Stocking my first marine tank, questions

[keith_cook]

I have been reading and researching for about 3 months now, and I am ready to take the plunge.
I have an Oceanic 58 w/ stand, cycling. 55 lbs of LR, 4 in. DSB, Aqua C Remora Pro protein skimmer, 2 Hagan 402 powerheads, and a 30W florecent light that came with tank. Not running a sump by the way. I plan for this to be a FOWLR set-up. No reef at this time. Now that all that is out of the way I would like to get your opinions on some fishes.
NOTE: I do not plan on adding all these fish more than likely will have 3 to 4.
1)Picasso Trigger (Rhinecanthus Aculeatus)
Will 58 gallons be ok for this guy?
2)Arc-Eye Hawkfish (Paracirrhites Arcatus)
3)Zebra Lionfish (Dendrochirus Zebra)
4)Coral Beauty (Centropyge Bispinosa)
5)False Percula Clown (Amphiprion Ocellaris)
Those are the fish I have in mind. I really want a trigger, and would rather have him than the lion. Let me know what ya think about these fish and their compatability. Sorry to make such a long post <img src="graemlins//evilwhorn.gif" border="0" alt="[Evil Horn]" />

 

[falcon63]

humma trigger is a hardy fish and looks good to. i have one in my tank and is doing quite well.

 

[seaguru]

Add the trigger last...

 

[keith_cook]

Have been reading on the Picasso and it seems like having these fish in a tank with a live DSB isnt going to work. From what I gather they will kill all the critters in it? Anyone have any experience with a picasso living in a tank with a live DSB? Thanks for the replies!

 

[the infamous sea cucumber]

First of all, welcome to the board Keith!
I think you've got a very nice set up going into this, but I think you may run into some problems with your fish list. The picasso trigger is going to get too big for a 58 IMO (10" max). Also, it would most likely go after the coral beauty, clown , and arch eye if it was cramped in a 58. As for the others, i would choose between the archeye hawk and the dwarf zebra and get the coral beauty/clown. Watch out though, the archeye probably wont go after the PC and the CB unless they are really small (then its lunch time), the lion do the same thing. Just make sure the little fish are not small enough to fit in the preditory fishes mouth. I think you would have a great looking tank with 3 fish...you would be sticking close to the 1" per 5 gal (a nice standard to base things by). Personally, hawks are more interesting to me then lions...but its up to you! Good luck, if you want to add another fish to that, be carefull and go slow (make sure your system can handle it.)

 

[lnarobbins]

cucumber is right, all the triggers are preditors and even now they are small, they will eventually take after tank mates. lions are cool but they get like up to 16in. if you are making a aggressive tank only, then by all means go with the triggers and lions. but if you want a community tank with lots of different fish, you might stay away from them. but it is up to you, you might get lucky and get a "nice" trigger that will play nice with the other fish but is it worth the risk?
just take it slow, trust me, when I started out I killed alot of fish by adding them to fast
this is my opinon
alan

 

[keith_cook]

Thanks for the warm welcome and all of your opinions! I plan to add about 1 fish every 4 to 6 weeks until I am at my prefered stocking level of 3 to 4 fish. I really don't care about keeping a friendy community tank. My only concern was whether the trigger would outgrow a 58 too quickly. I plan on an upgrade to a 75 or so in the next few years, and then making the 58 a reef tank. I just wanted to keep a FO tank for my 1st tank, to minimize my cost and potential loss of livestock (corals and such) since this is my first shot at SW.
If any has any thoughts on keeping a Picasso in a 58 for about 1 to 2 years til an upgrade I am all ears <img src="graemlins//silly.gif" border="0" alt="[silly]" /> Thanks for the replies and happy fathers day to you dads.
*edit*
Forgot to mention the lion I am looking at is a dwarf and only grows to a max of 8 in. I also dont want to mix a lion AND a trigger. It would be one or the other.

 

[ohscc]

I have a 55 gal tank with a picasso and a miniatus grouper. That is all the fish I am putting in there since I know the fish need room to swim and grow. Some problems I have found with the selection include: aggressive or community tank.(need to decide this first) 2) many(some not all) people have had problems with triggers harrassing and nipping at the slow swimming lion fish 3) I don't know if the lion fish can catch the smaller fish but if they are anything like my grouper those small fish won't last long( ask people who know more about lion fish. I thank you for doing research before setting up your tank. If more people would do this it would help our hobby and save them money. Hope this helps.
Also run the Remora Pro w/ mag 5 (i think 5)

 

[musipilot]

Here's my .02. You'll be fine for a while, as you indicated, and I would definately suggest the Picasso trigger, great fish. Add him last, and get him SMALL. They grow slowly, you don't have to worry about coming to the tank on the second day and seeing a 3 foot monster in there. I see you're thinking of upgrading down the road, great idea, but forget a 75, from a 58 thats no change. Think ahead to at least a 125 gallon, then don't worry about having a picasso, you'll always have a home for him. You're smart keeping it 3-4 fish, they'll do well. You may want to look into getting a porcupine puffer - they're hardy, and incredibly entertaining. They (like triggers) become very human responsive, which you'll enjoy. Good luck!