cicfishman

please help by telling me about how many fish and invertebrades i can put in my 55G tank of live rock and tell me some good starter fish.
THANKS

sgould

SW tanks need to be more sparingly stocked than freshwater. When I set mine up, I read .5" of adult fish per gallon of water. Still, with a 55 gallon, you will be able to build up a very nice setup!

I started my tank with a clown fish, and a royal gramma. I also like firefish, but have not yet added one. Here is a link that will give you some ideas on good beginner fish (there are lots). As you zero in on ones you really like, pay close attention to their eventual size. Like freshwater fish, they will end up much larger than they are when you first get them. http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/s...fm?pCatId=1926

agsansoo

It depends on what type of SW tank you want. Fish only, reef or predator reef tank !

cicfishman

Thanks guys! and im setting up a tank only with live rock, sand and fish no special corals.

cicfishman

Do you think 2 Damsels, 2 cardinals, 1 yellow goby, 1 scooter blenny, 2 chromis, 3 snails and 3 invt are to many for a 55G? i think it sounded good because they are all tiny fish.

agsansoo

I like all your choices except the damsels ... I'm not a big fan of damsels. You could replace them with a pair of clowns.

diver28

yea damsels are aggressive. Especially if you put them in first. I have no experience yet with them but have done plenty of reading and asking on this board since I started a few weeks back. I will have a 100 gallon set up soon and am going through the same ordeal. What fish to have.

leximommy

are damsels agressive? i was hoping to have a 26-30 gallon setup and figured i could start with a pair of damsles.... i know this may sound mean, but since ive never done this before i didnt want to spend 100 dollars on a pair of clownfish then have them die because i did something wrong....since damsels are only like 2 dollars i wouldnt be out as much and then if they lived that would be great...

sgould

"are damsels agressive?"

A little bit, yes.

bhcaaron

I'm at the point where I'm starting to wonder the same thing. How many can I have? These answers help lots, thanks to all and to cicfishman for posting the question. Also I'm starting to get bumbed out in realising that I can't keep a mix of the fish I originally wanted. Now I know I have to be mindful of behaviour and temperament. Also, another question:

Do snails, crabs, starfish, etc. count as part of my fish count? Also to double check, a rule of thumb was five inches per gallon, right? (Do the corals and anemones also make up part of the count?)

sgould

.5" per gallon...1/2 inch per gallon was what I had recommended.

bhcaaron

OMG! So if i'm lucky enough to get my 150G tank, I can have upto 300" worth of life!?!?!? (Yes this is a stupid question since the answer is obvious, but, I'm just excited)

So do corals, anemones, inverts etc also make up part of that 300"? (I probably woudnt stock it that high in limit though)

leximommy

its 75 inches of fish....took a min for calculations ....lol and rember to use adult size for each fish.... so if you buy a fish thats 5 inches grown and its only 1 inch now, you use the 5 inches......

bhcaaron

****! Feeling stupid now. I'm sick, that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

bhcaaron

Oops! I forgot I can't swear on here. I keep forgeting that a large wall that holds back water can be a swear word to some.

leximommy

lol now thats funny..... try this d*mn....lol its okay i spent 5 min trying to double check the math...lol

wich means ill only have 25 inches....so...do invertebrates count? lol and what are some fish that are small at adult life? (like less than 3 inches....)

bhcaaron

You know I was thinking about that too. But, would you really want a one inch fish? I'd barely be able to distinguish color in then, unless they were one color, then they'd be boring. So I think I'm sticking with three to four inches. So that means I probably wont be getting my lionfish. Too big. Plus they don't play nice with others.

leximommy

lol well personally i think that if i had lets say 25 inches of fish. and i found 5 different fish that would do good with each other and even if they were the same color (most arnt though...) i could get 2 or 3 of each and it would be pretty to see them interact.... but ill figure that out... i mean even if i only had ten fish then it would still be worth it....my aunt had a 30 gallon tank one time and she had a tang that would fallow her everytime she pasted the tank...it was like he wanted out or something...lol

sorry if my typing is messed up...never let a two year old find the pudding when your in the shower....lol daddy didnt watch her, so my keyboard needs a good cleaning...