60 gallon fish stocking ? beginner species

[Reefman603]

I know there will probably be lots of different opinions on this but what would everyone suggest for beginner corals and fish in a 60 gallon setup ( red sea max 250 ) ? the setup currently has 2 designer clowns that I want to keep, 2 green chromis that I would like to replace, A red hawk fish that I'm on the fence with kind of want to replace him if I can find a good active fish to replace him with, and there is also a tang that I want to replace with something. There are a few shelled crabs in the tank as well and snails. How many fish is a good number for a 60 gallon reef and what are good colorful active beginner species for a 60 gallon ?

 

[Marco S]

Either a Coral Beauty or a Flame Angel would be my first choice for a 60 gallon. I have a Coral Beauty and it's an extremely active fish. I have a 6 foot tank and he swims the entire length back and forth and through the rocks picking at algae all day every day. I think the Flame Angel has more striking colors, but I love purple so I went with the Coral Beauty. You can't go wrong with either though.

 

[Reefman603]

Either a Coral Beauty or a Flame Angel would be my first choice for a 60 gallon. I have a Coral Beauty and it's an extremely active fish. I have a 6 foot tank and he swims the entire length back and forth and through the rocks picking at algae all day every day. I think the Flame Angel has more striking colors, but I love purple so I went with the Coral Beauty. You can't go wrong with either though.

Okay I’ll look into them, They dont bother any of the corals ?

 

[lolmatt]

They will probably nip at least at lps. I always recommend wrasses, yellow wrasse (halichoeres chrysus) is a beautiful fish and mostly peaceful (may go after shrimp and snails once it's larger). Many other halichoeres are quite peaceful and easy, they sleep under the sand though so they require a 1-2" sand bed. Possum wrasses stay small and are easy to care for. The pink streak wrasse is an awesome and small fish suitable for even a 10g tank. Most of these I've listed will also pick for pests.

Check this post from Hunter aka evolved for more info https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/all-about-reef-safe-wrasses-in-aquaria.28/

 

[Gareth elliott]

To rank dwarf angels id say flames and coral beauties have about 50/50 shot of nipping lps greater if you house a lot of acans. And maybe a 80/20 success with sps there are always those rouge fish that nip everything.

Some other options are royal gramma or a chalk basslet.

If can work out with the lfs before purchase a trade in procedure a small juvenile yellow, like quarter size and in a year trade in for another small one. The biota cb ones are usually around this size when they hit the lfs. If cant work out before purchase this wont work.

Any flasher wrasse would probably work if there is a lid.

A sailfin blenny if decide no angel or tang, tank this size cant have with either.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

They will probably nip at least at lps. I always recommend wrasses, yellow wrasse (halichoeres chrysus) is a beautiful fish and mostly peaceful (may go after shrimp and snails once it's larger). Many other halichoeres are quite peaceful and easy, they sleep under the sand though so they require a 1-2" sand bed. Possum wrasses stay small and are easy to care for. The pink streak wrasse is an awesome and small fish suitable for even a 10g tank. Most of these I've listed will also pick for pests.

Check this post from Hunter aka evolved for more info https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/all-about-reef-safe-wrasses-in-aquaria.28/

I second the smaller wrasses. I have yellow corris in both of my cubes. They are funny, personable, and active. They also control some pests.

 

[lolmatt]

I wouldn't put a tang in a 60 gallon regardless of size or species. Many people don't recognize signs of stress and it's irresponsible to suggest that fish in my opinion.

Other good non wrasse options are basslets, a single anthias (prefer a solitary species like a sunburst or blotched) if you can feed multiple times per day, firefish, cardinals, but imo if you want an active fish a yellow wrasse is colorful and always swimming (when the lights are on).

 

[Reefman603]

I wouldn't put a tang in a 60 gallon regardless of size or species. Many people don't recognize signs of stress and it's irresponsible to suggest that fish in my opinion.

Other good non wrasse options are basslets, a single anthias (prefer a solitary species like a sunburst or blotched) if you can feed multiple times per day, firefish, cardinals, but imo if you want an active fish a yellow wrasse is colorful and always swimming (when the lights are on).

I will look into the wrasses, thank you

 

[Marco S]

Okay I’ll look into them, They dont bother any of the corals ?

They are Reef Safe "With Caution" on every profile I have seen listed. I did a lot of research and read a ton of posts and articles on them and watched every video I could and decided I would take a chance with one. I do not have any coral yet, so I cannot give my experience personally, but there are a lot of people that keep these fish in reef tanks that could give you first hand experience instead of statistics.

 

[lolmatt]

It depends on the individual but ime most will at least taste sps and lps, many will frequently nip, and some will devour lps.

 

[Marco S]

I wouldn't put a tang in a 60 gallon regardless of size or species. Many people don't recognize signs of stress and it's irresponsible to suggest that fish in my opinion.

100% agree with this. I have all my tangs in QT right now. I have five total, a medium sized Purple and Powder Blue in a 45 gallon, a medium large Powder Brown with a Harlequin Tusk in a 45 gallon a small Blue Hippo and 2 Spot Bristle tooth in a 30 gallon, (started in a 10 gallon for a week) and I feel so bad even though they will only be there for around 30 days. I would never keep a Tang in anything under a 125 gallon 6 foot tank permanently.

 

[lolmatt]

100% agree with this. I have all my tangs in QT right now. I have five total, a medium sized Purple and Powder Blue in a 45 gallon, a medium large Powder Brown with a Harlequin Tusk in a 45 gallon a small Blue Hippo and 2 Spot Bristle tooth in a 30 gallon, (started in a 10 gallon for a week) and I feel so bad even though they will only be there for around 30 days. I would never keep a Tang in anything under a 125 gallon 6 foot tank permanently.

Yeah that's a tough spot. I had a yellow tang in a 40 breeder for a couple months while setting up my 180 and even though it was only 2-3" it definitely needed more room. Many acanthurus tangs honestly need more than a 180 when fully grown. You can keep bristletooth Tantra tangs (kole, etc) in a 4ft tank safely imo but not many.

 

[ScooterV]

A dwarf angel has always been on my own "must have" for any tank I've ever had (well, barring little ones even they wouldn't fit in). I wouldn't disregard the "with caution" on them at all, but I've always been lucky. Some nipping, but never to a degree where it seemed to cause harm. It's always a roll of the dice, but it seems like flames and coral beauty nips less than others. I had a lemonpeel that developed a taste for mushrooms (that was good, had too many). If you plan on a clam though, it seems it's pretty close to a guarantee they will nip it to death.

 

[lolmatt]

A lot of fish will nip at clams, had a halichoeres biocellatus, a fish that usually leaves even crabs and snails alone, nip a clam to death. Dwarf angels would definitely bother one. A small lyretail angel might work in a reefer 250 like Genicanthus watanabei.

 

[Marco S]

As far as coral goes, I am also new to them and am starting with beginner softy and LPS coral for now. Both of the LFS's that specialize in saltwater here recommend Frogspawn, Hammers, Torches, Leathers and Mushrooms to start. I have been told to keep the Torches on a separate island to avoid them stinging other corals, but other than that they are easy to care for and I love the way they look with good water flow.

I'm sure the experts here will have more suggestions, but I figured I would share what I was told.

 

[lolmatt]

Other good starter corals are green star polyps (keep them on an island or they'll grow on everything), xenia (same story as above), blue sympodium (pretty slow grower ime), trumpets, acans, and definitely +1 to the leather suggestion, I've got leathers I haven't been able to stop growing despite all other corals in the system failing to thrive. Their recommendations sound good to me, be aware that often those corals are available in the 1-2 head range from local refers for roughly $10-$20 per head.

 

[Reefman603]

As far as coral goes, I am also new to them and am starting with beginner softy and LPS coral for now. Both of the LFS's that specialize in saltwater here recommend Frogspawn, Hammers, Torches, Leathers and Mushrooms to start. I have been told to keep the Torches on a separate island to avoid them stinging other corals, but other than that they are easy to care for and I love the way they look with good water flow.

I'm sure the experts here will have more suggestions, but I figured I would share what I was told.

Yah I’ve been looking into the hammers and the torches, thinking about putting them on a separate island of live rock that is separate from the main pile

 

[Reefman603]

Other good starter corals are green star polyps (keep them on an island or they'll grow on everything), xenia (same story as above), blue sympodium (pretty slow grower ime), trumpets, acans, and definitely +1 to the leather suggestion, I've got leathers I haven't been able to stop growing despite all other corals in the system failing to thrive. Their recommendations sound good to me, be aware that often those corals are available in the 1-2 head range from local refers for roughly $10-$20 per head.

Thank you I will keep all those in mind when searching for some new corals!