centerpiece fish for 55 gal

[m_wonnacott]

I am looking for one centerpiece fish for a 55 gal that I am hoping to do as softies and lps my husband wants at least one fish thats at least 5-6 inches and 3 or 4 smaller fish was thinking of the pakistan butterfly. Any one have any other ideas or experience with the pakistan?

[Aristarchus]

I'd be curious to see what the result of this topic is also. I'll be stocking my 55 gal before long too

[uR_a_frag]

Usually it's a hit or miss with butterflies, since you're going to have mostly softies/LPS. I would go with some sort of wrasse. Depending on how much you want to spend. If you decide to go with the wrasse make sure you have a cover for your tank. I would say either a laboutei or Rosy Scales. There's many other options anyways good luck.

[m_wonnacott]

We do plan to have at least one wrasse but we want one larger bodied with for our many one the pakistan seemed to be one of the least likly to nip at softies if I read and understood right

[Junz]

what about a purple tang

[m_wonnacott]

As beautiful as there are it says they are agressive and we don't want agressive fish. Would love him otherwise

[jacksonpt]

What are you thinking in terms of filtration? You're talking about ~10" of fish, which IMO is a lot for a 55g tank. But to your question... My initial thought was a smaller angel. But much like butterflies, they can be somewhat hit or miss with corals, even the ones that are supposedly reef safe. I've had a couple of LPS picked apart by a "reef safe" angel and will never risk it again. Tangs are tricky because they can be pretty sensitive to tank conditions, but of the options, I think I'd probably look at a purple or yellow tang as the centerpiece, but add it only after everything else is in and the tank is good and stable.

[m_wonnacott]

I will be running an octo hangon 8002 with sicci pump and a penguin with carbon with as many water changes as are needed to keep params in check. There are also plans to in a year upgrade to a 75 with sump.

[m_wonnacott]

Octo 800s not 8002

[jason2459]

I think the problem you're going to run into is most mid sized fish will either be semi-aggressive to aggressive and/or be a hit or miss on reef compatibility. I would highly suggest against a tang of any kind. I did have a tang in my old 55 that I inherited with the tank. He got more and more aggressive as he got bigger. I think most all tangs will be like that as there is just not near enough room to move. Even a 75g would be better as they can get a little more depth but I would stick to the smallest of the tangs.

Some fish I would love to have if I wasn't already socked and each of these are going to either be semi-aggressive and/or with caution with reef compatibility.

Flame angel
Coral Beauty (both of these seem to have the best luck with reefs)
Bi-color Angel
Lemon Peal Angel (both of these get a little bigger)

Coper Banded Butterfly (mine was very peaceful and left my softy alone but VERY hard to find something for it to eat and had to hand feed it as it was much slower at eating)
Golden Semilarvatus Butterflyfish
Pakistan Butterflyfish

Personally with a 55 myself I didn't want any fish bigger then 4in because I have a lot of live rock making for less water volume.

[jason2459]

Actually I do have a flame angel right now and she is semi-aggressive. If something moves fast past her she chases. She also harasses my clowns a bit. No all out lip locks or fin biting but definitely harassment. I've also had to do a lot more research on the flame angel as I've been battling fluke, HLLE, and a bit of ich from stress. Seems like recently in the fish trade they have had a higher rate of these diseases and are more delicate then they use to be. They are very beautiful but make sure if you do look into getting one that you look at them very carefully for any signs of any kind of decease.

[m_wonnacott]

well thinking I will go with either the pakistan or may give the bicolor a try if I end up only being able to have mushrooms and or zoas then thats fine with me will just try a few small frags to see what they don't like I was only plaing to start with small frags anyways

[Ritten]

Pakistan Butterflies can be hard to get eating. If you buy one local, make sure he's eating in the store, not just going after the food, but eating it.

[hawkfishman]

flame back angels are pretty cool and never touch anything

[solitude127]

what about a mystery wrasse?

[m_wonnacott]

I am planing on having a wrasse or two to go with one larger fish prefer something alittle bigger bodied

[m_wonnacott]

Anyone have any sugestions if I go FOWLR instead.

[sevendigitcake]

the only suggestion i can give is to get a tank that is 18" wide. 55 gallon tanks are great for small fish but once you start thinking about fowlr or larger centerpiece fish, 12" wide just wont cut it. If you already bought most of your equipment and think upgrading isnt a good idea, then how about a kole tang.

[sevendigitcake]

oh ya, just to add on that, for a fowlr, i would recommend a hawkfish, maybe a flame. But for a reef, the best you could wish for is getting lucky with a dwarf angel, like a potters or a flame. if you have the cash, joculators are really nice

[Zebodog]

For an aggressive FO tank, an Undulate Trigger may be okay in a 55gal, at least initially.

To be honest, I think you'll find a difficult time keeping any larger fish in a 3' tank (edit, my bad...4' long).

[sevendigitcake]

Originally Posted by Zebodog

For an aggressive FO tank, an Undulate Trigger may be okay in a 55gal, at least initially.

To be honest, I think you'll find a difficult time keeping any larger fish in a 3' tank.

55 gallons are 4' long, but an undulate trigger would do great. But nothing else could be added to the tank unless they are meant to be eaten.

[Zebodog]

Originally Posted by sevendigitcake

55 gallons are 4' long, but an undulate trigger would do great. But nothing else could be added to the tank unless they are meant to be eaten.

A Moray eel may be able to hold it's own, but you're probably right.

[ilikelps]

Umm im probably off with this suggestion but maybe a blue throat trigger? There are in the 4-6in. department and supposedly for the most part reef safe. But I am also unfimiliar with the tank size that they need. I'm sure someone here knows more about them and could chime in!

thanks!