55 gallon stocking advice

[EugeneReef]

Hi all, I am moderately experienced, I had a tank 13 years ago that crashed due to some personal stuff, am picking up the hobby again. I have a 60 gallon marineland tank (basically a 55 gallon but 48.25" inches instead of 48" and a little bit taller so you may as well consider it a 55). Right now I've got 50 pounds of lace rock, 35 pounds of cured live rock from a LFS, and a 1" fine grain sand bed, and am planning what to stock in there! My LR from the LFS has some GSP and Zoas of some sort and they all seem very happy and I have yet to see any ammonia in my testing so I think either I didn't have a cycle due to using cured rock from the LFS or it was a very small cycle. If all tests good this weekend and my corals still look happy I will probably add my first fish (two Occelaris). Anyway I have some questions.

My current tentative stocking list is:

2 Occellaris Clownfish
1 Hawkfish (species dependent on availability at LFS)
1 Goby (probably Watchman, again species dependent on LFS availability)
1 or 2 Emerald Mithrax crabs. (I already have a little bubble algae on my LR)
A few turbo snails to keep glass clean (will add once algae shows up)
??? (I am sure there is room for something else here)

Are there any issues in my proposed stocking list?

I know Emeralds can sometimes get mean when they get larger and plan to remove them if they get too aggressive. I really like the look of crabs though and want to have one or two in the tank despite the risk and emerald seems the most benign choice.

Would a goby be a good choice as a sand sifter for this tank? Do I really need a sand sifter? Nassarius seem to be the other popular option but I am not sure if 1" sand bed is enough for them.

I am shooting for an understocked tank and a few easy to keep corals since I am still fairly new. I have about 2000 gph in total filtration across 2 powerheads and a wavemaker, and I have a BH-1000 hang on back protein skimmer. One lesson I learned the first time is a good protein skimmer is very helpful.

What are some suggestions for one or two more fish? I was considering maybe a damselfish or two. But there may be more interesting options I'm not aware of. I know better than to put a tang in a 55. An angel seems a little gambly since they are expensive, sometimes hard to keep, and my tank is on the small side for them. I like the look of wrasses but hear they can get mean.

Thanks for any help!

 

[nereefpat]

I see no issues with any of those fish.

Plenty of wrasses to chose from, especially fairies and flashers.

Look into royal grammas too, or an orchid dottyback.

 

[Chuckd76]

I have a 55 too. It's all about small fish just for scale (size) issues.
Check out some of the smaller cardinals like orange striped, margarita etc. If you get a group they'll school loosely.
Bangai cardinal I have is good. It spends most of it's time hovering so space isn't an issue.
Don't do a purely sandsifting anything (sea star, goby, etc) in a smaller tank as their sifting is actually hunting for the small creatures you want living in your sandbed.
I have a diamond watchman and a tiger pistol but preferred the red banded goby and candycane pistol I had for their smaller size.
I'd avoid any damsels in a 55. I had a yellowtail and without a more aggresive fish it took over half the tank.
I also like the tiny blennies just cause they're interesting but a hawkfish may dine on them.
HTH.

 

[LeJeune981]

I have a long nose hawkfish... I love that lol dude.. always perched somewhere watching.. even let's me hand feed him now and again..

Crab wise.. I have emeralds... Sally light foots... and porcelain crabs

My couple of big emeralds all seem to be ok.. I have a 8 or so medium and small ones in my 90 display and 6 in my 49 gallon xenia fuge

My sallys... I have 3.. 2 of one species (medium sized blue pinchers)..one of the other (tiny pink/red pinchers)

Both really fun to watch..and man do they move fast.. and constantly eating off the rocks

3 porcelain crabs
Pretty much harmless in my opinion.. and fun to watch them filter the water.. not much for a clean up crew member though.. just neat addition


+1 to the banggai cardinals..
Make sure to watch them eat at the store.. I've read that some have a difficult time with frozen..
Mine won't touch anything but mysis or brine..
I got lucky and gotta male and female pair when I got mine..male is currently holding his 3rd clutch of eggs.. I'm hoping to rescue the babies and plop them in the fuge..

Sent from my SM-G930VL using Tapatalk

 

[EugeneReef]

Thanks all.

I believe I've narrowed it down to:

2 Occellaris clowns
1 Longnose Hawkfish
1 Six line wrasse

Then maybe I'd risk a few chromis or maybe not, I keep going back and forth on that.

I've heard six lines can be aggressive but in my research they seem to mostly get along with clowns and hawkfish (it seems it's mostly blennies, dottybacks, and pseudos they don't like) so I am crossing my fingers. I plan to add the hawk and six line both at once.