New 55g setup and fish

Azeya209 · 09/21/2013, 06:16 PM

Hello everyone,

I am currently starting a 55g reef tank which i acquired for a fairly good price from a friend. I have many years experience with freshwater fish etc and also work at an lfs for many a year. Currently I have about 50lbs of rock 40lbs aragonite sand for about a 1 1/2 inch bed. I have a diy overflow with a syphon draining to a 20g sump setup that i built myself. I am going to dedicate a small portion on one side for a refug, the other side will contain my protein skimmer and the return will be in the middle. I have been researching this build for quite a while now. I also have 3 power heads 2x 1150 and 1x 1500 koralias. The only thing I am lacking right now is a light setup.

I think I have everything setup and ready to start cycling soon. After everything is cycled up and ready to go in about a few weeks to a month id like to start the process of adding fish/corals. I just don't know to much about compatibility. My wife and I have come up with a list of everything we have liked and have been interested in. So we would like a little help figuring out what is compatibly/what will get along and what we should ad in first/last. I am not looking to add ALL of these fish into the tank and overstock it but figure out what would be best together.

Most Wanted:
Flame Angel

Ocellaris Pair

Mandarin-Later on down the road after the tank is well established. I have done quite a lot of research on these little guys and their feeding problems and various ways to get them to eat and pod suplimenting.

Verious types of corals/polyps

Would also like to try and work in some type of if possible:
Urchin
Clam
Sea Star
anemone
cucumber

Interested Iin:
banggai cardinal
Catalina Goby
Yellow Prawn Goby
azure damselfish
Bicolor Dottyback
Yellowtail Damselfish
cubicus boxfish
Purple Tilefish
Catalina Goby
Jawfish, Blue Dot
Orange-Back Fairy Wrasse
Red Velvet Fairy Wrasse
Cleaner Four Line Red Sea Wrasse
Carpenter's Flasher Wrasse
Royal Gramma
Orchid Dottyback
blue reef/blue/green chromis
Neon Damselfish
yellowtail blue damsel
jewel damsel
Orchid Dottyback
lawnmoer bleeny

Like I said I am not going to throw all these in there but these are what we like, so just looking for a little insight and information on these. I hear damsels can be fairly aggressive so more than likely those will be out. Looking to see what our options are

.

Thanks.

Twistofer · 09/21/2013, 07:10 PM

Sounds like you've really got it going on. If you're going for corals, decide which ones. Softies are a great way to start, even though they are less showy color-wise. I've had Flame Angels and they're tremendous, though they can be aggressive and pick on corals and clams. One specie of clownfish, goby, blenny, angelfish, dottyback/pseudochromic and wrasse (reef-safe) usually is the rule of thumb. Filefish, tilefish, puffers, tobies, boxfish and triggers tend to love invertebrates...for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks in-between. They are probably not a good addition, unless you go for a fish only (FO) or fish only with live rock (FOWLR) tank. Damsels, Clowns and Chromis are both great beginner and experienced aquarists fish. Damsels and Clowns can be on the aggressive side, especially the ones labeled Blue Devils. Bubble-tip Anemones (BTA) can be your best bet for anemones, but wait for at least 6+ mos before adding.

Hope this helps -- Happy Reefing

Art13 · 09/21/2013, 09:38 PM

Just my two cents on this one since I'm fairly new but I believe the Catalina goby is a colder water species and the box fish may get too big for the tank. Serpent stars are good for cleaning up the tank, though I don't have one right now as they freak my wife out so she got her Red Sea star which is very hardy and peaceful in the tank as well.

Dctrojan · 09/21/2013, 11:21 PM

I'm almost doing the exact same thing with my 55 gallon. I went with some LEDs I found on eBay.

10 days in everything's going great.

Azeya209 · 09/22/2013, 12:50 AM

Thanks for the input all.

Flame Angel
Ocellaris x 2
McCosker's Flasher Wrasse
Mandarin about 6 months from now

Inverts:
Blue Tuxedo Urchin
Fancy Arm Banded Serpent Starfish
Fire shrimp
Any ideas on any other inverts I can add or additional/different things as far as CUC goes? I really like shrimps but not sure as to how many I can safely have.

Corals: I think I am leaning more towards the LPS like torch, hammer, bubble, frogspawn, and some softies.
Later on down the road I might attempt some of the sps if possible.

As for as stocking goes do you think that is overstocked? Would it be safe to add anything else?

Possible Additions:
Yellow Prawn Goby
Blue reef chromis
Royal Gramma
Blue Eye Royal Dottyback
lawnmower bleeny

Art13 · 09/22/2013, 08:21 AM

Just keep an eye on the flame angel with coral in the tank, i've been told many times they may nip at them. Read up a bit on the urchin you decide to get, I don't have much experience with them but i was deterred from getting one as i read they can possibly be dangerous to small crustaceans. I would pick out some snails for the CuC, just do a bit of research on how many of what kind. In my 60 gallon i have 4 Astrea, a few cerith and a few nassarius snails, i would have more but i do love hermit crabs for some reason and they are prone to attacking snails for their shells, so i've heard to go for one or the other. I have about 10-15 blue legs and 5 or so red legs, and about 10 or so of another kind that i forgot the name. I have a few emerald crabs in the tank along with 2 peppermint shrimp that don't seem to bother anything, the shimp have picked on my feather duster before but he grows back the tentacles just fine. The emerald crabs are neat to watch when they are out in the open looking for food. Carefully with the dottaback addition, i would personally just go with the royal gramma, i believe they are less aggressive. For coral I would start with a few soft and slowly go into the LPS, at least that's the way i am doing it, the softies are more forgiving to swings and water parameters (just an example, i'm not recommending this, i've had palys that were given to me about 2 weeks after my cycle completed and i only had 80 watts over my tank, no die-off and they are still doing just fine, great colors). LPS is what i was planning on moving into next as i believe the lighting conditions are a little less than SPS, but i haven't looked into them enough to know which type of coral is the harder one to keep.

09/21/2013, 06:16 PM	#1
Azeya209 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2013 Location: Stockton Posts: 52	New 55g setup and fish Hello everyone, I am currently starting a 55g reef tank which i acquired for a fairly good price from a friend. I have many years experience with freshwater fish etc and also work at an lfs for many a year. Currently I have about 50lbs of rock 40lbs aragonite sand for about a 1 1/2 inch bed. I have a diy overflow with a syphon draining to a 20g sump setup that i built myself. I am going to dedicate a small portion on one side for a refug, the other side will contain my protein skimmer and the return will be in the middle. I have been researching this build for quite a while now. I also have 3 power heads 2x 1150 and 1x 1500 koralias. The only thing I am lacking right now is a light setup. I think I have everything setup and ready to start cycling soon. After everything is cycled up and ready to go in about a few weeks to a month id like to start the process of adding fish/corals. I just don't know to much about compatibility. My wife and I have come up with a list of everything we have liked and have been interested in. So we would like a little help figuring out what is compatibly/what will get along and what we should ad in first/last. I am not looking to add ALL of these fish into the tank and overstock it but figure out what would be best together. Most Wanted: Flame Angel Ocellaris Pair Mandarin-Later on down the road after the tank is well established. I have done quite a lot of research on these little guys and their feeding problems and various ways to get them to eat and pod suplimenting. Verious types of corals/polyps Would also like to try and work in some type of if possible: Urchin Clam Sea Star anemone cucumber Interested Iin: banggai cardinal Catalina Goby Yellow Prawn Goby azure damselfish Bicolor Dottyback Yellowtail Damselfish cubicus boxfish Purple Tilefish Catalina Goby Jawfish, Blue Dot Orange-Back Fairy Wrasse Red Velvet Fairy Wrasse Cleaner Four Line Red Sea Wrasse Carpenter's Flasher Wrasse Royal Gramma Orchid Dottyback blue reef/blue/green chromis Neon Damselfish yellowtail blue damsel jewel damsel Orchid Dottyback lawnmoer bleeny Like I said I am not going to throw all these in there but these are what we like, so just looking for a little insight and information on these. I hear damsels can be fairly aggressive so more than likely those will be out. Looking to see what our options are . Thanks.

09/21/2013, 07:10 PM	#2
Twistofer Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: Montana Posts: 371	Sounds like you've really got it going on. If you're going for corals, decide which ones. Softies are a great way to start, even though they are less showy color-wise. I've had Flame Angels and they're tremendous, though they can be aggressive and pick on corals and clams. One specie of clownfish, goby, blenny, angelfish, dottyback/pseudochromic and wrasse (reef-safe) usually is the rule of thumb. Filefish, tilefish, puffers, tobies, boxfish and triggers tend to love invertebrates...for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks in-between. They are probably not a good addition, unless you go for a fish only (FO) or fish only with live rock (FOWLR) tank. Damsels, Clowns and Chromis are both great beginner and experienced aquarists fish. Damsels and Clowns can be on the aggressive side, especially the ones labeled Blue Devils. Bubble-tip Anemones (BTA) can be your best bet for anemones, but wait for at least 6+ mos before adding. Hope this helps -- Happy Reefing __________________ See what is; See what is not; Find the True Way ...The Buddha Current Tank Info: 120 gal New Build Coming Soon

09/21/2013, 09:38 PM	#3
Art13 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2013 Location: South Jersey Posts: 1,444	Just my two cents on this one since I'm fairly new but I believe the Catalina goby is a colder water species and the box fish may get too big for the tank. Serpent stars are good for cleaning up the tank, though I don't have one right now as they freak my wife out so she got her Red Sea star which is very hardy and peaceful in the tank as well.

09/21/2013, 11:21 PM	#4
Dctrojan Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: Huntsville tx Posts: 231	I'm almost doing the exact same thing with my 55 gallon. I went with some LEDs I found on eBay. 10 days in everything's going great.

09/22/2013, 12:50 AM	#5
Azeya209 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2013 Location: Stockton Posts: 52	Thanks for the input all. Flame Angel Ocellaris x 2 McCosker's Flasher Wrasse Mandarin about 6 months from now Inverts: Blue Tuxedo Urchin Fancy Arm Banded Serpent Starfish Fire shrimp Any ideas on any other inverts I can add or additional/different things as far as CUC goes? I really like shrimps but not sure as to how many I can safely have. Corals: I think I am leaning more towards the LPS like torch, hammer, bubble, frogspawn, and some softies. Later on down the road I might attempt some of the sps if possible. As for as stocking goes do you think that is overstocked? Would it be safe to add anything else? Possible Additions: Yellow Prawn Goby Blue reef chromis Royal Gramma Blue Eye Royal Dottyback lawnmower bleeny

09/22/2013, 08:21 AM	#6
Art13 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2013 Location: South Jersey Posts: 1,444	Just keep an eye on the flame angel with coral in the tank, i've been told many times they may nip at them. Read up a bit on the urchin you decide to get, I don't have much experience with them but i was deterred from getting one as i read they can possibly be dangerous to small crustaceans. I would pick out some snails for the CuC, just do a bit of research on how many of what kind. In my 60 gallon i have 4 Astrea, a few cerith and a few nassarius snails, i would have more but i do love hermit crabs for some reason and they are prone to attacking snails for their shells, so i've heard to go for one or the other. I have about 10-15 blue legs and 5 or so red legs, and about 10 or so of another kind that i forgot the name. I have a few emerald crabs in the tank along with 2 peppermint shrimp that don't seem to bother anything, the shimp have picked on my feather duster before but he grows back the tentacles just fine. The emerald crabs are neat to watch when they are out in the open looking for food. Carefully with the dottaback addition, i would personally just go with the royal gramma, i believe they are less aggressive. For coral I would start with a few soft and slowly go into the LPS, at least that's the way i am doing it, the softies are more forgiving to swings and water parameters (just an example, i'm not recommending this, i've had palys that were given to me about 2 weeks after my cycle completed and i only had 80 watts over my tank, no die-off and they are still doing just fine, great colors). LPS is what i was planning on moving into next as i believe the lighting conditions are a little less than SPS, but i haven't looked into them enough to know which type of coral is the harder one to keep.