55 gallon tank

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Flamew912

New Member
Hello Im starting a 55 gallon tank not sure about it being a reef or not so i want to go with reef safe fish or reef safe with caution there are a lot of fish i like and i have a list can you guys help me pick a stocking list

Flame Angel
Coral Beauty Angelfish
Kole Yellow Eye Tang
Yellow Tang
school of chromis
ocellaris clownfish pair
Tomini tang
Fox face lo
one spot foxface
Melanurus Wrasse Male
Pixy/Spotted Hawkfish
Christmas Wrasse
sixline wrasse
Aiptasia Eating Filefish

ik not all of them can be in the tank also if you have an idea of a fish let me know
 
jay0705

jay0705

Well-Known Member
If you haven't bought the tank yet. Get a 75 not a 55. A 55 is more limited in foot print. That said on your list in a 55. Pair of clowns, hawk, either xmas or 6 line wrasse and file fish. Thats really it off your list. Rest need a bigger tank
 
lmforbis

lmforbis

Well-Known Member
That is way too many fish. And both a 55and 75 are too small for most. Like Jay said get a 75 not a 55.
if you go 75, only one dwarf angel, either flame or coral beauty, none in a 55.
one tang either yellow, tomini or Kole, and only if you go 75. Other types of tangs no Unless you have a 6 foot tank. None in a 55.
skip the chromis, they will just pick each other off and you will only have one after a couple months.
no fox face both 55 and 75 are too small.
no file fish. dont let aptasia in and you won’t have an issue.
oscelaris clown pair is good as long as you buy them either very small or as a bonded pair. You don’t want to risk 2 females.
6 line wrasses are real jerks I’d stay away from it. The others wrasses I don’t know much about stick with Jay’s advise.

general rule when picking fish for SW, only one of a type of fish. Only one of a single body type, only one that looks similar Even if a different type. With clowns you can have two if. They are the same species and are both male or one male one female, all clowns are born male so young ones are the best.

while you are getting your display tank ready, a good 6 weeks to cycle if not longer, work on getting a quarantine tank set up and ready. All fish should be quarantined one fish at a time for 30 days beginning with the least aggressive fish. This keeps you from introducing any diseases into the display tank. Quarantine tank should be a 10 or 20 gallon bare bottom with a sponge filter a heater and some PVC joints for hidey holes.
 
F

Flamew912

New Member
lmforbis said:
That is way too many fish. And both a 55and 75 are too small for most. Like Jay said get a 75 not a 55.
if you go 75, only one dwarf angel, either flame or coral beauty, none in a 55.
one tang either yellow, tomini or Kole, and only if you go 75. Other types of tangs no Unless you have a 6 foot tank. None in a 55.
skip the chromis, they will just pick each other off and you will only have one after a couple months.
no fox face both 55 and 75 are too small.
no file fish. dont let aptasia in and you won’t have an issue.
oscelaris clown pair is good as long as you buy them either very small or as a bonded pair. You don’t want to risk 2 females.
6 line wrasses are real jerks I’d stay away from it. The others wrasses I don’t know much about stick with Jay’s advise.

general rule when picking fish for SW, only one of a type of fish. Only one of a single body type, only one that looks similar Even if a different type. With clowns you can have two if. They are the same species and are both male or one male one female, all clowns are born male so young ones are the best.

while you are getting your display tank ready, a good 6 weeks to cycle if not longer, work on getting a quarantine tank set up and ready. All fish should be quarantined one fish at a time for 30 days beginning with the least aggressive fish. This keeps you from introducing any diseases into the display tank. Quarantine tank should be a 10 or 20 gallon bare bottom with a sponge filter a heater and some PVC joints for hidey holes.
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I said not all i was looking at like a Flame angel clown pair and two wrasses and maybe a file fish i dont want them for aptisha i just like them now online Flame angels and Coral beauties said could be in 55 gallon tanks
 
F

Flamew912

New Member
jay0705 said:
If you haven't bought the tank yet. Get a 75 not a 55. A 55 is more limited in foot print. That said on your list in a 55. Pair of clowns, hawk, either xmas or 6 line wrasse and file fish. Thats really it off your list. Rest need a bigger tank
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what about a flame angel the tank is from when I used to have a freshwater planted and same with the lights since I asked my LFS and it has strong enough lights to grow coral
 
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lmforbis

lmforbis

Well-Known Member
dwarf angels need more territory than a 55 will allow.
I guarantee your freshwater lights won’t work for coral And they will cause huge algae problems. Coral needs specific wavelengths that are not in the bulbs used for freshwater. The fixture may be good enough for some softies if you change out the bulbs for high quality coral bulbs, ATI or Giessman bulbs intended for coral. To keep anything else you will need to upgrade your lights to something that has very intense lighting. I use 3 Kessil 360 LED fixtures and 4 T5 bulbs. That gives me enough for almost most any coral As well as anemones. Anemones need more light than most coral, I say this because everybody wants one for their clowns And few have the light to keep one.

one important rule is don’t believe your local fish store. There are a few responsible owners out there that won’t sell you things that are not appropriate for your tank but they are rare. Best to ask experienced aquarists on the forums to get the correct info.
 
F

Flamew912

New Member
lmforbis said:
dwarf angels need more territory than a 55 will allow.
I guarantee your freshwater lights won’t work for coral And they will cause huge algae problems. Coral needs specific wavelengths that are not in the bulbs used for freshwater. The fixture may be good enough for some softies if you change out the bulbs for high quality coral bulbs, ATI or Giessman bulbs intended for coral. To keep anything else you will need to upgrade your lights to something that has very intense lighting. I use 3 Kessil 360 LED fixtures and 4 T5 bulbs. That gives me enough for almost most any coral As well as anemones. Anemones need more light than most coral, I say this because everybody wants one for their clowns And few have the light to keep one.

one important rule is don’t believe your local fish store. There are a few responsible owners out there that won’t sell you things that are not appropriate for your tank but they are rare. Best to ask experienced aquarists on the forums to get the correct info.
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With the flame angel i did research and people on Reef2Reef and websites and Youtube videos said they were ok i don't mean this is a mean way but Im probably gonna get a Flame Angel plus i live 5 mins away from LFS and i can switch it out if it is a problem also what type of stocking list would you do since i might do what you think since i have the tank but not rock sand or anything besides the lights
 
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jay0705

jay0705

Well-Known Member
A flame is one of the hardest to keep out of the dwarfs. They also are not reef safe, its generally more of when not if they nip at your coral. The lighting i agree with imforbis. Orbit are fine for easy or lower light softies. Mushrooms, zoas, ect
 
F

Flamew912

New Member
jay0705 said:
A flame is one of the hardest to keep out of the dwarfs. They also are not reef safe, its generally more of when not if they nip at your coral. The lighting i agree with imforbis. Orbit are fine for easy or lower light softies. Mushrooms, zoas, ect
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Coral beauty maybe and will it grow some lps like bubble corals and frog spawn
 
F

Flamew912

New Member
jay0705 said:
A flame is one of the hardest to keep out of the dwarfs. They also are not reef safe, its generally more of when not if they nip at your coral. The lighting i agree with imforbis. Orbit are fine for easy or lower light softies. Mushrooms, zoas, ect
Click to expand...
Jay how would you stock a 55 gallon reef
 
lmforbis

lmforbis

Well-Known Member
I’d definitely do the clowns. A fire fish, shrimp goby, royal gramma, a flasher wrasse. To me that would be a full tank.
 
jay0705

jay0705

Well-Known Member
I agree with imforbis. The biggest mistake people make is over stocking a reef tank. Its either fowlr or reef. A true reef tank has substantially less fish then a fish only tank. Its harder to keep a balanced reef with the more fish you add.
I have 9 fish in my 220 . Two of those max out at 2". My green clown goby and my damsel
 
jay0705

jay0705

Well-Known Member
Its possible yes. However given your "want" for a dwarf angel a 55 is not best. Best case it works fine and no issue. 2nd option bc of being a smaller tank the angel is aggressive with other fish. Worse case its not only aggressive it also starts eating your coral. The reason we both say it needs a bigger tank is not just water volume. Its the amount of live rock you can put in the tank. Sw fish are always looking for food. The more natural graze they have the less likely they turn to other options, IE corals.
If you still want to try it in a 55 i recommend a captive bred fish over wild caught
 
F

Flamew912

New Member
jay0705 said:
Its possible yes. However given your "want" for a dwarf angel a 55 is not best. Best case it works fine and no issue. 2nd option bc of being a smaller tank the angel is aggressive with other fish. Worse case its not only aggressive it also starts eating your coral. The reason we both say it needs a bigger tank is not just water volume. Its the amount of live rock you can put in the tank. Sw fish are always looking for food. The more natural graze they have the less likely they turn to other options, IE corals.
If you still want to try it in a 55 i recommend a captive bred fish over wild caught
Click to expand...
maybe i could add another wrasse over the dwarf angel but i heard coral beauties and peaceful and most of the time wont eat coral
 
lmforbis

lmforbis

Well-Known Member
They may be great for years then bam the decide to be jerks or the could be jerks from the get go or they may be fine. You never know. . I have a flame that Ive had for atleast 5 years. He doesn’t bother my coral, so far. He doesn’t bother other fish but I have a 120 with lots of live rock to hide in. My fish are well fed, 3 times a day with an auto feeder and once with frozen food.
 
F

Flamew912

New Member
lmforbis said:
They may be great for years then bam the decide to be jerks or the could be jerks from the get go or they may be fine. You never know. . I have a flame that Ive had for atleast 5 years. He doesn’t bother my coral, so far. He doesn’t bother other fish but I have a 120 with lots of live rock to hide in. My fish are well fed, 3 times a day with an auto feeder and once with frozen food.
Click to expand...
Yea after like some more research im not sure dwarf angels and wrasses are my favorite fish so i was trying to get them both in the tank also the lights do you think will be able to grow bubble corals and zoas I love those corals https://current-usa.com/orbit-marine-led-2-0-lighting-system/
 
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