55 stocking Q

firecrackerbob

firecrackerbob

New member
Hi Everyone,
I am considering upgrading my 20L to a 55 that I have in my basement. it will be a reef tank, but I would like to have a better variety of fish than my angry damsel thats in my 20 right now...

Sooo... i figured I would ask the group and see what fish you can stock into a 55 before embarking on a major changeover... i know the usual chromis, damsels, fire fish, clowns, gobies, etc, but most of these I could put in a 20L... am I really getting any advantage by upgrading here?

in particular, I would really like to put a fox face in or maybe a copper band butterfly. a flame angel may be another choice pick, but people don't seem to have great luck with them.... from what I have found a 55 might be on the lower end or not a good choice for the above.... any thoughts??

Thanks
Eric
 
A Flame angle would work fine. I had a 55myself, and moved from a 20 haha, and was still pretty limited. Im not too sure but I think fox faces get too big? But I cannot say because I don't know the specifics off the top of my head.

The one thing I hated about the 55gal is that its not very wide and doesn't give you much space to aquascape. I now have a bigger and wider 90gal now haha.
 
I have a 55 mixed reef and have 3 bluegreen damsels, a hawkfish, a devil goby, a pair of pink skunk clowns, and a CBB so year you can fit more fish in a 55 than in a 20
 
Dr. Mac has a Copperbanded Butterfly on sale for $29.99 !!! I wish I had the money for it and I don't know if I would buy that delicate of a fish in any normal LFS. I bought one last summer and it died two days later on my birthday. That just sucked.
He also has a Flame Angel in stock for $50 which is cheap for them as well. Another fish I would like to try one day that would work fine in a 55.

Most cardinals and clown gobies would be fine. If the tank is healthy a Heniochus Butterflyfish should do well. Depending on how crowded the tank will be you might look into Anthias, but they are one thing I have no experience with at all and I haven't really looked much into them.
 
Anthias would be best to stay away from, you could get away with one or two Barletts anthias, but they need lots of feedings, about 2-3 times a day. So it might be a bit of a strain on the 55gal. But you could always get a school of Pajama Cardnials they look cool. Or if you're lucky enough to get a male and a female, you could have a pair of Bangaii Cardinals. Two males will fight till one dies I believe, the whole territory issue. Blennies Gobies Clowns. I loved my little watchman goby and pistol shrimp pair in my old 55gal.
 
RBTA good idea. Eric what do you think of a watchman goby and pistol shrimp pair? What type of substraite do you think you will use?

Al did you really have to point that out? Now I really want them, lol.
 
Hi Guys,
Thanks for the info and replies!
I plan on going with aragonite substrate. the goby/shrimp pair are pretty cool! I really like the flame angel pair idea though! that would be pretty sweet...
I am leaning towards setting the tank up, but I have to admit that I am also tempted to convert my 120 fresh at this point rather than fiddling with the 55...
most of the fish that I really want would need the 120 to be comfortable.
guess I need to do some planning...
Eric
 
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