Stocking suggestions for a 50 gallon fowlr

[inverttank]

Hello everyone,
Any suggestions on what fish to pit in a 36x18x18 50 gallon fowlr tank?

Thank you!

 

[inverttank]

I would just like to point it out that my tank has only been running for about a week, and I will be adding the fish after the tank has been cycled, thank you

 

[tyler1503]

A hawkfish of some kind, pair of dwarf Lionfish and flame angel would be nice!

 

[inverttank]

I like the flame angel can I add 2 banggai cardinals and a coral beauty with it? Thanks

 

[tyler1503]

The bangaiis are good, just keep an eye on how much food they get. They can quite easily be outcompeted for food especially with a more boisterous fish like an angel. But I wouldn't add 2 angels to a tank that size. Either one would be a good choice though Come to think of it I'd actually go the coral beauty over the flame, I like their colour better.
Be careful with the angels if you get one as they can nip at corals.
A coral goby would be good too. They have awesome colours and are fun to watch!

 

[inverttank]

I see, I wont be adding corals so there would not be any problems of them nipping at it, Id love to have 2 angels though, too bad lol. Anyway thanks alot!

 

[rjcranor]

I have a 50 gallon breeder in it I have 2 true percula clowns, 2 bangaii cardinals and a diamond goby to keep my sand clean. As far as Angel fish I've never been able to keep them inmy tank. If you go with hawk or lion fish I would stay with all aggressive ones. I originally planned on a fish only but now have a mixed reef. After awhile the corals just become appealing. Also very important make sure your tank is cycled and slowly add fish. This hobby you have to be patient.

 

[inverttank]

I see, I am thinking of 2-3 banggai 1 flame angel 2 royal gramma and maybe 1 black clownfish(not sure) and probably a fair amount of CUC. Do you think this would be alright? Thank you!

 

[Trex]

3 cardinals will become 2 in short order --- suggest sticking with 2, and making sure that they male/female --- otherwise you will most likely end up with one.

Stick with one royal gramma.

More than one angel can be done, but it is a risk, and doesn't always work out. (( I have 3 in my 65 )).

 

[inverttank]

Actually i only wanted 2 cardinals, but lfs said they cant be certain of the gender so i'd have to get 3 and see how things workout. I'll take your advice on 1 gramma and as for the angel, maybe just 1 too, because it would be a problem if they fight, i dont have a spare tank and we cant return something to an lfs once it has been in a tank lol

 

[inverttank]

Oh btw, can I add 1 more engineer goby to the list?

 

[Trex]

As long as the LFS will take back the 3rd cardinal I agree with their thinking --- the 3rd one would be killed if a pair forms.

I would skip the engineer goby, get fairly large and can make a mess of things.

 

[inverttank]

I don't think the lfs would take back the 3rd cardinal, they told me that there would always be a sacrifice to get at least a pair. I'd prefer a group of 5 but i dont think they would do well once 2 pairs are formed, so I will stick with 2 hopefully 3 if it doesnt get killed

 

[inverttank]

I'll also skip the goby and stick with what i originally listed, thanks for the advice!

 

[tyler1503]

There's something fishy about that LFS. Sorry for the bad pun haha. They're willing risk a fishes life in order to sell 3 fish. That doesn't sound like someone who is looking out for the best interest of the fish. Imagine if they said that same exact advice about dogs "just get 3 and if one gets mauled you'll atleast have 2 left that might get along"
Am I thinking too much about this? I tend to do that sometimes lol.
There are ways to reliably sex bangaiis. Ask the LFS guy to give them a heavy feeding, after a few minutes (when there's tummies are full of good and are very big and round) look at the space just in front of the anal fin and behind the pelvic fins and you'll see a small bump appear. If there is one bump you have a girl, 2 bumps is a boy. They're pretty difficult to see, but once you know what your looking for it gets easy this method has worked for me the day majority of times I've tried it.

 

[inverttank]

I see, I will do that once I'm ready to purchase fish, but I am not sure if i could though, since i might have to order specially and maybe only for me.
I would also like to ask if it wiuld be possible to pair fish from different sources? because i have tried them with the harlequin shrimp and failed, so i ended up getting a new pair plus one female

 

[tyler1503]

I see, I will do that once I'm ready to purchase fish, but I am not sure if i could though, since i might have to order specially and maybe only for me.
I would also like to ask if it wiuld be possible to pair fish from different sources? because i have tried them with the harlequin shrimp and failed, so i ended up getting a new pair plus one female

Fair enough. If they have to special order, chances are they'll only get in the amount you ask for and you'll be stuck with what you have.
I don't see an issue with pairing fish from different sources, although I think you would need to acclimate them at the same time

 

[inverttank]

Oh I see, I wouldnt also want to sacrifice one fish because Im sure that the survivor would not be unscathed, so I would try to look for other sources and try your method thank you so much for the tips!

 

[tyler1503]

No worries mate. Good luck finding a nice pair If you have a few LFS nearby it shouldn't be too difficult.
Maybe check out the selling threads on here? Or post a wanting to buy thread? You might find a cheap breeding pair.

 

[inverttank]

Alright thank you