55g Tank

[commanderbob]

Well guys, I think I've decided to get a 55g tank and was wanting you to review my fish list
2 Black & White clownfish
1 longnose Hawkfish (im not keeping shrimp)
and maybe something like a yellow tang (maybe)
I was wondering if I could have a fuzzy dwarf lionfish in this tank or not. I saw murph's and fell in love with the little guy. Any suggestions, comments or whatever, just tell me.
Thanks!

 

[commanderbob]

bump

 

[myrtle beach]

Watch out for the tang police!
If you get a small enough one and have plenty of vegetation and rock work, then you should be ok for a few years. The yellow ones are meaner. Start off with the clowns and do research on the others. Add two fish every two weeks until you have reached your limit, this cuts down on the bioload shock and make sure your tank levels are good before adding anything. You can find a lot of good info. on this site, but use your best judgement overall.

 

[crazyaqua]

Like myrtle said about the yellow tang they can be nasty buggers try a kole for a 55 but have plenty of rock and hiding places they can be shy.

but everything else sounds good

 

[trigger11]

My recommendation would be to avoid any Tangs in a 55g. They simply just grow too big for the tank. Yes, you may be ok having one in the tank for a year or so but then what do you do when the tang starts getting too big? Sell him? And I think chances are the tang would probably die before you knew it was getting too stressed out anyways. But that is just my opinion.
The only thing I would caution on having the dwarf lion. If other fish will fit in his mouth he will eat them. I believe this is the main reason Lions end up in tanks with other agressive fish. Before making the Lion purchase it would probably be a good idea to do some further research in the aggressive section on these boards. Then you could really get a feel for what kinds of other fish the Lions are kept with.
Welcome to the boards.

 

[commanderbob]

ok, thanks for the info guys. how about instead of the tang a henochious (sp?) butterfly? are they 'okay' fish to keep in a 55?
once again, thanks for the help

 

[walmart]

most butterflys are not reef safe. and require clam diets.

 

[trigger11]

My understanding is the Heniechous (sp) butterfly is about the only butterfly that is generally considered to be reef safe. It is not a guarantee though. However, I also remember reading they generally do better in groups of 3. I could be wrong about that. If you do a search under the reef section you should find a few good articles on these guys. Having said all of that it would be a tough call. If it were my tank and I really wanted the heneichous I would have to make sure the rest of the bio load was pretty small (meaning not very many other fish) because they do grow to about 6 inches or so.