The Next additions?

[kelley5454]

Hi I just found out about this great place.
I have a 55 gal that I am setting up, I will be migrating the fish in my 12 gal into the 55 so I can use the 12 as a quarantine tank. I am curious as a fairly new hobbyist (4months) as to any suggestions on the rest of the inhabitants I should place in it.
I just lost a small coral beauty yesterday I was so mad at the fish store and wish I would have found this place first. I asked them every other day for two weeks what was wrong with her and they didn't give me anything for her until this Tuesday because they said shrimp would clean her. . However I have continued to treat the other fish as per the instructions and no one else is the least bit sick. We think she came sick from the store as two days later I noticed a small white spot, and she ended up with cloudy eye...next time I will go with my gut feeling AND post here!
Both tanks have live rock but I do not have coral lights yet. One of the rocks has a small polyp we call Kraken which we believe is a feather duster.
The current inhabitants are: (Suggested by the fish store)
Blue yellow tail damsel (not very aggressive at all)
2 Green Chromis (these 2 guys are basically oblivious)
1 Royal gramma (she has an attitude but we like her)
1 Scarlet cleaner shrimp
2 scarlet hermit crabs
2 regular hermit crabs
1 turbo snail
3 regular snails
I really want the 55 to be a beautiful tank and want all the fish to get a long. My husband really wants a humu humu trigger, I told him he is smoking crack!
Thanks for your suggestions!
Kelley

 

[perfectdark]

Welcome to the boards.. I have found soooo much information on here from alot of helpful people. I hope it helps you too...
First you need to decide weather or not you are going to have a reef tank or not. As far as what you have already I believe the any trigger will make a meal out of your shrimp and other inverts. In general Triggers are not reef safe as far as I know. One of my favorite fish is a flame angel and although its in the dwarf family its recomended for tanks 50 gal or larger IMO it would be an awesome addition to yours. But only one angel per tank they dont play well with other angels. There are tons of fish that can go into your tank. My only suggestion is to make a list of what you are considering and then ask here and research all over. There is a certain order that you should use when putting fish in your tank. According to agressivness and territory that way everyone will get along. Also the general rule is 1 inch of fish for every 5 gals of water. That will help you decide how many fish you can have before your tank is considered over stocked. And that rule is applied to the fish at its adult size. Of course its a guide line to follow. I see exceptions to this, EG where a 2" fish like a purple fire fish IMO doesnt put as much of a bioload on your tank like a 2" maroon clown will. The clown is alot more girthy and has more mass to it, where as the firefish is long and slender and clearly doesnt have the mass the clown does. Hope this helps you get started.... good luck..