chocolates mom
New member
I have a coral beauty in my 55 gallon and he has been very well behaved with all my fish and corals
"Centerpiece" fish for 55g?
- Thread starter chrisstie
- Start date
I have a friend who has 5 dwafts in a 265 and they are good citizens never touching the coral. He claims it has to do with feeding them great food which tastes alot better. After all, would not a shrimp from the food store taste better to an Angel than essentially a rock???????
John
matthewdmueller
New member
Six line wrasse, thats what I would recommend. They are small but they have lots of personallity and look super cool.
chrisstie
Premium Member
Thanks for the extra input guys. I like the way rabbit fish look -similar to foxface but I've also heard that 55 might be a tight fit for them.. Would they suffer the way a tang would or are they okay?
Right now im leaning towards trying a dwarf.
And once again, I'll pass on the wrasse.. unless, maybe, someday, I can save up and buy oneof those super cool not typical colored ones. . . There's like 1000 kinds of them.
And already planning on having a pair of clowns with anemone.. I know its hard to look at the original post *points up* but its up there somewhere
I was also looking at the different kinds of pistol shrimp - something about the bullseye one stands out. I'm going to have to persue that when the tank is up! C'mon Christmas come here sooner!
Right now im leaning towards trying a dwarf.
And once again, I'll pass on the wrasse.. unless, maybe, someday, I can save up and buy oneof those super cool not typical colored ones. . . There's like 1000 kinds of them.
And already planning on having a pair of clowns with anemone.. I know its hard to look at the original post *points up* but its up there somewhere
I was also looking at the different kinds of pistol shrimp - something about the bullseye one stands out. I'm going to have to persue that when the tank is up! C'mon Christmas come here sooner!
clsanchez77
Member
Here is a different direction you might like
Here is a different direction you might like
Keep in mind that an anemone aquarium (say three times fast) will require high lighting and moderate flow. May be tough on a student budget but I think its doable if you stay within reason; I know because I was there recently. Also, I want to repeat what was stated above, anenomes and corals don't mix well. They are not found together natuarally and create problems in aquariums.
Having said that, a 55 gallon is a good size for this purpose as you may not need to spend too much for the lighting and flow.
If you can get this book at a local library, check out Natural Reef Aquariums by John Tullock. Look at chapter 8. I am using this book as guidance for a 90 caribbean rubble zone. His book does not cover that niche but I am able to use pieces.
If you do this it would be different from the mainstream which is something in itself to be proud of.
The tank would most certainly need metal halides (maybe T5's) but if you go over to the Anemones & Clownfish Forum here on RC.
Anenomes in the Actiniidae family will be the easiest, I use the term easiest loosely, and only recommended. The LTA, Long Tentacle Anenome (Macrodactyla doreensis), will prefer a soft substrate and naturally hosts the Clark's and Pink Skunk Clownfishes. The BTA, Bubble Tip Anenome (Entacmaea quadricolor), will prefer a hard substrate and naturally hosts Maroon and Bluestripe Clownfishes.
Any other anenomes would not be recommended to a beginner.
This is my recomendations:
Take the 55 gallon tank and add 85pounds of Fiji Rock. Keep the structure low profile...a rim structure would be very neat and different, keep it no more than 6-9" tall as the tank is 24". Fill in around the perimeter of the rock structure with 4" sand, go with 6-7" in the center.
I would stock the tank with a single LTA, with a pair of Pink Skunk Clownfishes. I would add a sailfin blenny as a tankmate. The fish is not strinking on its own but will work as an 'extra' and allow the clownfish/anenome to the be the feature specimen of the aquarium. It also is herbivore and will not compete with the clowfish and anenome for food. Clams in the Tridacna family would be suitable also but I would hold off on these and expand into these later. Calcium and alkilinty would be easy to maintain in the tank allowing coralline to grow well. You could grow macro algae in the tank for the blenny and eliminate the need for a seperate refuge. Supplement with a small group of Blood Red Fire Shrimp and a dozen banded trochus snails to keep everything true to the indo-pacific.
Flow could be obtained with Seio's which are not the greatest but if you leave them on, dont put them on a wavemaker, will give tunze like flow patters, have a low energy draw and an affordable price for a student.
Go over to the recommended forum for lighting suggestions.
Again, this is no where near my area of experience or even knowledge, but I see potential with your tank and hope this gives some good direction.
Good Luck
Chris
Here is a different direction you might like
Keep in mind that an anemone aquarium (say three times fast) will require high lighting and moderate flow. May be tough on a student budget but I think its doable if you stay within reason; I know because I was there recently. Also, I want to repeat what was stated above, anenomes and corals don't mix well. They are not found together natuarally and create problems in aquariums.
Having said that, a 55 gallon is a good size for this purpose as you may not need to spend too much for the lighting and flow.
If you can get this book at a local library, check out Natural Reef Aquariums by John Tullock. Look at chapter 8. I am using this book as guidance for a 90 caribbean rubble zone. His book does not cover that niche but I am able to use pieces.
If you do this it would be different from the mainstream which is something in itself to be proud of.
The tank would most certainly need metal halides (maybe T5's) but if you go over to the Anemones & Clownfish Forum here on RC.
Anenomes in the Actiniidae family will be the easiest, I use the term easiest loosely, and only recommended. The LTA, Long Tentacle Anenome (Macrodactyla doreensis), will prefer a soft substrate and naturally hosts the Clark's and Pink Skunk Clownfishes. The BTA, Bubble Tip Anenome (Entacmaea quadricolor), will prefer a hard substrate and naturally hosts Maroon and Bluestripe Clownfishes.
Any other anenomes would not be recommended to a beginner.
This is my recomendations:
Take the 55 gallon tank and add 85pounds of Fiji Rock. Keep the structure low profile...a rim structure would be very neat and different, keep it no more than 6-9" tall as the tank is 24". Fill in around the perimeter of the rock structure with 4" sand, go with 6-7" in the center.
I would stock the tank with a single LTA, with a pair of Pink Skunk Clownfishes. I would add a sailfin blenny as a tankmate. The fish is not strinking on its own but will work as an 'extra' and allow the clownfish/anenome to the be the feature specimen of the aquarium. It also is herbivore and will not compete with the clowfish and anenome for food. Clams in the Tridacna family would be suitable also but I would hold off on these and expand into these later. Calcium and alkilinty would be easy to maintain in the tank allowing coralline to grow well. You could grow macro algae in the tank for the blenny and eliminate the need for a seperate refuge. Supplement with a small group of Blood Red Fire Shrimp and a dozen banded trochus snails to keep everything true to the indo-pacific.
Flow could be obtained with Seio's which are not the greatest but if you leave them on, dont put them on a wavemaker, will give tunze like flow patters, have a low energy draw and an affordable price for a student.
Go over to the recommended forum for lighting suggestions.
Again, this is no where near my area of experience or even knowledge, but I see potential with your tank and hope this gives some good direction.
Good Luck
Chris
ahullsb
New member
I am another one of "those people" that get harrassed for having a BLUE TANG in my 55. But it's small and happens to be my favorite. My plan is to trade it to someone with a bigger tank eventually, and start with a small one again....unless someone will tell me why thats a problem. I also have a FLAME ANGEL and it is a model citizen in the reef so far. I would have to advise against the henioucus....however it's spelled. I received one as a gift. The girl had just come from petco (first mistake) and they told her the heniocus butterfly was reef safe. They were wrong. From the moment it hit the tank, it nipped at everything in sight. Corals, anenome, polyps, snails.....everything.
markandkristen
Active member
i love the long tentacle plate coral. it looks somewhat like a anenome. ive never had much luck with anenomies .
they move around and seem to love powerheads.
thats the reason i went with the long tentacle plate coral.
my clowns host in my frilly mushrooms .. they love it.
if the tank isnt going to be set up for years to come i think you can get by with a tang
if you buy it small ...for a few years.
my scopas hasnt grown much in over a year.
now my sailfin has more than doubled so ....
they move around and seem to love powerheads.
thats the reason i went with the long tentacle plate coral.
my clowns host in my frilly mushrooms .. they love it.
if the tank isnt going to be set up for years to come i think you can get by with a tang
if you buy it small ...for a few years.
my scopas hasnt grown much in over a year.
now my sailfin has more than doubled so ....
Similar threads
