55 FOWLR Stocking

[bpondabay]

I just needed some suggestions on stocking my 55 FOWLR
I have 50lbs of live rock
45LBS of Aragonite Caribsea sugar sand
15 LBS of Live Sand
I was really wanting some bigger fish than say clowns and wanted some suggestions because it is a small group that people suggest can be safe in one I really like butterfly fish and some say they can live in a 55 like the threadfin
and also I wanted some sand sifting fish that would be compatible with the bigger fish i liked

Thanks for the help and I will never buy any fish until I am certain they are safe

 

[Monkeyfish]

It depends on what you want to do with the tank. Here's my .02

IMO - avoid sand sifting gobies and the like, they make a mess of the tank and you'll have a lot of "cloudy days" as they go about throwing sand everywhere.

Big fish need big tanks.

You'd be better off getting smaller wrasses and a dwarf angel; maybe a flame hawk. You could also make it a species tank and get a larger frogfish or some type of scorpionfish. If you go peaceful - gobies, blennies, most cardinals and certain fairy and flasher wrasses would all do nicely.

No tangs. No triggers. No large angels or puffers (though the sharp nose puffers would work okay in a 55). Even the smaller species of Butterfly fish get to be about 8" long. A threadfin may do okay, but I think that's pushing it in the long term.