50 Gallon Cube stocking

[TheStrangler]

I'm currently cycling a 50 gallon cube, and am working on my stocking list now months ahead of time to try to avoid any unpleasant surprises. Ive been doing a lot of research, but some information I've found is kind of contradictory so I'd like to run a few ideas by actual people that have had some of these critters rather than taking compatibility chart's word for it.

I went fairly heavy with the rock because I really tried to aquascape a range of places to put corals at different light intensities, while providing hiding spots for more timid fish and arches for nooks for more active swimmers (like wrasse) to dart through.

My current plan roughly sorted by priority is

1) a pair of clowns, ocellaris or percula.
2) A tailspot blenny or a pair if I could find them
3) Two skunk cleaner or fire shrimp. I find the fire shrimp more visually appealing, but if Im not mistaken, they are nocturnal and have less personality than skunk cleaners. In which case I'd go with the skunks.
4) A firefish (undecided type)
5) Undecided reef safe wrasse. Of course I'm drawn to the potentially problematic mystery wrasse. I love how they look and their pest eating habits would be greatly appreciated since I do intend to keep Zoas, Acans, maybe a torch, and if I can make it work I'd like a Derasa clam. On the other hand, I don't think I could keep a mystery wrasse if it was going to eat my shrimp. I also find Leopard wrasse very appealing, but while I do have a sump/refugium in the works as well as phytoplankton and copepod cultures, I dont know that I'd want a Leopard wrasse and a mandarin competing for pods. My sandbed also is mostly 1 inch deep, maybe two inches in places, so I dont believe it to be suitable for a leopard wrasse. I've got a lot more wrasse research to do.
6) Mandarin Dragonet

I'm partial to the bubbletip anenome - clownfish pairing, but I'm not sure that I want to run the string risk with a BTA. I figure I wouldn't reasonably be able to add one for 8 months to a year anyway so I'll see how things are going by then and go from there.

For clean up crew, I'll do mostly snails, I'm on the fence regarding some of the smaller hermits, but I'll be ordering from reefcleaners and I trust that with a bit of guidance they'll be able to help me pick a solid CUC with minimal crab risk. I'm quite partial to porcelain crabs as well, but would only consider them if I was doing frequent phyto dosing for corals anyway.

If anyone has any thoughts, concerns, or suggestions I'd love to hear them. Thanks for taking the time to look through.

 

[nereefpat]

1. clowns are fine
2. tailspot blenny is fine...not sure about pairs, as I haven't seen that before
3. either of the shrimp are great. They can also be mixed. The fire shrimp I kept hung upside down on a rock most of the day, but was always visible.
4. firefish is fine
5. wrasse: I wouldn't get the mystery wrasse. They get a little big for a 50 gallon cube, and they get aggressive. There might be a future problem with your shrimp, as you mentioned. The leopards get a little big for a 50 cube too. I would recommend one of the possum wrasses, or a pink streaked wrasse.
6. mandarin: that can be done in a 50 gallon, with lots of rock and a fuge, but it will take some planning and work. Depending on if you get a wrasse, and which wrasse you choose, that can affect the mandarin as well.

I'm not an anemone guy, so I can't be much help there. Bubble tips are easily kept, but they aren't natural hosts for occ or perc clowns.

 

[TheStrangler]

I've read that a lot of people have luck with BTAs and clowns, but of course there is no guarantee. I've also read the horror stories of clowns loving corals to death that just want to be left alone. I'm not solely after the clownfish anemone pairing, but it'd be cool if it worked out. I wouldn't be disappointed if the clowns decided to never pay any attention to the nem. I'll see how things go before I go that direction, I see a lot of really pretty nems for sale in the marketplace section if I eventually have the right conditions for one when my tank is mature enough, and I think it'll have room to move about and find where it wants to go without causing too much issue I'll go from there.

I'm reading over a lot of the wrasse info here https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/all-about-reef-safe-wrasses-in-aquaria.259894/ . Takes a while to check through each type to see diet, needs, and compatibility but I'll get through it. I've pretty much decided that the mystery wrasse/leopards would not be a good fit as you concluded as well.

I've got about 80 lbs of rock, phytoplankton, and copepod cultures with the original intention of the phyto/copepods for corals, but if their populations can support a mandarin I'll get one, otherwise I wont. I get that they are a tricky fish to keep fed.

I'll take a look at possum and pink streaked wrasse, thanks for the suggestion, reading over my list, and providing feedback.

 

[SirRoot]

I have a similar tank size (24x24x18) and added a Lubbock's Fairy Wrasse a few weeks ago. He does like to dart around and circle around the edges of the tank so not sure how your crowded rock work would fair but I'm certainly no expert.

 

[JustO]

I have an SCA 50 Cube for about 3 years. originally had too much rock work and after a minor tank crash I moved about half of the rock to the sump. I used one large arch to connect 2 rock mounds. Currently it is SPS dominant with one large hammer the my 2 clowns host. Additional occupants are 2 peppermint shrimp, lawnmower blenny, royal gramma, and a long nose hawk fish. The RG and hawk fish have great personalities. Also the hawk is a pest destroyer and much less timid than the wrasses I have had. As for the dragonette Do you have a sump to help propagate pods?

 

[TheStrangler]

I have an SCA 50 Cube for about 3 years. originally had too much rock work and after a minor tank crash I moved about half of the rock to the sump. I used one large arch to connect 2 rock mounds. Currently it is SPS dominant with one large hammer the my 2 clowns host. Additional occupants are 2 peppermint shrimp, lawnmower blenny, royal gramma, and a long nose hawk fish. The RG and hawk fish have great personalities. Also the hawk is a pest destroyer and much less timid than the wrasses I have had. As for the dragonette Do you have a sump to help propagate pods?

Yup, have a sump/refugium as well as a 84 cubic foot Mylar grow tent + grow lights for growing strawberries/tomatoes/herbs etc that I'm setting up phytoplankton + copepod cultures in as well. The hawk fish hasn't taken out your shrimp or clean up crew? I've heard they can be pretty brutal on inverts.

 

[JustO]

Sounds like you would be good to go. The peppermints have been there for a while and are fairly large. I also feed fairly heavily. The shrimp did have a feast on a torch a while back though. Haven’t touched the hammer, or the aptasia they were there to eat....

 

[TheStrangler]

I will definitely be playing the mandarin by ear, that would likely be one of the last additions after I could confirm I have the pods to keep it happy. It looks like my biggest point of contention right now will be a wrasse. I think I'd rather avoid a hawkfish but I do think they are cool, its just that a pair of cleaner shrimp are pretty high on my list of must haves, and Im a bit hesitant there. I prefer to buy my fish and inverts smaller and let them grow from juveniles. I dont know if it works like this, but I've always felt that getting critters young allows them to develop their own way to the enviornment and become very comfortable with a tank as adults.

Still going through as many wrasse lists as I can and seeing what everyone has said about them. I'm looking favorably at the pink streak, and considering a yellow wrasse. I'm seeing a bit of a conflict of info on them as well with regards to size and invert safety.

H. chrysus “Canary Wrasse” or “Yellow Coris Wrasse” (*cringe*): First, I do not like the reference to “coris” this species can sometimes be commonly referred as, since it implies the species is a member of the Coris genus, which it is certainly not. Commonly available, inexpensive. Usually very peaceful and do not often pick on inverts at all. Usually peaceful with other Halichoeres wrasses. Males get a “sunset” looking horizontal stripes on the face once mature.

online stores list them as reef safe with caution with warning about inverts however. I'd have to evaluate my sand situation, but I may have some nice deep piles forming from my wave maker and I'm fine with that. Still have a ton of wrasse to look through.

I made sure to include as much swimming room as possible around the entire perimeter of the tank as well as with lots of large overhangs that can easily be darted through as I didn't want to infringe on anything's swimming space to the best of my ability. I went rock heavy but built up to take advantage of the 20 inch depth, mostly towards the center of the tank for that reason. Lots of hidey holes and rock crevices as well as passages through the rockwork.

 

[Jesterrace]

1) Good to go
2) Stick with one Tailspot and you should be good
3) Cleaner Shrimp do to tend to be a bit more visible than Fire Shrimp and hence are given more personality
4) I would skip the Firefish and trade it for a basslet (ie Royal Gramma, Black Cap). Firefish are super timid and often very skittish. My Purple Firefish was a bully magnet.
5) The Lubbock's Fairy Wrasse mentioned above might work or the Possum or Pink Streaked would definitely work
6) Will be a challenge in a tank of that size due to potential competition for pods and the fact that anything can out compete a Mandarin for food even if it adapts to frozen (got to see this first hand with my Green Mandarin failure). Mandarins are interesting but not quite as visible as one would hope (spend most of the time crawling in and around the rockwork).

*EDIT* I would avoid the Yellow Coris Wrasse. It's a wonderful fish but I feel a cube that doesn't even have 3 feet of horizontal swimming space is just too cramped for a Halichoeres Wrasse. Also definitely avoid the hawkfish if you prioritize the shrimp.

 

[TheStrangler]

1) Good to go
2) Stick with one Tailspot and you should be good
3) Cleaner Shrimp do to tend to be a bit more visible than Fire Shrimp and hence are given more personality
4) I would skip the Firefish and trade it for a basslet (ie Royal Gramma, Black Cap). Firefish are super timid and often very skittish. My Purple Firefish was a bully magnet.
5) The Lubbock's Fairy Wrasse mentioned above might work or the Possum or Pink Streaked would definitely work
6) Will be a challenge in a tank of that size due to potential competition for pods and the fact that anything can out compete a Mandarin for food even if it adapts to frozen (got to see this first hand with my Green Mandarin failure). Mandarins are interesting but not quite as visible as one would hope (spend most of the time crawling in and around the rockwork).

*EDIT* I would avoid the Yellow Coris Wrasse. It's a wonderful fish but I feel a cube that doesn't even have 3 feet of horizontal swimming space is just too cramped for a Halichoeres Wrasse. Also definitely avoid the hawkfish if you prioritize the shrimp.

The tailspot pair would be if I found a male/female pair as I know things can get dicey between males. The pair isn't completely necessary in my opinion, I just like the added pair interaction between fish. I've had firefish and clowns get along swimingly well so I know I don't have to go strictly for same species pairs to have interesting and peaceful interactions.

I'm a huge fan of firefish and the last I had was always out and one of the more active fish in my tank. I know thats not really the norm for them, but I will keep it in consideration based on what else I have in the tank.

Noted on the Yellow Coris Wrasse, leaning towards a pink streaked at this time, but I still haven't made my way though the fairy or flasher wrasses yet which I believe stay smaller and are more suited for smaller tanks. Just spitballing at this point. I definitely appreciate your input on that.

 

[nicholasng11]

How is the flow? From the look of it the rocks on the left of the tank might block most of the flow cycling back to the center.

 

[Big G]

I have a similar tank size (24x24x18) and added a Lubbock's Fairy Wrasse a few weeks ago. He does like to dart around and circle around the edges of the tank so not sure how your crowded rock work would fair but I'm certainly no expert.

+1 ^^^ mine is an excellent tankmate. The colors are fantastic.

 

[TheStrangler]

How is the flow? From the look of it the rocks on the left of the tank might block most of the flow cycling back to the center.

I've got a Jebao SCP90 running at about 20-30% in there right now and flow seems pretty nice in most places of the tank. I don't have it in its final position, as Ive just been moving it around to get any dust off the dry rock that I missed with the initial rinse. My sand looks a little chalky and gray in places that I haven't kicked up yet, but its finding its way into my sump and is easily cleared out. I think the flow will be suitable for any type of tank inhabitant with proper placement.