Stocking Suggestions

[Herbert]

THis winter I am converting my 20 gallon reef into a 55 gallon reef

 

I will have 260w PC lighting with "easier kept" corals and live rock. In my 20g I have a clarkii clown and neon Pseudochromis.

 

In my 55 I would like:

-another clownfish

-a shrimp goby and a pistol shrimp

-blue/green chromises

-a fairy wrasse

-a sixline wrasse

-an anthias of some sort

 

I know that that is way too many fish for my tank but if you could please help me out on choosing the hardiest and best fitted fish for my tank.

 

THanks-

Michael

[flowerseller]

Typical florist,

 

I immediately thought you were asking for suggestions on what to put in the ones

"hung by the chimney with care".

 

Awe man, I'm loosing it

[davelin315]

Avoid the anthias. They're hard to keep and need to be fed a lot. It sounds like you're somewhat new to reefkeeping, and anthias are one of the more difficult fish to keep. I never had any success in my 125 before, despite trying to target feed them, and this was after 10 years of reef keeping already. I plan on trying them again in the future, but not until I get a larger tank set up (300 or larger).

 

Everything else sounds fine.

[Herbert]

I've also heard that chromis need to be fed more than once a day. Is this true?

[dbartco]

I would avoid the anthias, and another clownfish unless a clarkii male. I would only keep one of the wrasses as well. The six lines apparently can become a little agressive towards others over time in tight spaces.

 

I typically only feed my chromis once a day and they seem fine, but that's not gospel.

[Herbert]

will fairy wrasses bother non-sessile invertebrates?

[Jon Lazar]

You might also consider their ecological niche when you select. For example, my chromises tend to school high in the water column. My clowns spend most of their time near their "host" coral. A sixline sticks close to the rockwork, darting around. A goby will stay on the substrate or rockwork.

 

My point is, if you were to pick the blue/green chromises, the fairy wrasse, and the anthias, you might end up with a big school of fish that swim in the open, but no other fish activity in your reef. Personnally I like to have a variety of fish that live in different areas to keep it interesting.

 

Jon

[Herbert]

THanks for the advice how about-

 

3 blue/green chromis

2 clarkii clowns

1 Neon Psuedochromis

1 shrimp goby

1 six line wrasse

 

Does that combo sound good?

 

Would a anemone work in my tank with my 260w PC lighting in my 55 gallon? WIll it host my clownfish?

Edited December 12, 2005 by Herbert

[gastone]

IMHO the goby and the pistol shrimp will get lost in a 55. Probably more suitable for a nano tank if you ever want to see them.

 

Garrett.

[Herbert]

WOuld a lawnmower, scooter, or any other blenny fit in?

[miller]

add the neon dottyback last they can be very mean also keep an eye on any shrimp you may add as they like to kill shrimp sometimes

[Herbert]

My dottyback resides in my 20 gallon right now so I will not be able to keep him in there that long so he will be added after the chromises and clown but before the other fishes because I need the 20g for other things. Is that alright?

 

So that's why my shrimp disapeered :wall:

[miller]

you may have no problems at all . but when i had mine and tried to add things to the tank he usually was very agressive ecspecially to fish his size or smaller he didnt mess with any new tangs or angels but i tried to add a fathead anthias and he had all his fins ripped off in no time.

[Guest alex wlazlak]

i had a lawnmower in my 55, then one day he misteriously died ( :( ). but he did great and theyre awsome fish. ive got a seabae anemone in my 55g with 4 65w lights, and it has already grown alot.

[Caribbean Jake]

Michael

Please check a post in General Discusssion titled: Saltwater Aquarium Begginers, http://www.wamas.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=6130. This will answer many of your questions.

 

Jacob

[davelin315]

Avoid the neon dottyback in your system. I had one before, it was the last thing in my tank, and it killed off everything that was smaller, close to its size, and anything that didn't swim in the water column. It was an incredibly aggressive fish, killing off my firefish, royal gramma, all of my shrimp, most of my hermit crabs, snails, etc.

 

As far as the scooter blenny, avoid that as it eats only pods and can really suffer in a smaller system, but any other blenny would be fine. I like bicolor blennies as they are easy going and are easy to feed when they are not grazing on algae. Lawnmowers are a bit more aggressive towards algae, and you may have difficulty feeding it. There's also barnacle blennies, which are really cool and can be kept together, and they don't rely on algae as much. Red lip, feather, etc. are also nice to keep.

[HowardofNOVA]

Michael,

IMHO, I'm not a fan of Pseudo, to me their right there with Damsels, very territorial!

I like your selection:

3 blue/green chromis

2 clarkii clowns

1 six line wrasse

 

Not so much the:

1 Neon Psuedochromis, Beautiful but too much attitude for my taste!

1 shrimp goby, Instead of the shrimp goby, check out the Yellow Clown Goby. Their bright yellow so as to be seen and long on personality, making them a great fish for your tank! Onsale now at LiveAquaria for $4.99 each.

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Di...cfm?pCatId=1441

Also look at a pair of either Firefish or Court Jester Gobies, very colorful and will stay near the bottom.

Another of my all time favorite is the Black & White Heniochus Diphreutes

http://www.vividaquariums.com/10Expand.asp...tCode=01-1813-S

Very beautiful fish, doesn't harm anything and very easy to take care of!

DON'T get the B/W Heniochus Acuminatus: will eat everything in your tank!

Howard

[Herbert]

My Psuedo is already in my current 20 gallon and I don't want to get rid of him( He's pretty docile and small)

 

Won't firefish fight with their own species if kept together?

 

How about

 

3 green chromis

2 clarkii clowns

1 Psuedochromis sp.

2 clown gobies

1 blenny sp.

1 sixline wrasse

 

I belive that that would be overstocking a little what should I remove?

 

I actualy can add the dottyback last or second to last after some thought.

Edited December 12, 2005 by Herbert