new to this..

[fishrule12]

i should be getting a 55 gallon tank very soon and am very interested in the reef aquarium hobby, ice done some reasearch and really want to put together a invert and fish tank. so ive looked up some fish and inverts that i think should be able to live peacefully with live rock and some soft corals
Fish:
-CLown Fish (pair)--> either Sebae, Tomato or Ocellaris
-Damselfish--> either Blue or Three Spot Domino
-Biclolor Blenny
-Royal Gramma Basslet
Inverts:
-sand safting star
-orange star
-feather dusters
-bulb anenome
-arrow crab or porcelain crab
-scarlet reef hermit crab
-maxima clam?
Soft Corals:
-Yellow fiji leather coral
-Devils Hand
-Sea Pen
-Toadstool Mushroom Leather
-possibly a colony of polyps
-some mushrooms
Live Rock
would this be over stocked in a 55? are there any things that would fight or not get along? and is there any thing that ive listed that would not be a good thing for a beginner to have?

 

[cheapfish1]

not sure but the damsels do have a record of being rather aggressive and territorial so i dont think they would go well with the clown fish. JMO
mike

 

[rob_ou]

I've had a blue and gold damsel and a false perc in a 20 gal tank for several weeks now, and after the initial bickering, they're doing fine...different species than you want to add, though.

 

[ams153]

just wandering what kind of lights your gonna have on that tank? and for whether thats to much or not.. nope it looks plenty fine to me.. the starfish may have a prob. in general they need a very established aquarium.. and the anemones and corals and maxima clam will all also need an established aquaium like preferably 6 months or so.. and remember not to add anything till your tanks been cycled any other q's

 

[zedx6]

The Sebae and Tomatoes are pretty aggresive so I am pretty sure they could hold there own, I would question the Ocellaris.

 

[fishrule12]

that leads to my other question.. and yea i would let the tank be set up with fish before i added most of the corals and inverts but is there a kind of lighting that would work for all of my species? and would a protein skimmer alone with live rock be okay for filtration and whats a good protein skimmer company?

 

[tormented]

The yellow tailed damsels are pretty good, they dont bother much in my tank.

 

[ams153]

Originally Posted by fishrule12
that leads to my other question.. and yea i would let the tank be set up with fish before i added most of the corals and inverts but is there a kind of lighting that would work for all of my species? and would a protein skimmer alone with live rock be okay for filtration and whats a good protein skimmer company?

your gonna need a filter and metal halide lighting is good for any and all

 

[ricks280]

hi fish rule,
i would cut my teeth on fish with lr only to start with, ligths and corals however cross that bridge after your system has been running well after 4 months get as much l.rock as you can, a good skimmer, good p/heads & filter . once all the system is running good start with ligths and than corals.

(rick)

(keep us posted)

 

[fishrule12]

so these metal halide lights, would i need a specific light spectrum or something for it to benefit inverts, live rock and corals? and what are the best protein skimmers on the market?

 

[danedodger]

Fish:
-CLown Fish (pair)--> either Sebae, Tomato or Ocellaris
-Damselfish--> either Blue or Three Spot Domino
-Biclolor Blenny
-Royal Gramma Basslet
It's not overstocking so that's good! The blenny and royal gramma are rather shy, peaceful fish so there's no telling really how they'll do with the damsel. At the very least get the blenny and gramma first, clownfish next (the "false perc" is the most peaceful of the clownfish bunch), and damsel last. If you have enough liverock for everyone to duck in and out and hide amongst and add them in that order I think it should be ok.
Cycle your tank first with a raw shrimp then get at least a good start on your liverock before you add any of the fish.
Inverts:
-sand safting star
-orange star
-feather dusters
-bulb anenome
-arrow crab or porcelain crab
-scarlet reef hermit crab
-maxima clam?
Your inverts you should probably add after your fish to let the tank mature although the hermies you can add sooner as they're the hardiest of the bunch. I don't think an orange linka star is going to do well in there? Do a load of research before you buy to make sure but I'm almost certain I've seen Ophiura post that linkas are tough to keep. Feather dusters are also hardy lil guys and should be no problem. A maxima is going to get too big for your tank (16" and recommended minimum tank size is 100 gallons).
Soft Corals:
-Yellow fiji leather coral
-Devils Hand
-Sea Pen
-Toadstool Mushroom Leather
-possibly a colony of polyps
-some mushrooms
And the majority of corals should come last on the list of animals to add. Read up on the leather coral as some of these are pretty competitive using noxious slime secretions to try to kill off others but hardy for corals. Sea pens can be hard to keep. Toadstools and mushrooms are easy keepers. Polyps depend on what type you get.

 

[fishrule12]

wow great thanks. by raw shrimp do you mean a dead one? or like a few live ones to kick start the cycling? and also i read that sand sifting stars get pretty big, they wouldnt like harm the corals or anything later on would it?

 

[danedodger]

wow great thanks. by raw shrimp do you mean a dead one? or like a few live ones to kick start the cycling? and also i read that sand sifting stars get pretty big, they wouldnt like harm the corals or anything later on would it?
Yep, a dead raw peeled like you would normally cook and eat yourself shrimp. You just chuck it in the tank and as it rots it will release ammonia which will start your tank cycle without any danger or harm to a living critter like when someone cycles with a damsel. Test your water and when you have ammonia 0, nitrite 0, and whatever nitrates do a partial water change to bring your nitrates down to at least 20 or lower (oh and scoop out whatever's left of the now ickified shrimp) then voila! You're ready to add your first fish!
On starfish there are more than one that will sift your sand so it'd be helpful for you to figure out exactly what kind of star you want. The problem with these guys being that once they've eaten all the stuff out of your sandbed, and they do eat a lot quickly, they slowly starve to death usually. If you want a critter to help keep your sandbed nice, just my opinion, but I'd look into different ones. There are some fish that will scoop up mouthfuls of sand and sift it for you as well as inverts like some conchs that will keep the sand clean.

 

[jdragunas]

Ask ophiura about the starfish, but i would have to say the sandsifting star and the orange linkia are big NO-NO's. These are two of the most difficult stars to keep in the aquarium.
Also, i wouldn't add a bicolor blenny and a royal gramma to the same tank. Because their coloration is so similar, they would most likely fight to the death. The oscellaris clown would probably not be the best choice if you want damsels, so i'd say go with the tomato or maroon.
other than those few items, everything looks great. You have to have MH (metal halide) lighting for that clam, and with that kind of lighting, you can get just about any coral you want.
The spectrum is really just the color of the lighting. the lower the K rating, the yellower the lights look, and the higher it gets, the bluer the lighting looks. So 6500K would be pretty yellow, 10000K is basically white, and 15000k-20000k is really blue. It all depends on your personal preference. I know corals grow faster in a certain range, but i'm not sure which, but they can all thrive in any range of lighting.
With the skimmer, i've heard a million and one great things about the aqua-c remora protein skimmer, so you may want to look into that. You can find some for pretty cheap on that great auction website... good luck!!!

 

[rstiles]

stay away from 3 spot damsel will bully every thing in the tank plus it will get larger than the fish you listed ,will take over the tank.