 

1) Sixline's are great fish. Supposed to help with pyramid snails on clams. I don't know about that, but they have beautiful coloration and it is fun to watch them gracefully navigate through your live rock picking at stuff. Mine have occassionally chased some rival fish but never did any damage, and things always settled down after a day or two.

 

2) Beware of blenny vs. goby interaction. I had a bi-color for 1 year before I tried to add a watchman goby. The blenny harassed 3 of them to death before I finally decided to remove it (other methods failed to stop the aggression). I now have 2 yellow watchman gobies and then added a new bicolor -- no problems with aggression (although my blenny loved sps polyps so he too had to find a new home). Don't know if lawnmowers would be the same but if it were me I would add a blenny and goby of around the same size at the same time, or add the goby first and blenny later. I would also be careful of adding a mandarin to a tank that already had a watchman goby in it. Don't know for sure but since they compete for the same real estate I would think there might be some aggression. Maybe wait until you get your pod population up and then add them at the same time? Just a thought.

 

3) Neon Gobies are another great choice. Mine actively clean my tangs all the time. I also have 3 cleaner shrimp for this purpose -- I am a big believer in biological cleaners.

 

4) I agree with the choice of the Yellow over the Hippo Tang. Partly b/c the YT won't get as big, but also b/c of behavior. I have both in a 150 and even though they are same size, it seems to me that the Hippo uses a lot more the real estate. The Yellow is much more content to kind of "float" around. They are also very hardy and seem to eat virtually any type of algae available.

 

5) Royal gramma? You didn't list it but if you are looking for a nice looking reef-safe compatible fish for a 55G, it would compliment your list nicely IMO.

[jason the filter freak]

Jason:

I have or have had many of the fish you are thinking of, previously in a 54G. My comments:

 

 

5) Royal gramma? You didn't list it but if you are looking for a nice looking reef-safe compatible fish for a 55G, it would compliment your list nicely IMO.

 

Thank you very much for your input!! I actually had royal gamma on my list, but eliminted it cuz I thought I had too many fish. I my put it back on, that or a pink pseudochromis

[jason the filter freak]

Whats any one think about a cow fish? I'm aware of their full size, i'll get rid of it before it becomes too large