New and need advice!

[ava.g]

Hi! I have had freshwater tanks in the past, but am looking to start up a saltwater tank with fish only and live rock. My main question is about fish compatibility. I have a 55 gallon tank and I am interested in the following fish:

•Whitespotted Toby puffer
•Some sort of dragonet
•Yellow watchman
•Pair of clownfish
•Yellow tang (not sure how many would be suitable)
•Possibly a small school of green chromis

Would there be compatibility issues between any of these fish? And is this tank a suitable size for them? The fish I am stocking the tank around is the Toby, so if any of these are not compatible, what are some alternatives you would suggest? Also, would this group of fish be sufficient algae control, if not what would be a good addition? Again I am very new to this so any advice is very appreciated, thank you in advance!

 

[VintageReefer]

Hello!

A 55g tank is a long but narrow footprint. It is difficult to aquascape while still leaving swimming room in front and behind the rocks

Whitespotted Toby puffer
I understand this is the main fish you want but you will likely have some trouble due to the Hawaii ban that’s been in place for several years. I don’t know if they have aquacultured / captive bred, but I haven’t seen one on the market in years and it would probably be very expensive if you can find one

some sort of dragonet
This is doable but you will need to keep the tank stocked on pods. They eat hundreds a day and in a few weeks/months you will likely run out and need to have a plan in place to continuously replenish them.

•Yellow watchman
Good choice

•Pair of clownfish
Risky. Very likely there will be aggression. They don’t just “get along”. Yes for some people they do, but for many they will end up fighting constantly as they get older. I have a clown in a 15g and he’s super aggressive and bites ME when my hand goes in the tank. Everytime.

•Yellow tang (not sure how many would be suitable
Zero. Tank is too small and narrow for a tang. They grow large and this tank will stress them. They don’t like feeling “confined” and while it would be ok as a baby, they will grow quick, become stressed and aggressive, and stress alone will lead to lowered immune system and they will just get sick out of nowhere.

•Possibly a small school of green chromis
One. Again this has a stereotype of being a fish that likes to be in groups but those people that success are usually owners of large tanks over 150 gallons. I have a 75g and have tried schools of blue/green chromis twice. Once a group of 4 and another time a group of three. Same thing happens every time. You end up with one. One will grow faster than the others, become dominant, and kill off the others starting with the smallest.

None of these will help with algae control. The tang might a little, but he gets too large and aggressive for that tank

I would suggest a lawnmower blenny or starry blenny

 

[ava.g]

Hello!

A 55g tank is a long but narrow footprint. It is difficult to aquascape while still leaving swimming room in front and behind the rocks

Whitespotted Toby puffer
I understand this is the main fish you want but you will likely have some trouble due to the Hawaii ban that’s been in place for several years. I don’t know if they have aquacultured / captive bred, but I haven’t seen one on the market in years and it would probably be very expensive if you can find one

some sort of dragonet
This is doable but you will need to keep the tank stocked on pods. They eat hundreds a day and in a few weeks/months you will likely run out and need to have a plan in place to continuously replenish them.

•Yellow watchman
Good choice

•Pair of clownfish
Risky. Very likely there will be aggression. They don’t just “get along”. Yes for some people they do, but for many they will end up fighting constantly as they get older. I have a clown in a 15g and he’s super aggressive and bites ME when my hand goes in the tank. Everytime.

•Yellow tang (not sure how many would be suitable
Zero. Tank is too small and narrow for a tang. They grow large and this tank will stress them. They don’t like feeling “confined” and while it would be ok as a baby, they will grow quick, become stressed and aggressive, and stress alone will lead to lowered immune system and they will just get sick out of nowhere.

•Possibly a small school of green chromis
One. Again this has a stereotype of being a fish that likes to be in groups but those people that success are usually owners of large tanks over 150 gallons. I have a 75g and have tried schools of blue/green chromis twice. Once a group of 4 and another time a group of three. Same thing happens every time. You end up with one. One will grow faster than the others, become dominant, and kill off the others starting with the smallest.

Thank you so much for the advice! I have had a hard time finding reading material on this subject. So to be clear, you would recommend having a single clownfish or none at all? And I would be fine with another type of Toby, I am just interested in puffers in general and thought the whitespotted was the best looking! I had no clue about the Hawaii ban. Is there anything else you would recommend to fill the tank a little more? Or do you think those would be too many?

 

[VintageReefer]

you can get a blue spot toby puffer, those seem available, but I read they are billers and can bite fins of smaller and slower fish

A single clown would be OK. I would read up on the different types to see the more peaceful ones and pick one of those

 

[VintageReefer]

Generally fish don’t like to be housed with same species or even ones that look similar. Diversity helps keep them peaceful.

You could get a regular firefish or a purple firefish - they are colorful and friendly.

You could also get a yellow (formally called coris) wrasse. They will do a good job keeping rocks clear of pests and are friendly and active and bright yellow

 

[ava.g]

Generally fish don’t like to be housed with same species or even ones that look similar. Diversity helps keep them peaceful.

You could get a regular firefish or a purple firefish - they are colorful and friendly.

You could also get a yellow (formally called coris) wrasse. They will do a good job keeping rocks clear of pests and are friendly and active and bright yellow

Noted! Thank you so much for the advice

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I'll second the firefish; it is one of my favorite fish in my tank!

 

[NanoNana]

Royal gramma is a nice bright fish that can at times be aggressive but mine is all show and no go. They do like caves but if your scape has a lot of rock areas they can swim through you’ll see them a good bit.

Some of the wrasses like the coris

For schooling fish cardinals maybe

Midas blenny could be an option

Since you are not doing a reef, there are some beautiful angel fish that would work in a 55.

 

[reinert]

My tank is just at 6 months now. It is 15 gal and houses one clown, one goby, and one firefish. They are quite happy together. I am slowly working towards an anemone for the clown and learned a good bit from my local store. Patience is a the key and asking questions when you can’t find the answers. Thank you for asking this and so many answers thank you.