Finishing a 55 Gal Tank

[TheRealPuffShady]

Greetings, Reef2Reef. I'm new here, and just looking for some advice on how to finish off stocking my 55 gallon salt water tank. It's been up and running for about a year and the wife and I love it. Here are the tank specs:

55 US gal.
FOWLR
75 gal HOB filter.
40 gal sponge filter.
One air pump rated for 80 gal tank is running the sponge filter and an air stone.

Current stock:
2 black clowns.
1 firefish.
1 tiger goby.
1 Valentini Puffer.
3 Nas. Snails.
2 Astoria Snails (and recently, about 150 of their babies)
3 blue legged hermits.
1 Kenya Tree

I get the feeling we are approaching the stocking limits for a tank this size, so before we add anyone else, we want to make an informed decision. The following is a list of candidates we are considering, and the question is which ones would likely be compatible. Would we be able to select one or more from this list? If more than one, which ones? We're hoping to be able to get about 3 more, but I don't want to send any salty buddies to an early grave or a life of stress.

Flame angel
Coral beauty
6 line wrasse
Neon Cleaner Goby
Diamond Goby
Royal Gramma
Bicolor Blenny

Thanks everyone in advance for your assistance!

 

[Pachiman]

Greetings, Reef2Reef. I'm new here, and just looking for some advice on how to finish off stocking my 55 gallon salt water tank. It's been up and running for about a year and the wife and I love it. Here are the tank specs:

55 US gal.
FOWLR
75 gal HOB filter.
40 gal sponge filter.
One air pump rated for 80 gal tank is running the sponge filter and an air stone.

Current stock:
2 black clowns.
1 firefish.
1 tiger goby.
1 Valentini Puffer.
3 Nas. Snails.
2 Astoria Snails (and recently, about 150 of their babies)
3 blue legged hermits.
1 Kenya Tree

I get the feeling we are approaching the stocking limits for a tank this size, so before we add anyone else, we want to make an informed decision. The following is a list of candidates we are considering, and the question is which ones would likely be compatible. Would we be able to select one or more from this list? If more than one, which ones? We're hoping to be able to get about 3 more, but I don't want to send any salty buddies to an early grave or a life of stress.

Flame angel
Coral beauty
6 line wrasse
Neon Cleaner Goby
Diamond Goby
Royal Gramma
Bicolor Blenny

Thanks everyone in advance for your assistance!

It is mostly depending on opinion and taste, but whats important as well is how useful the fish is for the aquarium. Blennies are great for eating algae and they stay at the bottom. If you have aiptasia you can get a filefish (not firefish) as well, they accept dry food too so they won't starve.

Cleaner shrimps are so good as well you will love them, you can also get a brittle starfish or an urchin both really easy to care for. So don't just consider new fishes as well.

 

[TheRealPuffShady]

It is mostly depending on opinion and taste, but whats important as well is how useful the fish is for the aquarium. Blennies are great for eating algae and they stay at the bottom. If you have aiptasia you can get a filefish (not firefish) as well, they accept dry food too so they won't starve.

Cleaner shrimps are so good as well you will love them, you can also get a brittle starfish or an urchin both really easy to care for. So don't just consider new fishes as well.

Thank you for your reply!

What would a filefish's role be? Algae removal? I usually see them huddled near the rocks at the LFS.

I have been VERY interested in chocolate chip cookie stars and in sea urchins, but I'm not sure how they'd fare with my puffer. He is barely over an inch long at this point, but I'd hate to feed him a 25 or 30 dollar starfish snack. Or do you think a large enough starfish or urchin could hold its own?

Thanks again!

 

[Cell]

Definitely have room for 2-3 more small/medium fish.

Flame angel - This or the Coral Beauty would be a great addition, not both though
Coral beauty - ^
6 line wrasse - Hard no. Great for pests, but even the nicest 6-line can turn killer at some point
Neon Cleaner Goby - yes
Diamond Goby - I wouldn't mix watchman's in a 55G tank
Royal Gramma - yes
Bicolor Blenny - It might not like the watchman

I'd go with one of the dwarf angel's and the neon cleaner goby.

 

[1ocean]

If you like wrasses, try a yellow coris wrasse to add some yellow to your tank. A six line is great when they are small but for some reason they get nasty and as "Cell" mention get to be killers at worse. We had one gave it away to someone, for their frag tank. Also bicolor blenny are cool so is a tail spot blenny...we got both in my 300 and they keep to different sides of the tank...I would not put both in a 55, they may get angry as there is not enough room for them to take ownership of their own area....