Stocking a 55 gallon reef

So I'm ready to put fish in my 55 gallon reef tank and I'm looking for suggestions as to what I should get. I would like really colorful and interesting fish but I know the whole reefsafe part narrows down the options a bit.

Here are some that I am interested in:

Powder Blue Tang
Onespot Foxface Rabbitfish
Hippo Tang
Coral Beauty
Flame Angel
Goby/Pistol Shrimp Pair (looking for colorful Goby suggestions)
Mandarin Goby

There is already an occelaris clown and a damsel in the tank but I am going to remove the damsel. I'm probably going to get four fish total in addition to the clown that is already in there. Any reason a four fish combo of any of the above wouldn't work in a 55 gallon reef tank??

Any other interesting suggestions for stock??

Thanks!

 

ive gfot 3 of those fish on your list. so will just relate my experiences wwith them. the 1 spot is a great fish, very timid. its grown quite well and is very hardy. but they can get to be a good size. mine i got when it was 4 inches long , its now 6. so you might consider it possibly getting too big and taking up fish room. ive got both the flame and coral beauty. they do get along fine , but may not work out for you. they havent nipped anything , corals or clam mantles. but they also come with a word of warning that they might. also the hippo tang is not really suitable for a 55. grow too big. anyways good luck with it all. and nice looking tank btb

 

ok thanks! What about the powder blue tang...would that be too big also?

I think I've decided my final stock will probably be:

occelaris clown
orange spot goby w/ pistol shrimp
foxface rabbitfish
flame angel
mandarin goby
blue or purple fish (undecided, possibly purple tang or powder blue tang??)

would that be overstocked for a 55 gallon with a 20 gallon sump??

 

imo , i think you would get overstocked having all those fish. i think you would have to have either the 1spot or the purple tang. having both might be too much. ive got the purple tang , great fish also. also how olds your tank? asking because of the mandarin, they need an established tank with lots-o-pods. lol.

 

Yeah, I know about the mandarin's diet. My tank is only 3 months old so I was probably going to hold off on getting one for a while. I do have a lot of pods on my live rock and in my sump already though.

 

You could probably house a small purple tang in there, I have a small yellow tang in my 55, but I would not put a powder blue tang in there and I would not have a foxface and a tang in a 55. They each get to be fairly large and would be very unhappy. I recently saw a 55 with a yellow tang and a blue hippo tang. The yellow tang was ok, but the blue hippo just hid behind the rock work and wasn't swimming around. It was a very sorry site to see. Many people dont' take into account that fish need room, but they do. Real effects such a disease and altered behavior result.

 

I suppose the corals would suffer because of the increased bio-load also. Tanks are never big enough are they? lol I guess I will have to settle for:

Flame Angel
Mandarin Goby
Occelaris Clown
Orange Spot Goby w/ pistol shrimp

and some kind of blue (or darker colored) fish.....any suggestions on that?

purple tangs are too expensive and I think the yellow are too plain looking. Are there any other suitable darker colored tangs?

 

Maybe a Kole tang, they are on the small end of the spectrum as far as tangs go.

 

for color Go to Aquarium Fish: Tropical Freshwater Fish and Saltwater Fish for Home Aquariums they have all different species and a good facility but i dont know your opinion about shipping but you could find wat you nwant and have your lfs order it if they dont have it in stock.

 

What about a Royal Gramma? That might satisfy your purple need. I'll be getting one once my tank is up & running for sure. They're really cool and will hide in rocks/caves.