[KBhazinski]

Hello,
I have a 29 gallon freshwater planted tank and am about to start a 55 gallon reef tank. I am new to salt water and have a few questions about stocking this tank. I have a list of fish I like and think are a good size for the tank. Obviously I would not add all these fish I just want to know out of my list what fish are most compatible together and are best for this size and type of tank. The fish I'm interested in are....
Clown fish
Firefish
Yellow Watchman Gobby
Maybe some sort of Blenny
coral Beauty Angel
Flame Angel
green chromis
Yellowtail Damselfish
Spotted Mandrin
royal gramma
six line wrasse
longnose hawkfish

If there are any other fish suggestions I would love to hear them. Also I need suggestions on corals and Invertebrates for beginners. I like to plan stuff out and feel like I could get better answers here than the fish stores may give me! Thanks! :-D

 

[tankman12]

For the stocking-
Clownfish, a pair of percs would be nice. Not maroons. To big.
Firefish, a pair is really nice. I have a pair on my 110 reef
YWG, awesome fish. I have one as well. Get a pistol shrimp to go with him.
Blennies are always an awesome choice
Coral beauty and flame, fight together. And are a risk in a reef
Green chromis, actually not a schooling fish. They pick each other off. So if you get them. Than only one.
Blue yellowtail damsels, the most peaceful damsel IME. One would be great.
Spotted mandrin, hard to feed. Skip for now.
Gramas, cool little fish. You could do one.
Six line, EVIL little things. I had one kill my gramma. Not a very nice fish. Definitely skip.
Longnose hawk, never had one. But may not go to well with the firefish.

Inverts-
Cleaner shrimp
Peppermint shrimp
Coral banded CAN be a threat to sleeping fish

Easy corals,
Mushrooms
Tree corals (not the green)
Pallys
toadstools
Leathers

It really all depends on your light and levels. For what corals will go good
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[badxgillen]

There are numerous shrimp gobies other than the yellow watchmen out there and they are all very interesting animals. Bi color blennies,cannary blenny,stary blenny,flame tail blenny, are all pretty nice fish as well but make sure you have an established tank as they like to rasp on the rock and glass for diatoms and algaes.If you do go with the flame angel and coral beauty I would make sure to add the coral beauty first as the flames can be more aggressive. Both are gambles in the coral nipping department but the coral beauty is a safer bet. Remember that if you get a hawk fish it closes the door for your shrimp options,they love their shrimps.

Good old green star polyps and mushrooms are a pretty good starter coral,if you have troubles there you may want to reassess the tank situation.

 

[badxgillen]

And for the record I love my six line wrasses, I have several,not together, and they are great. I love the color\pattern and they are really good about cleaning rocks and corals of pests zipping through the rock work and branches or corals. I have seen a male become territorial towards other wrasses but not all. Similar types of fishes should be added first to establish territory and pecking order.

 

[KBhazinski]

Thank you guys so much for the input! it helps me a lot. I plan to start setting up in a few weeks and I'm sure I will have more questions! Also what's the deal on anemones? Are they difficult to care for? I have read different things.

 

[badxgillen]

I would wait until you are capable of sustaining coral before thinking about an anemone, not only do they require good lighting and water quality they tend to not like changes. This makes them a resident that you really want to make sure you're tank is established for a while before throwing one in the mix.

 

[Roccus]

I second what thee guy's have said on the anemone AND mandarin... I have both in a 6 month old tank ( 75 gallon) and have had to work very hard to sustain them.. as the tank matures both have grown and prospered.. but I've had to work VERY hard to get them where they are today... if I had to do it again.. I'd wait a year before their addition..

 

[KBhazinski]

Ok, keeping all of this in mind, I will wait on the anemone. I am so excited to get started on this tank.

 

[tankman12]

Actually a carpet anemone is WICKED easy to care for. So are many anemones.
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[badxgillen]

Most of the easier to keep species are not so desirable as they tend to not host many animals and generally pack a potent fish threatening sting. I would do much research and wait to add the right amemone at the right time.