55

[oddballfanatic]

For my 55 reef tank I was thinking about these fish (not all of them):

spotted cardnalfish
midas blenny
snowflake eel??
bicolor pseudochromis
sissiortail dartfish
longnose hawkfish
Heniochus black & white butterfly fish
dwarf flame angelfish
royal gramma
green mandarian
six line wrasse
mabie some sea horses down the road??

what fish do you think would fit my tank??

 

[5xevy]

This is my opinion only, and I read your identical thread as well.

For the spotted cardinal fish- some people think they're better off in 3s or more but others have kept them by themselves so it's up to you. May be hard to feed at first.

I would get either the bicolor pseudochromis or the royal gramma. They may fight since they're identical looking.

I like dwarf flames. The sixline would be cool too and they like lots of LR.

The dartfish tend to jump sometimes so be prepared for that.

I wouldn't recommend the yellow tang (from your other thead). I know some have tried it but I'm glad you decided against it.

The hawkfish may eat your inverts, especially shrimp. I'd be a little nervous with the butterfly and their long streamers since other inhabitants may think that's a nice moving long snack.

The eel I can't help you on- never had one, never will. My buddy had one and I would bury a PVC pipe under your sand for it. I've also seen sites with this configuration and the eel seems to utilize it.

The mandarin- not for at least a year down the road, or when you have countless pods for him/her to eat. How much LR do you have?

Sea horses aren't usually recommended for reefs but have been done (Germanman has done it). I'd highly recommend researching this beforehand to find as much information as possible. I've just been researching them lately as I want to create a tank just for them. Apparently they need to be fed a few times a day at first, and should not be in competition for food with aggressive tankmates.

I'm sure the others will be along with their recommendations shortly. To me, picking the livestock out is half the fun.

 

[oddballfanatic]

thanks, i have nothing in the tank yet but im planning it first i think i will go with the royal gramma, I was also going to go with 4 spotted cardnals

 

[jojo22]

Too small for a tang, eel will eat the blennie/gramma when it gets bigger, and ponies are hard to keep and will not do well in the flow a reef needs unless you go strictly soft corals with low flow. Just my 2 cents.

 

[oddballfanatic]

and ill probably stay away from the hawk fish

 

[Michael Marino]

I wouldn't recommend the yellow tang (from your other thead). I know some have tried it but I'm glad you decided against it.

.

Too small for a tang, eel will eat the blennie/gramma when it gets bigger, and ponies are hard to keep and will not do well in the flow a reef needs unless you go strictly soft corals with low flow. Just my 2 cents.[

Double sigh ..... ahah

 

[darthgoby]

Avoid the eel and sea horses.

You can also look at one of the small puffers (valentini, blue spotted, etc). I have a blue spotted puffer in my 55 gallon and it's a lot of fun. These small puffers get to be only 3-5 inches long.

 

[5xevy]

I love Valentini puffers. I'm afraid to get one because of my inverts. Does yours bother your inverts, if you have any?

 

[NapoliNewJersey]

I'm interested in the Valentini as well 5xevy, all the research i've done is just a runaround. Half the people say thiers has never bothered their inverts, while the other half say that it has eaten everything in the tank that could fit in it's mouth ... I think it's hit or miss.

Let me know if you do get one. I'm thinking about getting one and if it gets out of hand removing it to a tank by itself, but it won't be for a while.

 

[darthgoby]

I don't have a valentini but I have blue spotted one which is the same size. My LFS told me when I bought it I couldn't have shrimp in my tank and that he would eat my inverts.

So far, I haven't seen him eat any of the my inverts. He's left my peppermint shrimp alone, hasn't bothered my sally lightfoot, and my emerald crabs too.

I bury pieces of krill in the sand and sometimes he'll fight with a hermit for it. What will happen is that he'll nip at the krill while the hermit is eating it and engage in something like tug of war.

Last week I put some of the feeder shrimp in the tank and he did eat a couple of those. For some reason, he pretty much leaves everything else in the tank alone.