stocking help, 55 gallon tank

[Dallas]

Well the cycle is finally complete on my 55 gallon tank and im trying to figure out what to put in it as far as fish go. I aoriginally wanted a flame angel but a recently saw anthias in person for the first time (bayside) and they looked awsome, I realize there are different species of them but which is right for my tank?

heres my list so far,

-2 yellow chromis (from rob here at saskreef)
-2 sebae clowns
-1 mandarin
-1 randall's goby
-1 firefish
-anthias??????? (i origanally wanted a flame angel but with the risk of nipping corals and the discovery of anthias I had to scrap it)

What do you think, too much, and i know that yellow chromis arent your tipicall popular reef fish but I love em so id like to keep them.

[briansmyth]

You have a number of smaller sized fish - this should give you some room to add others - but maybe a larger fish of some kind would add to the way things look in your tank, Dallas. One larger fish might be the star of your tank.

A royal gramma might be one addition you could think about for a smaller size choice.

Anthias - they like to group, right? I have a purple queen anthias and I've got an order in for two more females and one male ( the preferred mix is three females and one male ). There are a number of sites on the web that recommend that the purple queen just be left in the wild, but I've decided to accept the challenge of having a small group of them.

The lyretail is one of the hardier type of anthias - is that something Colby has?

The more live rock you have in your tank, the happier all the fish will be, imo. More places for fish to look around, to hide and so forth.

[Jon123]

Anthias dont take to bullying and are very finicky. I doubt theyd last long with 2 mature yellow chromis.

Jon

[Dallas]

Well it looks like I may have to give them away then, not for a while but id prefere to have a very peaceful environment, after all they are quite aggresive with each other.

[Ryano]

iunno im still a newbie. But as for your tank dallas I could see maby your two chromis and atwo clowns and a gobie looking fine between the tank species. Like you have to look big picture. Think about decor and corals. Im still deciding if Ill ever put anything else in my 80 gallon with the salfin. Im gonna wait maby 30 days till I beleive that the tank can support alot more. I might add my clowns eventually after those 30 days. and maby my gobie shortly after. Im a guy who takes alot of tine. I hate adding new fish. Casue of the fact thahat i dont feel my tank is up to par. So for your tank Id put the chromis once you live rock is established. And wait to see there reactions within that tank. Watch youre levels and algae growth. Watch your gravel and rock. if al seems normal wait another 15 days. If everything still seems normal and your water paramters are good then add more fish. 55 ant big but netehr is a 80gallon.
Ryan Shirley

[Dallas]

I know the old 1 fish a month trick, two if there small. I added a nassarius snail lastnight as hes doing awsome, he laid eggs all over the glass down there but theyll hatch this time without any fish to eat them.

[Jon123]

If you want to wait 30 days, imo, you made a BIG mistake adding a tang as your first fish. Within that time it will establish the entire tank as its territory and it WILL be impossible to add any similar size/shape/color fish to your tank without some hefty changes. If your just planning on adding clowns, and a goby or other small, dissimilar fish you may be able to get away with it.

Jon

[Dallas]

the tang has ich, at least there its in isolation.

[Jon123]

It doesnt matter if it has ich or not, its still going to create that territory. Not saying its a bad thing or you cant add any fish ever, but just putting that out there so no new fish are lost to aggression.

Jon

[Ryano]

yeah i thought of that. But all my fish I own are all extremly big and are full grown in my 30. I bought the tang cause he was a good deal and he was really small. Yo should see him he is baby. Barley 1nch a halfbig. And thats small for a salfin tank.
Ryan Shirley
but yeah for your tank dallas definatly dont start with a tang

[Jon123]

ok, that makes sense and probably wont be able to putup much fight. Rarely do you see a sailfin thats any smaller or larger than 3-4".

Jon

[scary gary]

Way to early for a mandarin. Some Anthias can be a little tricky to keep so do your homework.

[cary Henderson]

serious there i still won't add a manderin yet..
barely been a year and a half..
start with the basics a few cromis a, wrasse and clowns..
till you have a stable tank dont risk the expensive fish ....
save em for when you have the experience to care for them
give your tank some time and get your basic corals going
an anemome and then see how much work and time you have to dedicate to it...

[Ryano]

Id say dont waste your money really on anenome. Iunno there cool but mine alwayas die. My corals live but for anemones they go week in about 5 months

[Dallas]

Why is everyone like dont add a manderine yet, i know!!! this is my eventual stocking that i want to do, i know that i have to wait for a good pod population to build up, Dont worry i do alot of reading, right now im just wondering about the anthias, what species should i go for for this tank?

[Jon123]

Dispar, lyretail, queen tiger, bartlette's, bicolor, red fairy, and resplendent anthias are probably your best choices for semi-hardy and compatible with a 55g tank. The squarespot are known to be easy as far as anthias go, but get quite large.

Ive only personally kept a dispar, and although live brine were required to initiate feeding, I had no problems with disease, water quality sensitvity, or difficulty feeding. If it looks healthy and is eating at the shop, chances are any species will flourish in a anthias friendly setup.

Jon

[Dallas]

Colby had a sqarespot and I loved it but unfoutounatly i agree with you, they probly wouldnt have enough swimmeing space, can you tell my the sizes on the other species of anthias?

[Dallas]

Wow i really like the dispar anthias, whould this be a good stocking plan, I realize ill have to give away my chromis for it
-2 clarkii clowns
-3 dispar anthias F
-1 dispar antias M
-1 randall's goby
-1 Manderine (he will come in a year from now)
-1 firefish

what do you think

I know 9 fish is about the max i want to keep in my tank but you have to remember the goby, the firefish, and the clowns are not very size demanding.

[Jon123]

Most sources say to keep anthias individually if your tank is smaller than 100g or so as they form an extremely violent pecking order and the weakest fish needs space to getaway when threatened. I kept mine singley, but it loved to "school" with the other fish. Get some green chromis or fairy wrasses for it to school with.

All the recommended anthias get around 4" give or take.

And just a FYI, most souces say the dispar is a difficult fish to keep, but my experience says otherwise and thats why I listed it above. It may have just been dumb luck, although I purchased it from Petcetera here in Saskatoon. It did refuse all food until tempted with live brine. After a few days of eating the live brine it would eat flakes, frozen, pellets, you name it.

Jon

[Dallas]

well i was on this site, http://www.saltwaterfish.com/site_11_03/product_info.php?products_id=1178&parent_category=4&category_search=61&root_parent_id=4
and according to it the only time that anthias will become violent with each other is if you add more than one female, it also recomends to add the females first and then the male. Plus they stay small 3'' so I think im gonna go for it. Thanks for everyones help, ill post pictures of my progress.

[stinga]

What part of the page is this on???:icon_conf



well i was on this site, http://www.saltwaterfish.com/site_11_03/product_info.php?products_id=1178&parent_category=4&category_search=61&root_parent_id=4
and according to it the only time that anthias will become violent with each other is if you add more than one female, .

[Dallas]

its a direct link, its the dispar anthias page.

[Quinster]

not being a jerk but I think you misinterpreted this according to it the only time that anthias will become violent with each other is if you add more than one female, it also recomends to add the females first and then the male.

it actually says "a single dominant male, less dominant males, and many females. " so my interpretation of this is 1 male and 2 or 4 females...most schooling fish do better in odd numbers.

[Jon123]

I also dont see where it implys that a 55g tank would be suitable for more than 1 individual. Not to mention saltwaterfish.com is one of the worst sources for hard info considering EVERY anthias has the same info when you click on it, and so do 1/2 the fish they stock. Try liveaquaria.com, atleast it only copies text for similar species, not entire families. It says:

"The Dispar Anthias is a reef inhabitant in the wild. It is a shallow water species that thrives best in a 125 gallon aquarium with one male and up to ten females. When housed singly, 25 gallon tank is sufficient."

Or wetwebmedia.com which also recommends over 100g tanks for more than a single anthias.

Not saying its impossible, and I by no means have first hand experience. Just saying what the experts have written.

Jon

[Dallas]

I was actually considering it and yah your right, its too small, i can accept that, just like i can accept that im not getting a tang so heres the list

-2 clakii clowns
-2 yellow chomis (i might have to get rid of them, there just a little too aggrressive)
-1firefish
-1randall's goby
-1 manderine
- some sort of centerpeice fish, your right i need one.
-mabey one or two other smaller fish if i get rid of the damsels.

please give me lots of suggestions, open my eyes to the variety of fish out there.

[Ryano]

I think thats an exsellent list. Nothing to say it cant happen. Just need some pods growing and youll be set/:thumbup: