Too Many Fish?

[krosebush]

Hey all, I'm new to the saltwater fish community and I am just looking for some advice about the compatibility and amount of fish I would like to have. So would I have any problems with these fish in my 55 gallon tank, which will end up have some hardy corals and inverts:

(1) Gold striped maroon clown or (2) Ocellaris clown
(1) Flame angel
(1) Purple red sea tang
(3) Green chromis
(1) Clown gobie
(2) Cleaner shimp

 

[Fish Fingers]

Welcome to saltwater! You won't regret it (hopefully ). I'll help you with what knowledge I have but I'm not the most knowledgeable person aounrd here. However I'm sure others wil help you too. Firstly, from what I've heard Maroon Clowns can be agressive and bully other tankmates. So you may want to go with the Oscellaris instead. Also the tank will be no where big enough for a tang (they need big tanks as they are straight line swimmers and usually get pretty big too) so you'll have to cross him off your list. The others sound fine. You may be pushing your stocking limit with 2 clowns, 3 chromis, a clown goby and a flame angel however but I'm not sure about that. It might be possible to keep all of them with plenty of live rock and a good skimmer.

 

[SkiFletch]

You could keep all of that minus the Tang. As mentioned, a 55g is really too small for a Tang to survive and live comfortably. I agree that you should go with a pair of ocellaris clowns instead. And also, make sue you watch the flame angel... sometimes certain individuals get a taste for corals, but more often than not they're ok.

 

[Lynden]

My verdict? No, that is not too many fish.

I would reccomend you go with a smaller tang like a yellow or regal, and to put more inverts in the tank.
Also, see if you can get a pair of maroons that have already mated; maroon clowns are totally the most coolest clowns ever for several reasons. They get bigger, they live longer, theyre considerably more beautiful than most Amphiprion clowns, and they have way more personality. Also, my female Sebae clown is quite a bit meaner than the maroon; she beats up the maroon and occasionally her mate.

-Lynden

 

[krosebush]

Thanks! I was told and have done research on the Regal tang and it gets much larger than a Purple Red Sea tang, so is that not suitable as well? Another question I propose is that pertaining to dwarf angels and large angels. Is a dwarf angel and a large angel going to get after each other? I was looking into getting a smaller large angel like a Singapore Angel. Will that be too large too?

 

[Lynden]

Im glad I could be of help; anything that doesnt get much larger than a regal is fine for a 55 gallon tank.

A Singapore angel is not too large. I have a healthy, happy juvinile Koran pomacanthus in the same tank as a healthy, happy Heraldi centropyge. The Quran fish occasionally nips at the Heraldi, but both of them are the picture of good health and morale.

My tank is a little different than the majority; I tend to do research and form my own methods instead of taking all info from someone else. By the way, my tank has been very successful except around the beginning when ich broke out. This is a healthy method, but if you choose this path remember to not preach too much unless you like being attacked.

I will be upgrading my 55 gallon to a 200+ gallon in the future to accomodate the growth of fish.

Its nice to see that you have done so much research before starting this project. Keep it up.

-Lynden

P.S., avoid adding too many more fish than those you have already stated. Add inverts instead; they take up far less space.

 

[richard t]

Regal tangs do grow larger than a purple tang, the former in 12" the latter about 9". Both are unsuitable for a 55g tank. If a surgeon fish is not provided with enough space it can suffer skin problems. Tangs are built for speed and in the wild the action of swimming rids the fish of mucus. If a home aquarium fails to replacate this the mucus can build up and cause problems. Tangs are very prone to parasites and to lateral line and fin erosion.
If you must have a tang, yellow tangs stay a few inchs smaller than the purple.
And if you can provide a larger than average flow rate. This will give the tang more to swim against (like a tread mill) In a 55g water turnover of 2200gph would help a tangs chances of remaining healthy.

 

[mantis147]

I would give the tang a miss, ive kept maroons before and they didnt seem to be aggressive and i kept a single one.

 

[Navarre]

Ok clarafication on the tangs...

I have a shoal of red sea purple tangs. They grow very large.. far too large for a 55 gallon. I kept a single one in 100 gallons and its behaviour when released to the 220 system was remarkably different. Less nervous, not as aggressive, and constantly drifting around the tank grazing rather than darting around looking for hidy holes to get into.

Regal tangs get even larger. I have considered a regal for my system lately as it needs a good blue colour to it. HOwever i am not comfortable with adding another tang with so many in my system already (and this will be the 2nd largest tang in the tank once its grown).

Yellow tangs dont get any smaller thanthe purples. (They are basically the same fish with a different paintjob ).
Lok for a bristletooth/yelloweye tang if you really wantone but even this size of tank is pushing the limits of comfortably housig one.

Large angels are completely unsuitable for a 55 gallon, you are better off with dwarfs

Maroon clowns are fantastic clowns, probably my favorite but.... and there is a but....

They grow very large.. much larger than even i took them credit for. I saw a fully grown pair in a shop recently and was astounded at their size. They are also quite pugnascious when they want to be too. Considering the size they can reach and the power they can posess i would urge caution with these littel fish you see in the shops as they can grow 4x larger than this and most occupants will not be able to defend themselves should the clowns want the tank for themselves.