Too Many Fish?

[extinct 1ne]

These are the fish I plan on having in a 55 gallon softy reef. Is it too many? Or can I maybe put in another small fish?
Tomato Clownfish
Yellow Tang
Six Line Wrasse
Green Chromis
Green Mandarin Dragonet

 

[arvins]

My opinon is thats about all you can put in the tank. The tang police will be here shortly I would think but IMO that would be all your tank can hold. I'm new at this myself but 5 fish would be all that I myself would get.

 

[sir mixxalot]

the wrasse and the dragonet TOGETHER would exhaust your pod population very quickly. so one or the other would starve with in 2 months is my guess. I would strongly suggest you not purchase a dragonet unless you:
have a sump with a fuge teaming with pods
if you do not have a sump you purchase a bag of live pods every week to keep the population up
I am about to purchase a dragonet but this is after 4 months of having no fish in the tank and seeing hundreds of pods cralwing all over the rock in the DT and through the cheato and mangroves in my sump AND IM STILL APPREHENSIVE ABOUT IT! LOL
now back to your question.
do i think 5 fish is to much for a 55 gallon?..... No.... but I answer no to ask these questions...
It really depends on your filtration and how mature your system is.
What do you currently have in the tank?
Do you have a Sump?
how many lbs of LR do you have in the tank?
Any corals?

 

[ryan80]

I do not think that is too many fish for your tank, but do agree with previous posters about the dragonette. They are really cool and beautiful fish, but they only really eat pods and cannot compete with an aggressive eater like a six-line.
Start with your other 3 and think about the wrasse and dragonette later. You may find a less aggressive wrasse or something you decide that you want even more. Stocking slowly has a lot of advantages.
A good fuge with macro algae, disciplined testing and water changes, knowing how much to feed, good skimmer, and a good clean up crew have at least as much to do with how many fish you can have as the sheer size of your tank in my opinion. If you get 5 fish and your water quality is still great after a while, then you can consider adding another one.

 

[extinct 1ne]

Sir Mixxalot - I'll drop the Wrasse. I am not planning on getting the Dragonet for about 4 months at least. I have a 10 gallon refugium. I currently have a Tomato Clownfish, Yellow Tang, Green Chromis, Green Brittle Starfish, Long Tentacle Anemone (Clownfish is hosting!

) Mushrooms, Pumping Xenia, about 60 lbs. live sand, and I have about 50 lbs. of Live Rock. About the pods, I will probably purchase them for the first few months, then see what happens.

 

[extinct 1ne]

ryan80 - Thank you.

. Like I said in response to Sir Mixxalot, I'll drop the Wrasse.

 

[sir mixxalot]

Originally Posted by Extinct 1ne
http:///forum/post/3066348
Sir Mixxalot - I'll drop the Wrasse. I am not planning on getting the Dragonet for about 4 months at least. I have a 10 gallon refugium. I currently have a Tomato Clownfish, Yellow Tang, Green Chromis, Green Brittle Starfish, Long Tentacle Anemone (Clownfish is hosting!

) Mushrooms, Pumping Xenia, about 60 lbs. live sand, and I have about 50 lbs. of Live Rock. About the pods, I will probably purchase them for the first few months, then see what happens.
ok good deal. Everything sounds good to me. The one thing about the fish is that you must add them slowly so that the natural filtration can kick it into gear. like what RYAN said you can not feed heavly often. Make sure all the food is eaten before you drop more food into the tank. this will help you avoid any food decay which will = nitrate and phosphate then you have an algae bloom on your hands. A good sand sifter/detrus eater is a must in a tank with that much sand, which is what the brittle star will help you with but some nasur. snails will also help. One thing that you have to be aware of is that anemone. If it gets big and one of the fish get spooked, the fish could run into it and get eaten. purchasing the pods for the first few months will not only help keep the pod population up but will surely get you on your way to a self sustaining system with pods. one other thing that will help keep your pods up AND take some nitrate/phosphate out of the tank is a ball of cheato. Do you have a skimmer in your sump?

 

[sir mixxalot]

one other thing is if you decide to start keeping sps you will have to keep a closer eye on tank levels. If you can, add more water volume by adding a frag tank or a species tank plumed into the whole system. adding more water volume will "delute" and kind of "pollution" that might occur in your tank

 

[extinct 1ne]

Sir Mixxalot - I currently do not have a Protein Skimmer, but I plan on getting one very soon.

 

[sir mixxalot]

what kind simmer are you planing on getting?

 

[extinct 1ne]

Sir Mixxalot - Not sure, what kind of Protein Skimmer would you recommend for a 55 gallon softy reef, that is decent, but at the same time not too costly?

 

[sir mixxalot]

Originally Posted by Extinct 1ne http:///forum/post/3066411
Sir Mixxalot - Not sure, what kind of Protein Skimmer would you recommend for a 55 gallon softy reef, that is decent, but at the same time not too costly?
define costly... me personally costly or the price i pay is = to the amount the item costs divided by the performance minus life of the product. lol
in this hobby you get what you pay for. now there is one thing that i guess you can say is semi expermental. its called a algae scrubber it costs around 30 bucks to make
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/330606/mega-powerful-nitrate-and-phosphate-remover-replaces-skimmer-refugium-everything
there are mixed feeling about them just make sure you read the thread through and through so you completely understand taking care of it and what it removes and releases and how to properly set one up .
Santa Monica talked about not having to run a skimmer with one up and running on the tank. That is up to you and how your levels change as you add a bigger and bigger bio load.
i am going to be setting one up in the next couple weeks
NOW for people who are now biting at the bit to start a thread fight over the algae scrubber, all im doing is giving him options...

 

[extinct 1ne]

Sir Mixxalot - I think I might make that. Thank you.

 

[sir mixxalot]

not a prob buddy... just make sure you COMPLETELY understand it and if you have any questions about any of it just ask me and i should be able to answer it after reading and reading and reading about it. It sounds like the Pros outweight the Cons 10 fold in my opinion.