Variety of fish

cspostin

cspostin

New Member
I want to stock my 55g tank with fish and stuff, need help on what goes best. I want a community of fish. I also want things for day and night and cleaners. Can anyone help?
My level are at:
Hydrometer: Between 1.021 &1.022
pH: 7.8
Nitrate: 0 on both tests
Ammonia: 0
My Lights: 3 Bulbs
Daytime Light: Aqualight T5 10,000K Daylight & True Acting 03 Blue T5 Fluorescent Lamp
Night: True Actinic 03 Blue 360 Degree output, 30 watt.
Filtration System:
Emperor 280 Power Filter-the double bio wheel
Penguin power head--air-rator
 
teresaq

teresaq

Active Member
first, welcome to the boards. You sg is a little low for inverts. try bringing it up slowly to about 1.025.
How old is your tank?
do you have sand or crushed coral?
There are some nice comunity fish that will fit a 55 gal. alot depends on if you are going reef or fowlr?
Go slowly. add only one to two fish per 2 to 3 weeks.
pick fish that stay small, clowns, gobies, chromis, blennys.
a nice mix of color would be something like this
2 fp clowns
1 red firefish
1 purple firefish
1 royal gramma
1 bi-color blenny
1 sand sifting gobie.
do lots of research. look at the fish list here. see what part of the tank they like to stay, top, middle bottom. how big do they get as an adult.
Good Luck
one thing i did not see was a skimmer. I used an aqua Remora pro on my old 55 and it worked pretty good for that tank size.
 
cspostin

cspostin

New Member
Tank is about 2 years old, bought it from a friend. I have crushed coral in it with very little sand. I can bring up my salinity, thank you. I want mostly fish maybe a few extra things, I just can't seem to find what would go best with each other. I need to get a little more live roch before I add fish so I have time. Thank you for your help.
 
f14peter

f14peter

Member
We wanted to get a variety of fishes that occupied different niches in the tank. Thus, so far we have . . .
- 5 Blue-green chromis, which are schoolers and tend to stay in the upper half of the water column.
- 2 Oci clowns, they're still working out the pairing part but they tend to hang out a little lower and cling a bit closer to the rockwork.
- Blennie, and he usually works the lower regions of the tank, although it's not uncommon to see him perched on the screwheads of the skimmer box up near the top of the tank.
- Skunk cleaner shrimp and he's a real hoot! When we first got him, he stayed in the back corner, but found he wasn't getting much work so he's now set up shop on the rockwork front and center, and gets regular visits from the blennie.
Yet to go, we haven't got our showcase fish yet and that's still to be determined, but we figure on a larger, free swimmer that moves about the middle of the water column.
Picking compatable specimens is almost an art unto itself . . . "OOOOOH, I want this fish . . . drat, he doesn't go with this fish . . . that isn't compatable with that fish . . . "
A real good book is Scott Michaels' THE POCKETGUIDE TO MARINE FISHES as it addresses compatability, feeding and habitat requirements, and ease of keeping of hundreds of fish.
 
cspostin

cspostin

New Member
Originally Posted by f14peter
We wanted to get a variety of fishes that occupied different niches in the tank. Thus, so far we have . . .
- 5 Blue-green chromis, which are schoolers and tend to stay in the upper half of the water column.
- 2 Oci clowns, they're still working out the pairing part but they tend to hang out a little lower and cling a bit closer to the rockwork.
- Blennie, and he usually works the lower regions of the tank, although it's not uncommon to see him perched on the screwheads of the skimmer box up near the top of the tank.
- Skunk cleaner shrimp and he's a real hoot! When we first got him, he stayed in the back corner, but found he wasn't getting much work so he's now set up shop on the rockwork front and center, and gets regular visits from the blennie.
Yet to go, we haven't got our showcase fish yet and that's still to be determined, but we figure on a larger, free swimmer that moves about the middle of the water column.
Picking compatable specimens is almost an art unto itself . . . "OOOOOH, I want this fish . . . drat, he doesn't go with this fish . . . that isn't compatable with that fish . . . "
A real good book is Scott Michaels' THE POCKETGUIDE TO MARINE FISHES as it addresses compatability, feeding and habitat requirements, and ease of keeping of hundreds of fish.
Thank you so much for your help
 
cspostin

cspostin

New Member
Okay how does this sound for my tank:
3 Blue Reef Chromes
2 Clownfish-Percula wild
1 Firefish Goby
1 Blue Firefish Goby
1-2 Candy Stripe Cardinal
1 Royal Gramma
1 Bi-Color Blenny
Then the 20-55 Gallon Reef Package from this site.
Does this look okay? Any changes that need to be made?
 
teresaq

teresaq

Active Member
that might be a lrg bio load. you might need to cut back a little. leave out the cardinel and one firefish.
or drop the chromis and keep the other two,
whats a blue firefish? do you mean purple.
 
cspostin

cspostin

New Member
Originally Posted by TeresaQ
that might be a lrg bio load. you might need to cut back a little. leave out the cardinel and one firefish.
or drop the chromis and keep the other two,
whats a blue firefish? do you mean purple.
Yes, purple.
Too much? for my tank
 
cspostin

cspostin

New Member
Originally Posted by hot883
Here is a compatibiltity chart that might help.
Where did you get this chart from. Not real clear and wanted to print it.
 
garnet13aj

garnet13aj

Active Member
I've heard not to mix different firefish. I have 2 red one's in my tank (a 55) and they get along great, but I heard the purple one's will attack the red ones, you may want to verify that w/someone but I'd make sure before you buy them both.
 
teresaq

teresaq

Active Member
I have a purple and a red and they get along fine. no fighting.
google marine fish compatibility chart
 
cspostin

cspostin

New Member
Originally Posted by TeresaQ
I have a purple and a red and they get along fine. no fighting.
google marine fish compatibility chart
According to the chart they are all compatible with live coral. Putting coral in the tank will that reduce the amount of fish? Or is it better to have it with the fish. Or even anenomies? Is my tank too small? Or should I just stick with fish since I am a beginner. Just need some more advice. Thank you soo much for your help.
 
ecooper

ecooper

Member
I was going to recommend a dwarf angel, but not if you plan to add coral. I happened to get lucky, have a coral beauty (I think supposed to be the least interested in coral), who hasn't bothered the coral I've added. Love the angels, though. Good luck.
 
sign guy

sign guy

Active Member
Originally Posted by cspostin
Where did you get this chart from. Not real clear and wanted to print it.
yeah mayor mod where did you get that pic from?
 
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