New fish for new tanks

[jpd05]

Hey all,
heres what i got. 2 Tanks/ wet/dry, almost cycled, lots of sand and lots of marshall island rock. Ones 100 gal, the other is 55.
I need some stocking advice. The lighting in the 55 is superior. Mostly going to do fish but could do a few easier corals.
Heres what i like so far:
Royal Gramma
Maroon clowns
Yellow tang
Peppermint shrimp
Fire shrimp
Assorted snails
Bubble coral
Dont know yet How Im going to divide them up or what else to get. Please, any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks

 

[steamboat1569]

Two questions, what do you mean by "lots" and what do you mean by "superior"?
Bubble corals do ok with moderate lighting, but they will grow like a weed with really intense lighting (5watts per gallon or more). I have two bubble corals, and their polyps are huge.

 

[jim672]

jpd05,
Welcome to the board!
I like your fish choices, so far. Be patient, though, about actually purchasing them. You want your tanks to fully cycle BEFORE you put fish in them. Further, yellow tangs are grazers and like to be able to eat algea from the rock in the tank. You should wait until your tank has enough algea growth to support the tang. Importantly, tangs need lots of room to swim.....the yellow tang you plan should only be kept in your 100, the 55 is too small.
Bubble corals are very nice and will respond well in a mature tank with very good water conditions and good lighting. I would be very hesitant about adding one of them to a new tank. One of the easier corals to keep is the mushroom, and there are a number of colorful varieties. If you want to try to work with corals, you might want to consider one of them first.
You have a "problem" many of us would love to have: "What do I put in two, new tanks"? Your choices of fish is , almost, endless, and is probably as big as your wallet!! I'd look at some of the smaller angel fish, like the coral beauty or flame (or one in each tank). The six line wrasse is an attractive, hardy specimen. I'd be tempted to add a "school" (6 to8)green chromis who would look great in that 100 as they swim together.
Look around to get some ideas. Your possibilities are immense! Good luck!!
Jim

 

[jpd05]

Thanks
I think thats why I posted. I just got so overwelmed by the choices.
The two tanks are due to the fact that I had the 100 gal, went out to get a q-tank, and came home with a complete setup 55gal. I NEED HELP.
My lighting in the 55 is only about 300 watts of PC's. should be enough for low-medium corals(I think)
I will move slowly, Just wanted to have a plan of what the tanks will look like in a year.
Since I didnt find these boards until after my first tank, the 100 is cycling with damsels. (I know, never again) The upside of that is there are 3 green chromis that survived and I could get 3-5 more for the school in the 100.

 

[jim672]

You'll need that Qtank but I'd go somewhat smaller than the 55 for that. You have about 5.5 watts of light per gallon on the 55 and you're correct that most low to medium light corals will be fine with that amount. If you go with a bubble coral, I'd have it as near to the top of your tank as you can, so it gets as much light as possible.
Have you thought about having one of the tanks be an aggressive set-up? The 55 would be good for a nice volitan lion and snowflake eel........
If you chose aggressive, "all" you need is lots of good hiding places in the rock. No corals or inverts.
If you leave your post on the board, I'm sure you'll get lots of replies. Lots of different opinions, I'm sure. We all tend to live vicariously through eachothers tanks!!
Jim

 

[jawfish177]

55 gallon:
corals: green bubble, assorted mushrooms and button polyps, frogspawn, and some Xenias..
fishes: blue-spot jawfish, purple firefish, some kinda blenny, a dwarf angel
inverts: snails, conch, crabs, shrimps (whatever you like)
100 gallon:
fishes: yellow tang, six line wrasse, dwarf angel, 6-8 green chromis, yellowhead jawfish
inverts: snails, conch, crabs, shrimps (whatever you like)
these are my suggestions...

 

[c_bell]

jpd05 nice to see someone else in saltwater in the Houston area. Have you seen any good LFS in the area? I havent seen much out there for saltwater I'm in the Woodlands and ***** is realy the only good place out here. I am always looking for some where else with a better selecton. Any clues?

 

[jpd05]

Thanks jawfish, Ill look into some of those.
Cbell...
I havent looked around too much but Ive been going to Aquarium world(713-329-9989) I dont have much experience to compare it too but they have alot and the prices seem reasonable.

 

[jpd05]

What about my grammas and clowns?
Im looking to stay with hardier species as I am a pilot and usually gone for a couple nights in a row once a week.