First Salt Tank - Advise Needed

[Ace5high]

Hi all, Well now that my new tank is finally up and 100% functional with scrubber I realize Ive spent most of my time researching about water, filtration and lighting. Honestly dont know much about Salt water fish, so please excuse my noob questions lol.

Id like to start stocking my tank. Ideally I would like to have a few larger fish with some personality. I seem to be fond of more aggressive fish, I love puffers and triggers and anyone with lots of color! I would like to have a community tank with a little variety. Also, Id love a reef setup but dont feel quite ready yet, so for now just need a few pretty fish that will do well in a FOWLR setup.

Any recommendation on fish, fish food, keeping tank balance and harmony etc.. would be greatly appreciated! :Cheers:

 

[BL1]

Unfortunately, your tank is a little small to have larger fish and usually more aggressive fish don't do well in reef setups. If you're starting with a FOWLR setup with the intent of going reef down the road you should plan your tank now with a reef in mind.
Look around this sight to see if any fish catch you eye and it will give you an idea of what you can put in your tank. Saltwater Fish: Marine Aquarium Fish for Saltwater Aquariums

 

[PRC]

+BL1- The only thing I can add is that if your goal is to have a reef tank, start with a reef tank...There are corals that are easy for beginners, then once you feel ready you can move toward some more difficult corals.

The reason I say this is, like BL1 said, your tank is too small for big fish, and aggressive fish like trigger, puffers, etc. aren't reef safe.

So when the time comes (and it will) that you want to get some corals, you'd have to get rid of your fish first, which can be sad and a PITA.

 

[Bifferwine]

Easy corals area easier than fish! I say plan to have a reef tank down the road, and choose your fish accordingly.

For a 55, tangs and triggers are out of the question. :(

But you have lots of other options -- wrasses, cardinals, clowns, gobies, blennies, etc.

 

[Smitty]

I agree with everyone else also...look into smaller fish and possibly one medium size "showpiece" fish. Reefs are easier to maintain. :)

 

[Ace5high]

Ah yes I am working with limited space. So a small reef setup could actually be better/easier to maintain than an aggressive salt setup?

I ask because up until this point my wife has been against me going into a reef setup because she's under the impression that it would consume hours of daily time just to maintain...

 

[Bifferwine]

You just don't have the tank size to have an aggressive tank. Aggressive fish need huge tanks because they grow big, need a lot of space, and they produce a lot of waste. A 55 is not suited for those types of fish.

Reefs don't take a lot of time to maintain. Corals kinda do their own thing, and just look pretty. ;)

 

[BL1]

You may have to put some time into maintenance when you first setup your tank. But generally once you get to know/understand your tank, and it's had time to become well established there isn't a lot you'll NEED to do to it ... Stopping yourself from messing with it will probably be more of a problem

 

[Ace5high]

You just don't have the tank size to have an aggressive tank. Aggressive fish need huge tanks because they grow big, need a lot of space, and they produce a lot of waste. A 55 is not suited for those types of fish.

Reefs don't take a lot of time to maintain. Corals kinda do their own thing, and just look pretty. ;)

Then again... I consider my GSP puffers to be aggressive ;-) so I had never intended the 55 to hold large aggressive fish, I guess I meant to say one small or medium sized semi-agressive fish...

Can anyone recomend some examples of some good beginner corals? Thanks all for the tips!

 

[Ace5high]

Added about 45 lbs of rock tonight from my LPS. Im pretty happy with it, some is very colorful and for 2.99 a pound not a bad deal :D