New to Saltwater, need some stocking advice.

[pjbrunelle]

Hello all, first post here so take it easy on me. I've got a 55 gal saltwater tank that's been up for about 2 months now, and I initially stocked it with 2 Percs and 2 cleaner Shrimp with about 70 lbs of live rock. things seem pretty stable right now, Ammonia/nitrites are at 0 nitrates about 10 and everyone seems happy and at ease.
I'm looking to add another fish at this point and i'm leaning towards a Royal Gramma, and after that a six line Wrasse. will these 4 get along? Will the six line harass my cleaner shrimp? Which would you recommend I introduce first?
Additionally, what would you recommend after this foursome? It's a 55 gallon tank, 70 lbs LR, Wet/dry filter, and a protein skimmer. How many more fish could I add to this setup before I start stretching the biofilter?
I'm very new to this, my first saltwater tank, but I love my guys, I can sit and watch em for hours, any feeback would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[fishygurl]

Originally Posted by PJBrunelle
http:///forum/post/2715599
Hello all, first post here so take it easy on me. I've got a 55 gal saltwater tank that's been up for about 2 months now, and I initially stocked it with 2 Percs and 2 cleaner Shrimp with about 70 lbs of live rock. things seem pretty stable right now, Ammonia/nitrites are at 0 nitrates about 10 and everyone seems happy and at ease.
I'm looking to add another fish at this point and i'm leaning towards a Royal Gramma, and after that a six line Wrasse. will these 4 get along? Will the six line harass my cleaner shrimp? Which would you recommend I introduce first?
Additionally, what would you recommend after this foursome? It's a 55 gallon tank, 70 lbs LR, Wet/dry filter, and a protein skimmer. How many more fish could I add to this setup before I start stretching the biofilter?
I'm very new to this, my first saltwater tank, but I love my guys, I can sit and watch em for hours, any feeback would be appreciated. Thanks!
I would do a water change to try and get your nitrates lower. Then a royal gramma or blackcap basslet would be cool. Are you planning on going reef? And sixlines have been known to bother shrimp. It should be one of the last fish you add since they are somewhat aggressive to new fish.
some fish you can check into if going reef (otherwise there are some other options) are:
bangaii cardinals (1 or 2)
Firefish
Yellow wrasse, flasher or fairy wrasse
clown goby
jawfish if you have a 3+ inch sand bed
yellow watchman or some other shrimp goby pair
some fish you could try would be the dwarf (flame, lemonpeel or coral beauty) or pygmy angel but they might nibble on coral
hawkfish you have to watch with inverts.

 

[fau8]

If your going with a FO setup you probally okay with your nitrates, but you have a light load in there now and I suspect you are over feeding.
My 1st choice would be a flame angle.
Second would be a yellow tang, though alot of people will not agree and state your tank is to small.
Either one of the above will spend the whole time moving in and out of your rock work and are quite interesting to watch. Same would go for the dottybacks.
For fish that stay in the open keep expanding on the clowns.

 

[mr.m]

flame angle please no tang it wil get to big for you tank
Mark

 

[pjbrunelle]

Thanks for the feedback all, i'm leery of my LFS guys, and it's good to get info from enthusiasts.
i hadn't looked at a Flame Angel before, it's beautiful. so if I went with 2 Percs, a royal gramma, a six line wrasse, and a Flame Angel, would that be overstocking my tank at all?
And chances are I am overfeeding, I am a noob and it just doesn't seem like much food. I'll try and cut back.

 

[rotarygeek]

lol i literally just answered the same question in a earlier post (like two minutes ago). my stocklist is average for a 55.
2 oc. clowns
1 lawnmower blenny
1 firefish goby
1 sixline wrasse
Plan to add either a flame angel or another coral beauty angel soon enough.
Also im only using bio filtration/flow/cheapo protien skimmer/ cheato. I run a filter bag of carbon, but no type of filter to speak of.