New 55 gal set-up

lmforbis

lmforbis

Well-Known Member
The stocking is pretty good For after the tank is fully cycled. I’d skip the mandarin for now. You can have both a flame angel and a royal gramma. Add your stock slowly after the cycle is done. You should quarantine each fish for 30 days to prevent disease from getting into your tank, treat if needed. Only add one fish at a time after A full quarantine, except the clowns. Those you want to quarantine and add together. Add them in the order of least aggressive to most. Your fire fish is probably least with cardinal as a close second then gobi. Then if you go royal gramma I’d do that next with clowns next then angel Last.
 
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mfutch

New Member
lmforbis said:
The stocking is pretty good For after the tank is fully cycled. I’d skip the mandarin for now. You can have both a flame angel and a royal gramma. Add your stock slowly after the cycle is done. You should quarantine each fish for 30 days to prevent disease from getting into your tank, treat if needed. Only add one fish at a time after A full quarantine, except the clowns. Those you want to quarantine and add together. Add them in the order of least aggressive to most. Your fire fish is probably least with cardinal as a close second then gobi. Then if you go royal gramma I’d do that next with clowns next then angel Last.
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Thank you. My tank has fully cycled, and I have already added my two clowns and firefish. My sand bed is 3-4in and I have a lovely live rock cave for the engineer goby. I do not plan on adding the mandarin for at least 6 more months. I want to add a considerable amount of copepods and set up a refugium first. I also have added 3 turbo snails and 2 bumblebee snails. I will try to see if I can add pictures.
 
lmforbis

lmforbis

Well-Known Member
An engineer goby will literally take your tank apart every single day. I wouldn’t recommend them.
 
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mfutch

New Member
lmforbis said:
An engineer goby will literally take your tank apart every single day. I wouldn’t recommend them.
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Is there any other type of fish that you would recommend that looks like an eel? I know my tank is too small for an eel; but I was hoping for something similar to give my tank some variety. Plus I have always wanted an eel or at least a look alike.
 
lmforbis

lmforbis

Well-Known Member
There is little you can do that looks like an eel except an eel. A snowflake moray is pretty small. The negative is they are escape artists and the tank needs to be able to prevent that. A plastic mesh cover will work. I’ve had several they are easy to keep. good with fish as long as the eel is well fed. They will eat shrimp and crabs. They need plenty of hidey holes. You can put PVC pipe under your sand with access to the outside for tunnels. Unfortunately every one I’ve had had escaped and died despite a covered tank.

You really need more live rock. That is the basis of the bio filter.
 
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mfutch

New Member
The engineer goby was the next best thing for me. I currently have about 40lbs of live rock. It doesnt look like there is that much, but there is. I do plan on adding more, I just didn't plan on stacking it [all the live rock sits directly on the glass bottom], as I was hoping to get the engineer goby and I heard that he can burrow under the rock/sand until it topples on him. He is also why I have 3-4in sand depth. My tank has already been sealed. I have a glass top with any cracks covered with saran wrap to prevent my firefish from escaping [I have been told they jump].

Wouldn't my tank be too small for a snowflake eel?
 
lmforbis

lmforbis

Well-Known Member
Toy are right. Rock needs to be directly on top of the bottom of the tank with sand filled around . The live rock on the bottom isn’t contributing much to the bio filtration because your sand bed is so deep. More rock will provide better biofiltration as well as a more natural habitat for the fish.
you can do a snowflake in a 55 They don’t swim around much. Biggest issue is their waste.
 
SALTWAT3RFISH

SALTWAT3RFISH

Administrator
Staff member
I can attest to the vigorous geoengineering of an engineer gody.. I serviced a 180 gallon aquarium for a restaurant from 06 to 09. The previous service guy had added 6 engineers... The tank had deep crushed coral substrate and I think the service guy thought they would keep it clean. He was right....kinda. They would literally move all the crushed coral from one side of the 6fr long tank to the other every week. It was actually impressive. It was an almost exact 50% split down the middle. Perfectly bare bottom on one half and 12 inches of crushed Cora on the other. The restaurant owner said kids liked watching the gobies toil away day in day out lol. The big bleached corals on the bare side would fall over and be laying on their side every time I came to service. It drove me insane. Unfortunately the restaurant sold and the new owners broke down the tank. I don't know what happened to those gobies, but I hope wherever they went they were still able to do their routine. Moving that crushed coral was their duty and they were great at it.
 
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