55 gallon stocking ideas

[SourAngelfish]

Just throw stuff at me, kinda indecisive on what I want at this point. I just want something unique, I feel like whenever I look at a tank about this size they all consist of the same things (clown pair, cardinals, coral beauty, etc.). I don’t think I want to do corals, not a big fan of them, I like my nano reef but I think when it comes to that, it’s all I want to really do. All suggestions are welcome

 

[ichthyogeek]

One of the dwarf lionfish (Hawaiian dwarf, dwarf fuzzy, zebra dwarf, etc.), a comet, and some sandsifting gobies if you choose to have sand.

 

[Cunning_plan]

Convict Blennys / Engineer Gobys are great fun. Just be sure your rockwork is stable enough for them as they dig tunnels everywhere...

 

[fishkeepinginasia]

Just throw stuff at me, kinda indecisive on what I want at this point. I just want something unique, I feel like whenever I look at a tank about this size they all consist of the same things (clown pair, cardinals, coral beauty, etc.). I don’t think I want to do corals, not a big fan of them, I like my nano reef but I think when it comes to that, it’s all I want to really do. All suggestions are welcome

A blue spotted puffer would be really neat. They only get about four inches and they've got loads of personality and are very interactive. Your LFS would probably have to special order it since they're not kept very often, but I am sure they can get it in if you ask.

 

[Zionas]

Dimensions?

Right off the top of my head:

x2 Ocellaris Clownfish- Captive Bred (female to 4”, male maybe to 3” max)

x1 basslet or assessor (Royal Gramma, Blackcap Basslet, Swissguard Basslet, Swales Basslet, Yellow Assessor, Randall’s Assessor, McNeill’s Assessor or any other type of Gramma or Lipoproma sp.) (all around 3”, Black Cap gets to 4”)

x1 shrimp and goby pair (2”-5”)

x1 Bangaii (3”) / Pajama Cardinal (3”)

x1 African or Brazilian Flameback / Cherub / Fisher’s / Yellowtail Pygmy Angelfish (all around 3”)

x1 Tailslot (2.5”) / Starry (6”) / Bicolor Blenny (4.5”) or a smaller Fairy / Flasher wrasse (find ones in the 3”-4” range, Lubbock’s is a good choice or if you want a Flasher Wrasse they’re all 3”-4” like Carpenter’s, McCosker’s)

2” sand bed will suffice.

If you don’t want a lone Cardinal and don’t like their shape, replace the Cardinal with a Fairy Wrasse if you have Flasher Wrasse as your first wrasse, Vice versa. Can also consider a Pink Streak or one of the Possum Wrasses.

Maybe even a more peaceful Damselfish like a Talbot’s, Rolland’s, Azure, Yellowtail. Nice shade of blue on the Yellowtail and Azure. If you can find one, Chrysiptera tricincta is small like the others, has those bold black and white patterns without being the hellions that the Dascyllus (3 Stripe and 4 Stripe) are. Chrysiptera parasema= Yellowtail, Chrysiptera rollandi=Rolland’s, Chrysiptera hemicyanea=Azure, Chrysiptera Talbots=Talbot’s.

And don’t forget the Chrysiptera starcki (Starck’s Damsel) or the rare Chrysiptera galba (Canary Deepwater Yellow Damsel). These two are more rare along with C. Tricincta. Hemicyanea, Parasema, and Talbots are the most common I think. Rolland’s a bit more rare.

 

[...]

Exotic Fish

 

[Zionas]

If OP can find em he can go for one of the rare fish featured by Reef Builders.

 

[lion king]

Dwarf lionfish and scorpionfish are unique and not many people keep them.. They do take special care and are poisonous, and they will limit to what else you can keep, If you are interested, click on my name and find all threads. Read through some to see if that's something that you are interested in.

A pair of hawkfish, a pair of filefish; ora and biota offer pairs of various small filefish and you can find bonded pairs of hawkfish on dd often. Basslets and small wrasses like a pink streaked and the Wetmorella genus wrasses. If you want to drop some cash, a dwarf Hawaiian eel. Pygmy angels like the cherub and the flameback. A 55g in a good size tank for some interesting smaller species.