3.5ft 50 gallon stocking?

[fishingfreak222]

Hey there, Im getting into salt water and changed my freshwater tropical now into salt. i have a 3.5ft tank and its around 49 - 50 gallon. I will most likely have around 20kg of live rock and not corals just yet. I have an idea of what i wanted to put in the tank but Im new to this and don't want to over stock.
here is my list so far and i know i cant have them all.

pair tank breed ocellaris clowns
copperband butterfly
bicolour blenny
starry blenny
longnose hawkfish
bi colour dottyback (or similar fish)
leopard wrasse or other wrasses.

would love to here your opinions.
cheers, Tom.

 

[ErinCahir]

In a 50 gallon you're going to be limited to five fish.

I'd skip the butterfly, they're very hard to keep in captivity.

 

[Ted]

Hey there, Im getting into salt water and changed my freshwater tropical now into salt. i have a 3.5ft tank and its around 49 - 50 gallon. I will most likely have around 20kg of live rock and not corals just yet. I have an idea of what i wanted to put in the tank but Im new to this and don't want to over stock.
here is my list so far and i know i cant have them all.

pair tank breed ocellaris clowns
copperband butterfly
bicolour blenny
starry blenny
longnose hawkfish
bi colour dottyback (or similar fish)
leopard wrasse or other wrasses.

would love to here your opinions.
cheers, Tom.

Welcome to the forum....50 gallon tank will limit you to 5 maybe 6 fish max....clowns no problem, Copperband butterfly need a 125 gallon tank min, bicolorBlenny no problem. Starry blenny no problem...the problem is the two together...they will fight one will die...Bi color dotty back no problem on tank size...would kill the blenny more then likely. leopard wrasse...could work but are very hard to keep, needs a very established tank and pods for food.

Here is a link to a great place to see fish and requirements...Saltwater Fish: Marine Aquarium Fish for Saltwater Aquariums

 

[fishingfreak222]

thanks very much guys for the help, so how bout
clown pair
starry blenny
long nose hawk
some type of wrasse not sure
and a larger fish like a dwarf angel? or something around the same size?
thank you.

 

[Ted]

could work just remember the starry blenny is fairly docile the others will be semi aggressive. Take it slow when stalking and do research.

 

[ErinCahir]

I think the starry blenny will hold his own.

 

[fishingfreak222]

ok ive done research and ive gone onto the marine fish compatible website and have come up with
pair of clowns
dwarf angelfish (fisher's angelfish)
adorned wrasse
green clown goby or starry blenny.
?? any good aha
thanks for your help.

 

[KelliZackMOM]

My Starry Blenny holds it's own. Anybody that was added after him he went nuts until he got used to them being there and he is actually for some reason the only fish my clown pair will tolerate being in their corner. Just make sure you add the clowns last because the can get nasty. My female is all about attacking me if I have to do something in the tank and she won't back down so I imagine if my hand was a fish she would fight for the kill.

 

[Smitty]

Hello and welcome to the site...glad to have you aboard.

 

[little_fish]

Hello and Welcome!

If you are planning a reef tank, you might need to chose a different dwarf angel. Very few are known for being somewhat reef safe.

 

[Marine88]

im not so sure about that 5 rule

i had a freind with a 55 gallon tank and had 10-12 healthy fish in it for a long time

 

[Kelz88]

For someone just starting out I would Highly recommend only having 1 per 10 gallons. Im sure people can have more, I just would not recommend it. Esp when you just figuring out how to take care of a salt water tank.

 

[Ted]

In a well established tank with small fish and a skimmer rated twice or more what is. It can be done. Overstocking a tank is very labor intensive and will catch up to you in the end if you slip up at all. New people dont have established tanks or a set system for taking care of a tank.