55 Gallon Corner Build

RNich34

Reefing newb
I recently started a 55 Gallon Corner Build. I will be updating as time goes on.

Anyways, 55 Gallon Corner Tank, 90lb Live Rock. Got it local, the rock was already cured, so all I had to do was get it in to my water as soon as possible. The plan from here is to get a fox face rabbit fish, a lemon peel or bicolor angel, a zebra lion, maybe a small eel, and maybe another Goby or Blenny. The lawnmower blenny interests me. I also saw a SnowFlake eel and really liked it.

Day 1: Looks pretty crappy, just threw the old water and 10G of new water in the tank with the rocks so they wouldn't die off over night.

tankr.jpg


Day 2: A little more clear, I got enough clarity to be able to stack the rocks and at least be able to see. You can see my stack a little bit. Came out pretty good.

day3i.jpg


Day 3: Deffinately clear today. I checked all the perameters and everything checked out, so the 2 fish that were in the tank when I bought it went in.

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Day 4: After feeding the fish today, the Nitrates went up to 10 from 0. I'm guessing this is normal, because the food contains nitrates as it breaks down?

Will update as I go.
 
Update: Just ordered a bunch of snails.

20 Dwarf Cerith's
11 Nassarius Vibex
12 Florida Ceriths
5 large nerites
7 small nerites

Can't wait for these little guys to go to work. Reefcleaners has amazing deals on reef cleaners. LFS wanted 20$ for 7 Ceriths alone. Paid $29 shipped for all those.
 
You are limited to 1 fish for every 10 gals, so you are looking at only being able to keep 5 or 6 fish in that tank. Also the 55 is too small for foxface. Another thing to keep in mind is that the lionfish will eat anything that can fit in its mouth, so all the other fish on your list excluding the eel would be lunch. Eels are also well known for eating other tank inhabitants, especially fish added after them.
 
I was told the fox face would be ok in a 55 today. And the lawn mower blenny is 5" max length. The lion is only 6-7" max length. And the lemon peel is 6" max length. All of them are pretty much the same size. Remember, this is a dwarf lion, not a volitans. Much, much smaller.

and i just looked it up and fox faces can be 9". Didn't realize they were that big.
 
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Was the person who told you this trying to sell the fish? Because LFS are notorious for giving bad and misleading advice to make a sale.

check out this site, they are one of the best place to check fish requirements and none of the foxface/rabbit fish require less than 70 gallons.
Foxface & Rabbitfish

And I do realize that you are purchasing a dwarf, but they can also eat fish that are as big or even a little bit bigger than they are. So you will need to purchase other fish that are and will always be bigger than the lion.
 
I have a zebra lion and he got big fast! I keep him with small fish but this is most likely short term.

Also if the lion has semi aggressive fish with him, and he cant get to his food in time, he may stop eating. Make sure he eats frozen, it will save alot of hassle.
 
Snails and everything went in. Apparently my Nerite snails are laying eggs already. -__-

Also picked up an algae blenny today. He is a great compliment to the Pink Spotted Watchman Goby. The Goby kind of sits around all the time, and the Blenny is going crazy, flying from rock to rock eating everything in sight. He certainly is fun to watch.

I am hoping to pick up a Bubble tip Nem in a week or so, and get it settled and ready for a maroon clown in a few weeks.
 
Nice pickups.

Anemones require a VERY established and stable tank. This usually means 6 months to a year. Not two weeks.
Be careful with maroon clowns, as well. They are notorious for being aggressive and bothering peaceful fish.
 
Nice pickups.

Anemones require a VERY established and stable tank. This usually means 6 months to a year. Not two weeks.
Be careful with maroon clowns, as well. They are notorious for being aggressive and bothering peaceful fish.

This tank was established for 4 years before I bought it. I kept the live rock in the old water and have been changing 20G of water every week for the last couple weeks. The guy I bought it from ha a coral attached to the rock when I brought it home, but it was destroyed in the move. What type of clown would you suggest that is big enough to house with a zebra or atennatta lion then?

This Blenny is crazy. He NEVER stops swimming.
 
You moving the tank would most likely reset that. Remember a lion can eat fish about as big as he is. His one instinct is to hunt and swallow whole.
 
I noticed 2 things today.

1. The Watchman Goby has a pattern of holes along his upper fins. I'm assuming this is meant to be there, but just want to be sure that the algae Blenny isn'y cuting holes into him.

and 2. I noticed that the Algae Blenny is a very quick breather. Is this normal? He doesn't seem to be struggling at all, and he is very active. I'm assuming that because he is a very active swimmer, he would breath a little quicker than other fish?
 
Thank you. Photography is sort of a hobby of mine. I didn't think they would come out that well with a bowed front tank.
 
Be careful buying anemone's because they will not stay where you put them. At anytime they can float wherever they please and sting anything it feels like stinging. We had a green bubble tip and it stayed in our tank for 1 day before we took it back to the lfs. We were too worried with it floating around.. we love our corals way too much to lose them!

I love your pink spotted goby by the way! We want a pink spot or pink stripe to go with out diamond goby :)
 
Be careful buying anemone's because they will not stay where you put them. At anytime they can float wherever they please and sting anything it feels like stinging. We had a green bubble tip and it stayed in our tank for 1 day before we took it back to the lfs. We were too worried with it floating around.. we love our corals way too much to lose them!

I love your pink spotted goby by the way! We want a pink spot or pink stripe to go with out diamond goby :)


I hate to burst your bubble but you can only have one goby per tank! They will fight with similar looking fish
 
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