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View Full Version : stocking list recommendations for 56g column


dthorn
03/23/2013, 03:01 PM
Have 3 tiny ocellaris clowns now and beginning to consider fish. At lfs "window shopping" for ideas. Want something for a centerpiece. Considering flame angel but not sure if I want to risk coral nipping in a mixed reef. Aside from that I'm looking at 1 mccoske flasher wrasse, one blue green chromis, and 3 dispar anthias. Also may consider a butterfly fish of some type but need to research them first since I've never considered one before.

Tank has a dsb with top layer special grade ls. Dimensions of tank are 30"×18"×24" deep. Will be adding stock slowly over time and with qt and will be a mixed reef. This is just a 1st draft based on what is available locally, but can also shop live aquaria. Really wanted a tang, but tank is way to small so will save that plan for a future tank. Also, have a green mandarin in other tank that will likely end up in this one so don't want other fish that will compete with him for pods (hoping eventually to quit buying pods). Thinking I don't want diggers either making a mess of the dsb and water column.

Any and all feedback will be much appreciated. Bold bright color and patterns, as well as a variety of shapes and behavior are the things I look for and active fish that aren't shy. Want a group that will be happy together in this tank for a long time. Like lots of fish so may push it a little, but corals are my primary focus so don't want to be overstocked. Would like to consider other ideas that are more reef safe than the flame angel, but not coming up with much that could compare in shape or color for a centerpiece.

Anthony55Gal
03/23/2013, 06:15 PM
I'd say No to the Butterfly, they swim a lot and need a lot of room to swim. Most people would say a minimum of 4ft long, some saying 6ft being better, and some would even argue that 8ft should be provided (for tangs as well). Also, Flame Angels are hit or miss when it comes to nipping corals. I've heard stories from people where they wouldn't leave certain ones alone (like candy canes) and then I also hear some people say they never once even attempt to touch them. So, it's really a 50/50 on them. BG Chromis do better in schools, but they tend to develop a feeding hierarchy which causes the one at the bottom of the totem pole to end up starving to death from lack of food. So, be ready to replenish your stock every so often (Fortunately they are cheap, but, who likes to know they are killing their pets?). You could look into some Gobies? A Engineer Goby would be a awesome addition to your tank (Provided you have a lot of LR/BR for it to hide/create a tunnel system). I'd also recommend some sand sifter gobies (Any watchmen goby[I personally have a Diamond(orange spotted) and a Pink spotted watchmen]. They are great for cleaning your sand bed. Anyway, make sure you do your research before you make a purchase, otherwise you can cause stress to your fish. And, one of the leading causes of death in a aquarium = stress. Good luck with whatever you decide :)!

dthorn
03/23/2013, 07:12 PM
Yeah looked into different butterflies and get way too big although swimming habits make tank size less. May gamble with a flame angel if lfs agrees in advance to take it back for full credit since they want 60 bucks for one. Seems a tang would be much more convenient if one is recommended, but even with a kole, bristletooth, or mimic I would likely be pushing my luck.

Also curious if anyone has experience with dispar anthias. Just wondering if 3 will get along and if one feeding per day is sufficient. Was going to go 3 chromis and 1 anthias, but seems everyone says the chromis will slowely kill each other.

Was avoiding gobies and other diggers because I am under the impression that deep sand beds aren't supposed to be disturbed a lot.

Just a first draft of ideas on impulse while picking up pods at lfs where the chromis were definitely picking on each other. Made me think twice about 3 of them, then I saw the group of dispar anthias that looked awesome. Loved my mccoske in other tank til he went carpet surfing was a model citizen. Can't go wrong with the price of chromis so might as well have one.

Thanks for the reply hopefully I get more responses to help refine the list.

dthorn
03/23/2013, 07:29 PM
And a side note on the whole tang debate. The whole issue creating the need for tang police is the fact that everyone has them in tanks way too small. Most of the time the guy telling you your tank is too small lists one or several in tanks much smaller than acceptable tank sizes.

I have decided that imo the risk of an unhappy hippo infecting the rest of my tank with ick isn't worth the risk. That being said, I wonder if a kole, bristletooth, or mimic is really a recipe for disaster. More likely I would think is that like myself, the fish would like a bigger home, but will still be perfectly happy in my tank.

Hopefully we don't totally lose focus on the tang idea, but it is something I'm strongly considering so must be discussed. The tang police should be happy to know that plan A of getting a hippo anyways is completely out, now I just need their help deciding if one of these much smaller ones is a possibility. Hopefully not as bad as the thousands of 75s with a hippo and yellow tang out there.

I'm hoping worst case I can get some constructive ideas while my hopes of having one tang get shot down. Need that one fish as a focal point. Big, bright, and bold. An angel or a tang seem to be my only options each with their own risks.

kissman
03/23/2013, 07:39 PM
the issue with tangs is when in a tank less than 6ft they become stressed and as a result get ich and spread it through the tank. That's why Tang police are out there. The best place to see fish requirements is at www.Liveaquaria.com they have tank size listed under each fish. Hope this helps

gone fishin
03/23/2013, 07:48 PM
IMO a tang would not thrive in a column tank. Survive maybe. Also, once your 3 clowns mature chances are you will end up with 2 and with that size tank you will most likely need to continue to buy pods for the mandarin. Chromis will eventually pick each other off until there is one maybe two.

I would look into something like a blenny, royal gramma, cardinal fish. larger fish will simply not thrive in a small tank. just my 2 cents

Anthony55Gal
03/23/2013, 07:55 PM
And a side note on the whole tang debate. The whole issue creating the need for tang police is the fact that everyone has them in tanks way too small. Most of the time the guy telling you your tank is too small lists one or several in tanks much smaller than acceptable tank sizes.

I have decided that imo the risk of an unhappy hippo infecting the rest of my tank with ick isn't worth the risk. That being said, I wonder if a kole, bristletooth, or mimic is really a recipe for disaster. More likely I would think is that like myself, the fish would like a bigger home, but will still be perfectly happy in my tank.

Hopefully we don't totally lose focus on the tang idea, but it is something I'm strongly considering so must be discussed. The tang police should be happy to know that plan A of getting a hippo anyways is completely out, now I just need their help deciding if one of these much smaller ones is a possibility. Hopefully not as bad as the thousands of 75s with a hippo and yellow tang out there.

I'm hoping worst case I can get some constructive ideas while my hopes of having one tang get shot down. Need that one fish as a focal point. Big, bright, and bold. An angel or a tang seem to be my only options each with their own risks.

If you could work out a deal with your LFS to take in a small yellow tang (1-1.5" max) and raise it till it outgrows your tank, and then trade it back to him for a smaller tang. It might be worth it, I have a place that's like 20 minutes away from me that did that deal with me. Doing it with a yellow tang and a porcupine puffer (My tank is too small for either fully grown). Once they start getting too big for my tank, I bring em back and they give me a new baby to raise. Gives me a chance for some exotic fish in my tank, meanwhile not having to worry about having a 6-8" Tang and a 12" Puffer being stressed and possibly killing off my other fish :). Also, if you do work out a deal on a tang, i highly advise you to get a algae clip and algae sheets. Otherwise they develop scarlike pockmarks on their face and slowly lose their coloring. The algae helps build a healthy immune system for them. Good luck! :)

Edit: Also, Sand sifters are great. They only cover the bottom rocks with sand. They normally don't go much higher then that. So, only corals you'd have to worry about are any put on the sand bed

dthorn
03/23/2013, 09:29 PM
the issue with tangs is when in a tank less than 6ft they become stressed and as a result get ich and spread it through the tank. That's why Tang police are out there. The best place to see fish requirements is at www.Liveaquaria.com they have tank size listed under each fish. Hope this helps

This is the exact reason I decided no tang in the 1st place. Live aquaria recommends 70g for the ones I mentioned and the rc sticky says 75. Just wondering if one of these is a possibility or if I would be asking for disaster. Also, if I do decide to take the chance, do any of the specific kole, mimic, or bristletooth tangs grow slower or need less swimming room than the others?

For example the mimic eblei tang is recommended for a 70g, but grows to 10" where the others I'm looking at max out at 6-6.5". Not that I'm considering that one just guessing by the recommendations that it's not as active of a swimmer as others in the species giving it lower size requirements than comparable sized tangs. I like the kole, square tail bristletooth, and white tailed bristletooth most. Also, a pretty good chance of a bigger tank in a year or two which is why I asked about growth rate.

Still haven't heard any thoughts on the trio of anthias. Seemed like they would be a great fit until I read on live aquaria that they should be fed twice a day and can also be picky eaters.

Thanks for all the replies so far keep them coming. And btw I don't refer to tang police in a negative way just think the title is funny. I've seen enough hippo tangs in 30 gallons and tang trios in 75s to know that the policing would work better if they could issue tickets. I don't want to be like my examples or I'd already have a hippo or powder blue. I'm more hoping that being close to size requirements makes it possible, just not highly recommended. If it's a horrible idea I'll get over it and if it's more than remotely possible I will give it a shot knowing that I may have to upgrade to a bigger tank or put it up for adoption. Not ignoring the suggestions so far just hoping for a little more elaboration. I know a hippo would almost definitely end badly, are my odds as bad with one of the little guys I suggested or just a possibility.

dthorn
03/23/2013, 09:41 PM
And btw reef central got this way of thinking in my head. When someone is dead set on having a tang and people here know they can't change their minds, they typically recommend a tang that is less inappropriate. Usually a yellow, kole, or bristletooth in a tank smaller than recommended.

I however, am not dead set on anything yet. Will use all the information and opinions I can gather, way my odds, and come to a logical decision. Really like the flame angel, but I'll admit I'm much more inclined to gamble fish's lives than corals.

dthorn
03/23/2013, 10:05 PM
Anthony... I'll start by saying I'm a noob too, and I appreciate the effort. I try to answer threads when I can, but you should let people know you experience level so they know where you're coming from. I didn't want to say anything at first and risk offending you, but have to say something.

The advice you gave is pretty much the exact opposite of what the experts would say. Really hope you're at least quarantining all those fish and eventually this will end badly. Either you bring a sick fish swapping all the time or you get attached and keep one too long. Either way, you could easily lose all of your fish and likely will. My advice to you is next time you get rid of those fish, find something more appropriate for your tank. One of the tangs I mentioned could work permanently in your tank being 4 feet long if you want to push limits. My big dilemma is that I only have 36" corner to corner and want to know if this would surely be detrimental to the long term health of one of the smaller tangs I've mentioned.

Like I said, not trying to be mean just asking you to be careful giving advice. If I didn't already know better your advice could have a hippo and a clown tang in my tank since I was at the lfs when I posted. Then this thread would be everyone on rc telling me what a huge mistake I made. Thanks for the effort and good luck getting your reef started I hope all goes well. When I played poker I always said I would rather be lucky than good. If you pick corals with the mind set you use for fish you'll need a lot of luck. Who knows you may be able to get me posting something wrong in one of your threads, but that's part of learning. Happy reefing!

dthorn
03/23/2013, 10:22 PM
You are correct about the flame angels, but completely off on the butterfly fish. 10 minutes on google says you can put many butterfly fish in smaller tanks because they swim much less and slower than a tang. They are also not reef safe which is the important factor with the exception of a few that are more like the angel being 50/50.

Trust me I do my research. The variables I'm working on are the feeding with anthias (picky and need fed more than once per day) and the decision on the tang or angel which is tougher since information is mixed and mostly opinion based. I've been planning this tank since before christmas and put a ton of research into every little decision. The advantage to this research is it's turning me into a walking encyclopedia. I know all kinds of stuff about salt, water, sand, rocks, powerheads, lights, heaters, skimmers, food, corals, refractometers, testing equipment, filtration, etc. I've spent a couple hours a day average reading and reefing for over a year. Definitely still a noob, but armed with a lot of knowledge.