50 Gallon Stocking Help

[phildiego]

Hey guys, I am new to the saltwater world and I have had a fluval 13.5 gallon for about 6 months and it has been pretty successful. As of now I just have 1 davinci oscellaris clownfish, 1 neon goby, 1 clown goby, a cleaner shrimp, 3 bumblebee snails, 1 nassarius snail, 1 astrea snail, and 3 hermit crabs. The corals I have are a rock of gsp, a rock of pulsating xenia, 2 hammers, 1 duncan, and 1 zoa colony. I am planning on getting a 55 gallon setup this weekend and slowly start setting it up to transfer what I have in this tank to the bigger tank. I plan on getting a lot more rock and coral (mainly just hammers, zoas and some other soft corals like toadstools, etc.) for the bigger tank and I need help choosing what other fish I can add. Of course I will add invertebrates. What fish could I add, they have to get along with the fish I currently have right now and not harm my corals. Ideally I'd like to add around 5-7 of the fish in my list to thank tank along with the other 3 (I will put a mangrove and a piece of macroalgae in the tank to help with nutrient export if that even helps).

Fish that will be in my 50 gallon already:

1 Davinci Clownfish
1 Green Clown Goby
1 Neon Blue Goby


These are some options I have (Help me choose 5-7 fish from here for my 50 gallon):

Flameback angelfish

Royal Gramma

Fairy Wrasse/Melanurus Wrasse/Yellow Wrasse/Flasher Wrasse

Hector's Goby/Court Jester Goby

Canary Blenny

Madagascar Spotted Croucher Goby

Shrimp Goby with Pistol Shrimp Pair

An urchin

Porcelain Crab

Sand sifting sea star

Trochus snails

Conch

 

[SantaMonica]

What did you get?

 

[phildiego]

What did you get?

I didn't get anything yet, but my list has been narrowed down a bit, lmk what u think:

1 Davinci Clownfish
1 Green Clown Goby
1 Neon Blue Goby

Another ocellaris clownfish

Royal Gramma

Chalk Bass

Yellow Coris Wrasse/Flasher Wrasse/ another wrasse species not too sure yet

Midas Blenny

Goby and Shrimp Pair (really want a hi fin red banded goby but I can't find them near me)

Porcelain Crab

Nassarius Snails

Conch

I'll only be adding soft corals and mushrooms from now on and once the tank is a lot more established I will add some rock flower anenomes for the clowns

 

[SantaMonica]

Can't see anything wrong with that

 

[griss]

FWIW, it's unlikely the clowns will host in Rock Flower Anemones. Rock Flower anemones are Caribbean species and clowns are Indo-Pacific species. I have on occasion seen them host in Condylactis anemones (another Caribbean species) but I can't recall ever hearing of them hosting in Rock Flower anemones.

@OrionN @bradleym Have you ever seen clowns host in Rock Flower anemones?

 

[phildiego]

Can't see anything wrong with that

Okok thank you so much

 

[phildiego]

FWIW, it's unlikely the clowns will host in Rock Flower Anemones. Rock Flower anemones are Caribbean species and clowns are Indo-Pacific species. I have on occasion seen them host in Condylactis anemones (another Caribbean species) but I can't recall ever hearing of them hosting in Rock Flower anemones.

@OrionN @bradleym Have you ever seen clowns host in Rock Flower anemones?

Ok good to know, that's like the last of the priority in the tank and I don't know too much about anemones so I def gotta research more. I'm not even sure I want a larger species tbh I am scared of something going wrong

 

[griss]

Ok good to know, that's like the last of the priority in the tank and I don't know too much about anemones so I def gotta research more. I'm not even sure I want a larger species tbh I am scared of something going wrong

Let's see what Orion and Bradley come back with. They are my go to people when I have questions about anemones. So, they know more than I do.

 

[wvned]

Porcelain crabs can be difficult to feed. The ones I had were filter feeders, I never saw them when I fed the tank, Only at night waving their arms.

 

[bradleym]

FWIW, it's unlikely the clowns will host in Rock Flower Anemones. Rock Flower anemones are Caribbean species and clowns are Indo-Pacific species. I have on occasion seen them host in Condylactis anemones (another Caribbean species) but I can't recall ever hearing of them hosting in Rock Flower anemones.

@OrionN @bradleym Have you ever seen clowns host in Rock Flower anemones?

Rock flower anemones are very easy to care for, and generally reef safe, but they are not a hosting species. So, although some clownfish have such a strong instinct that they will even take to corals, there is no natural inclination for the clown to recognize RFAs as a host.

 

[Dustin07]

My clowns have always ignored my bubble tip nems, but loved to host on either a colony of zoas or torches.
I don't have any feedback on the fish you listed, I haven't had any negative experiences there. But the worst fish I ever had was a damsel and I'll never do that again...

 

[OrionN]

Rock flower anemones are too small to host clowns. The Casanova of the clowns are Clarki clowns, they are way too big for RFA. I have never seen any clowns hosted by RFA but I have seen shrimp in them.

 

[phildiego]

Porcelain crabs can be difficult to feed. The ones I had were filter feeders, I never saw them when I fed the tank, Only at night waving their arms.

Okok good to know, I will consider looking at other crabs maybe an emerald crab?

 

[phildiego]

Rock flower anemones are very easy to care for, and generally reef safe, but they are not a hosting species. So, although some clownfish have such a strong instinct that they will even take to corals, there is no natural inclination for the clown to recognize RFAs as a host.

Ok I see, thanks for letting me know. Maybe I will look into a bubble tip once the tank is more established

 

[phildiego]

My clowns have always ignored my bubble tip nems, but loved to host on either a colony of zoas or torches.
I don't have any feedback on the fish you listed, I haven't had any negative experiences there. But the worst fish I ever had was a damsel and I'll never do that again...

Haha, good to know, I was considering a damsel but I read too much negative reviews on those species

 

[phildiego]

Rock flower anemones are too small to host clowns. The Casanova of the clowns are Clarki clowns, they are way too big for RFA. I have never seen any clowns hosted by RFA but I have seen shrimp in them.

Ok I guess I will try out a bigger anemone in the future, thanks

 

[phildiego]

Thanks for the help guys, I am gonna start stocking next week. I will put my livestock that I have rn first then slowly start adding my list starting with the more peaceful species

 

[Urka]

Haha, good to know, I was considering a damsel but I read too much negative reviews on those species

I have a Springer Damsel and it is not aggressive at all. I believe they are considered the least aggressive of all damsels

 

[Dustin07]

Haha, good to know, I was considering a damsel but I read too much negative reviews on those species

I have a Springer Damsel and it is not aggressive at all. I believe they are considered the least aggressive of all damsels

I'm shocked I don't have a single picture of the one we had, but he was this type. He was horrible. very aggressive to any other fish his size or smaller, but worse, he burrowed like crazy. I'd see Old Faithful style fluffs of sand go up in the air and he had killed more than one coral at sand level by covering it with sand. he's like a $10 fish that pretty much ruined an expensive torch.

The day I broke that tank down to move everything into my new bigger tank, I thought his three year reign of terror was over. I would finally be able to catch him with live rock removed and water level lowered.

NOPE! He jumped the tank and committed suicide on the last day as a final F U to me, I couldn't even get a little store credit out of him, lol. bastard.

 

[Urka]

I'm shocked I don't have a single picture of the one we had, but he was this type. He was horrible. very aggressive to any other fish his size or smaller, but worse, he burrowed like crazy. I'd see Old Faithful style fluffs of sand go up in the air and he had killed more than one coral at sand level by covering it with sand. he's like a $10 fish that pretty much ruined an expensive torch.

The day I broke that tank down to move everything into my new bigger tank, I thought his three year reign of terror was over. I would finally be able to catch him with live rock removed and water level lowered.

NOPE! He jumped the tank and committed suicide on the last day as a final F U to me, I couldn't even get a little store credit out of him, lol. bastard.

View attachment 32411046

Hmm. Mine doesn't have a yellow tail.