New to SW and need some suggestions

Oops. I forgot a few things.



Originally Posted by the wizard
29 is a good sump
Ok, I'll use that then.


Ok, here's my full stocking goal for the tank as of now.


Ok, so is this good???

1 firefish

1 tailspot blenny

1 yellow accesor (subject to change)

3 blue chromis

2 occeleris clowns

2 neon goby

1 mandarinfish

3 zebra dartfish

1 dwarf feather duster

100 turbo snails ( would that be too much?

5 cleaner shrimp

3 peppermint shrimp

2 blue hermits

2 colonies of Yellow polyps (cheapest I could find)

Golden ricordia (1 or 2)(I think I'll go with 2

1Sun coral (ironic name, don't ya think?)

3Frogspawn


I was also thinking-would it be possible to do a snowflake eel? Could I do it if I removed some stock?
 
Oh, and also 2 neon tree corals.
 
My stuff will be in RED

spencerguy1 said:
Oops. I forgot a few things.



Originally Posted by the wizard
29 is a good sump
Ok, I'll use that then.

Is it a 29 long or tall? Tall can be problematic

Ok, here's my full stocking goal for the tank as of now.
Ok, so is this good???

1 firefish

In a 55 gal tank? It will be lost due to size.

1 tailspot blenny

In a 55 gallon tank such a fish will be an okay addition.

1 yellow accesor (subject to change)

I have no experiance with these fish.

3 blue chromis

These will want more members in order to school. 5 is probably a good idea. Also, they may bully each other, chromis can be aggressive towards their own regardless of tank size.

2 occeleris clowns

These are always an option. Be warned, they are damsels, and damsels can be aggressive towards others.

2 neon goby

In a 55 gallon tank they will be lost. 2in is their full length.

1 mandarinfish

I would be hesitant about getting this fish. They can be hard to care for, and eat live foods more then flake.

3 zebra dartfish

These are pretty fish, a good choice for your tank.

1 dwarf feather duster

I do think this is an option for your tank.


100 turbo snails ( would that be too much?

Holy crap that's way to many. Go with 20-30, not 100....

5 cleaner shrimp

Try 2 and add more later if there are no issues.

3 peppermint shrimp

Try 1 for now.

2 blue hermits

Maybe 3?

2 colonies of Yellow polyps (cheapest I could find)

They will spread and even become a pest, watch them to see how they do. Do not add corals until your tank is several months old or older.

Golden ricordia (1 or 2)(I think I'll go with 2

This can be a semiaggressive coral and harm others if it gets to close. Keep it away from them. Also, it can be picky about bright light, but needs medium/high lighting.

1Sun coral (ironic name, don't ya think?)

Sun Coral can be difficult to care for due to the nature of it's food source. You have to feed it every day. They also tend to not come out during the day, except when you feed them.

3Frogspawn

Frogspawn can be hard to care for and WILL sting anything within an 8in radious of it, so keep other corals far away from it. Besides that, it needs moderat/high lighting to survive.

I was also thinking-would it be possible to do a snowflake eel? Could I do it if I removed some stock?
Click to expand...

No. It will eat most crustaceans and anything it can swallow. They grow to be 2ft long max. I would avoid this with your stock.


spencerguy1 said:
Oh, and also 2 neon tree corals.
Click to expand...

These are.... keepable. I would avoid them due to high lighting needs and high water flow needs. The lighting you plan for won't be enough unless you decide to get a double rack 4 bulbs each T5 HO lighting.
 
WAY too many fish and snails IMO.

1 firefish Good choice

1 tailspot blenny Nice fish

1 yellow accesor (subject to change) I don't know enough about these but I think you have too many fish that swim in the open. They will be competing for space.

3 blue chromis No, they will end up killing each other

2 occeleris clowns I love clowns :)

2 neon goby I'm no sure if they will get along if they are not a pair

1 mandarinfish Not in a tank this size unless you KNOW FOR SURE it is eating prepared foods.

3 zebra dartfish I don't think the firefish will like these, they look too much alike.

1 dwarf feather duster Good choice

100 turbo snails ( would that be too much? WAY too many. Turbo snails get huge so I would avoid them all together. I would get Astraea snails instead of turbos but don't get too many. They plow through algae. I would also get a variety of snails including dwarf ceriths, Nassarius Snail, and maybe a conch.

5 cleaner shrimp I think this is too many cleaner shrimp, They get to be a decent size and it seems like your rock would be crawling with them lol. I would get 1 and maybe a blood red shrimp as well.

3 peppermint shrimp Sounds fine but sometimes you can get a rogue one that eats corals.

2 blue hermits I would get a few more but that's because I love hermits :) I would also look into scarlet reef hermits. They cost a little more but are very pretty and peaceful.

2 colonies of Yellow polyps (cheapest I could find)

Golden ricordia (1 or 2)(I think I'll go with 2

1Sun coral (ironic name, don't ya think?)

3Frogspawn I would get one and let it grow. they can get HUGE


I was also thinking-would it be possible to do a snowflake eel? Could I do it if I removed some stock?Nope, snowflake eels get way too big.
Click to expand...

I would look to replace some of your fish selections will some bottom dwelling fish. That will help make sure you don't have too many fish fighting for territory. In a 29 gallon I would stick to 5-6 fish. I know with a sump you can push that a bit but as a beginner I think it is better to stock lightly and go slow.


EDIT: I saw 29 gallon and thought that was your tank size. I see now it's a 55 gallon? So disregard part of my post.
 
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clowns will fight/eat your gobies
 
I have to disagree with FF on corals. Corals can be added once the tank is stable. Just start with hardy ones(like the polyps you mentioned). I'm 2 months in and have lots of corals without any issues. Nothing will take over unless you let it. I have some corals I need to keep trimmed (xenia) I just make sure to keep it under control so it doesn't take over my tank.


Rics don't need high light. Moderate light will do. They grow pretty slow as well so no big deal about aggressiveness.

Suncoral takes some extra care but it is the easiest of the non photosynthetic corals. I'm getting one in a couple weeks :) Be aware that your shrimp will try to steal food from it. So have a plan.

Frogspawn is not difficult. Again it does not NEED high light. In fact I've seen it do fine under PC as long as it is higher in the tank. I have a hammer coral(very similar) and it's an awesome coral. You have to keep it away from things but it's pretty easy otherwise. Your clowns might even host it!

For other corals I suggest: duncan coral(not a soft coral), xenia, zoathids/palys, and other softies. They are easy to care for, most don't need much light and they grow pretty well.
 
Ok, about the mandarin fish, I was thinking of adding this way later into the tank, maybe 7-8 months after setup. And only if I have success with the tank.

For the turbo snails, I must have been thinking of a different type of snail. Lol. I'll do 30.

As for the accessor, I think I will hold of on it. It's to expensive, especially since this is my first SW tank and I could easily kill it and waste 100 bucks.

In place of the accessor, I think I'll do either 3 neon gobys, 3 watchman gobies, or remove the neons and do 5 yellow watchman gobies.

3 hermits sounds good.

What issues would come up with the shrimp?

Also, these are long term goals. I only plan on having 5 or 6 fish until the first month or so, then slowly add the rest, and finally do corals.


Thx alot for all e help,


Spence
 
Adding 5-6 fish in 1 month is a bit fast IMO. Usually you add 1-2 fish then wait a couple weeks and add a couple more. Also remember you will be QTing fish as well.

Watchmen gobies are territorial with each other unless you get a pair. If you want a neat bottom dwelling fish that CAN be in groups I would look into yellow headed jawfish.

p-71432-Opistognathus-auri.jpg


I saw one of these at the LFS the other day and they are really cute. I almost dumped my yasha goby/ pistol shrimp pair for a yellow headed jawfish but ended up deciding against it.


Here is what I would do for a your 55 gallon.

1 pair clownfish (fun easy to keep fish)
1 firefish ( I would get a purple one if you can find it)
1 tailspot blenny or bicolor blenny or Midas Blenny
(just some other options)
3-4 yellow headed jawfish
And maybe something like a cardinalfish

If you want something eel like that is a little more fish/invert safe I would suggest a convict blenny/ Engineer Goby.

For inverts I would get

dwarf Feather duster
A few hermit crabs. I find they don't clean too much but are neat to have around. Blue legs are nice but they are tiny. In a larer tank I would look into halloween hermits and scarlet reef hermits.
1 cleaner shrimp maybe a pair.
3 peppermint shrimp
5Astraea Snails
10 Nassarius Snails
20 Cerith Snails
1 fighting conch
Some suggest nerite snails. I haven't noticed them to eat much algae though. For a little variety you can add in things like serpent stars, cucumbers and some crabs like emerald. Just depends on what your needs are. Once the tank starts to go through the algae cycle you will have a better idea of what sort of clean up crew you need. Different snails eat different things so variety is key.
 
Ok, so would I be able to do 4 of the yellow headed jawfish?

I'm coming up with another possible stockingnlist, be done in a minute
 
Here I go

1 pair of occelaris clownfish
4 yellow headed jawfish
5 blue chromis
1 fire fish
3 zebra dart fish
1 tailspot blenny
1 frogspawn
3 ricordia mushrooms
1 colony of yellow polyps
2 neon tree coral
1 colony of green polyps
2 blue mushrooms
10 turbo snails
5 astrea snails
30 cerith snails
2 cleaner shrimp
3 peppermint shrimp
3 blue hermits
1 dwarf feather duster
starfish of some sort???

60 pounds of LR
29 gal sump
 
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