Big ol` Fish Questions!

sam i typically start at http://www.liveaquaria.com when i research fish and coral. they tend to give a pretty good lowdown on what im looking at.

as far as tangs go. i think they need pretty large tank as they grow so big.

the scooter blenny and mandarine will eat the same food, pods so you will most likely only want one or the other.

with a 55gal tank id think about 6 fish will be about max. maybe a few more depending on your setup.

 

The inch of fish per gallon of water is more of a freshwater thing......you just have to research the needs of each fish you want to get. Some need lots of room to swim, some do better in schools, some need lots of rockwork etc. Were you going to put all the fish on your list in the 55g? The blue hippo and yellow tangs would need a bigger tank, imo. Not sure the puffer would not eat a small blenny? It seems like your list is too long for a 55g........I'd go with about half of what you have listed and go with the ones that won't get very big, so the pygmy angels, blenny, maybe the foxface and some clownfish or royal gramma would be good choices, especially if you are new to salt. Copper banded butterfly's are difficult to keep/feed and are considered an expert fish. dragonettes need LOTS of live rock and a sump to maintain a steady pod population.

Serpent stars can be a cleaner with predatory fish, although some people think they eat fish at night /DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/hybrid//emoticons/smile.gif Scallops are not a cleaner and will die in most home aquariums within a few months, if not sooner. Urchins are a good choice, but not so much if you plan on getting lots of coral, as they tend to knock things over or attach frags to themselves for camouflage.

I'd advise you to read up more on things before you go all crazy and buy a bunch of stuff that's incompatible or will be a problem down the road. There are lots of charts RE; fish compatibility on the web etc, do your homework and add things with lots of research beforehand.

 

Do a lot reading on the fish profiles. Liveaquaria and Bluezooaquatics are good sources...but there are others. If you want to keep corals, you'll want reef safe fish...ex: puffers will eat your corals. In a 55, you might not want to put the bigger tangs....personally, I'd only do a yellow, but those also get bigger than a 55 can comfortably handle, especially if it has a bunch of live rock. If you had a big sump and put your rock in the sump to leave display tank room, than you can get away with some bigger fish...but, if your display tank has all the rock, than it's best to stick to small guys....clowns, basslets, etc. Hippos are prone to stress and ich and would likely be stressed in a 55. For your first tank, I'd personally suggest staying away from any butterfly fish...at least for a year. As for total length of fish, there is no hard rule because a 5 inch tang is a much larger bio-load than 5 1-inch gobies. But, if you stick to smaller fish, you can probably do 25 to 30 inches...but again there is no hard rule. It also depends on your skimmer, your total volume of water, frequency of water changes, etc.

 

+1 phishcrazee please listen to her...

 

Lol, you should tell my husband this /DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/_default/emoticons/wink.gif

 

Yea, Defintally try liveaquria, they have a fish compatiability chart that includes coral,rock, and even live sand, that is super easy to use. Plus they give all the requirments and what special care a fish needs, I also think Bluezooaquatics.com does the same.

 

+1 on all of the above. Puffers can cause issues and imo should only be in fish only tanks.