55g stocking

N

NcStateFisher

Reefing newb
Hey guys n gals, marco rock came in, koralia powerheads are a blowin, and this tank is cycling with some live rock from my 10g a partial cube of mysis shrimp and a whole bunch of seachem stability. While i'm still a little ways away from stocking this tank (nitrite currently coming down from spike) I would like to gather some opinions on stocking. I have seen on here most people disapprove of a tang in a 55g even if it is small and i'm assuming the same would be said for a young niger trigger, so I know most people would say keep the fish small. That being said, whatcha think? What would you use as a centerpiece fish? As of right now I am open to all suggestions, there may be some cheaper LPS involved but it will mostly be soft corals and I am more focused on the fish. I won't have anything expensive in there so if coral gets munched here and there I'm okay with it. I will be running a reef octopus hob BH-100 and will do up to 10g water changes weekly if necessary. Anything is fair game except chromis, cardinalfish, and rabbitfish. Looking forward to seeing some stock ideas from y'all :bounce:
 
not really a centerpiece fish but i think is a cool fish is a springers dottyback. he is jet black with four teal toblue stripes. mine has navy blue stipes. kinda aggressive so be one of the last fish you add but has alot of personality fun to watch jet in and out of the rocks looking for food and is reef safe so no munching on corals. and you cant go wrong with a ocellaris clown
 
i do like those springers dottybacks, definitely pretty fish.

considering a bicolor angel as a centerpiece fish, thoughts or experiences with them?
 
Since you say you are more focused on fish than corals, then a bicolor angel would be fine. Don't get too attached to the corals. ;)
 
How about a purple tilefish? I haven't recommended that fish to anyone in a long time. I really should -- they are stunning! I used to have one.
 
They are jumpers, so you'd need a mesh/screen top for your tank. That's how I lost mine. Found its decapitated body on the floor in front of the tank. Never figured out which cat took the head...
 
ouch. i was planning on making one out of egg crate but if i get one of those i will definitely go the route of screen top. sorry to hear yours jumped on ya =\
 
Sarah, you are tooooo funny. This is the second thread I've read in the last 20 minutes where you are describing feline decapitation. I love it.
To NC: I struggled with the same thing, we have the same size tank and I went thru the whole centerpiece fish conundrum. I ended up with a flame angel. Very beautiful addition. It's hard when you have a reef tank that is our size, rules our tangs and most of the angels....
Still lots of fun fish out there for us but I don't think I'd call most of them "centerpieces."
 
I know it! I'm very open about being a "frag hater." Fish are just waaaay more interesting than corals. So, maybe that's the right way to go, how you were saying you would get some cheap, easy to grow corals and then you wouldn't care if they got eaten.
I will admit I've gotten very attached to my duncan and a couple of other cheapos that I've gotten that have spread, can't imagine my tank without them now.
 
^^ I'm the same way, I have a blue snowflake anthelia that I got at 1"x1" frag for $10 and now its completely covering a 4lb rock in my 10g tank, but that's the beauty if it, i have the little tank right next to the biggun haha.
 
Bifferwine said:
How about a purple tilefish? I haven't recommended that fish to anyone in a long time. I really should -- they are stunning! I used to have one.
Click to expand...

Amazing fish, really interesting to watch once it gets settled in, but mine also jumped. If you do get one, make sure you have a screen top for your tank. I would also add it as one of the first fish in the tank. They are VERY skittish fish, and adding it early in the stocking plan will make it easier for the fish to adjust.

Also, its important to have a couple inches of sand, they dig a burrow kind of like a jawfish does, hopefully you put your rock on the bottom of the tank before adding the sand, as this fish will definitely shift the sand around

And as you suspected, a neither a tang or a trigger belongs in a 55 gallon
 

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