Live Rock & Fish Choice

[Sunny.C]

Hey guys,
I am almost ready to start cycling my tank. My question is how many kg of live rock should i put into my 4 foot tank? Is 20kg enough or go about 30kg?
Also what fish should i go for and roughly how many to not go overboard???
I am sure that i want at least 2x clown fish 1x flameangel, what else can i have in there to stay understock and have a nice looking tank?

 

[RoyalGrammaPrincessHannah]

4 feet doesnt say anything. How many gallons is it? But if you want it to look nice, then why not add more diversity and just go for one clown? Royal grammas are also a good choice, and so are gobies and firefish. Look through liveaquaria.coms beginner marine fish section and post any additional questions you cant find on the net about a species u r interested in.

 

[Sunny.C]

Oh sorry, 55Gallons it is with a whirl in it so say 53Gallon for the fish area all up

 

[RoyalGrammaPrincessHannah]

Alright youll want at least 25 kgs of LR in the end. You can do base rock and live rock 50/50 and just wait a little longer for it to all become LR, or go the expensive way and do all LR, because you will get more life in there that way. You could just put it in gradually, there is no rush, but there cant be fish when you add a lot at once, as it can cause ammonia spikes. And im assuming those are "U.S." gallons? If they are, 1 medium sized fish per 10 gallons is all you really want for the comfort of the fish. Thats why I suggest only one clown for added diversity.

 

[Sunny.C]

Alright youll want at least 25 kgs of LR. You can do base rock and live rock 50/50 and just wait a little longer for it to all become LR, or go the expensive way and do all LR, because you will get more life in there that way. And im assuming those are "U.S." gallons? If they are, 1 medium sized fish per 10 gallons is all you really want for the comfort of the fish. Thats why I suggest only one clown for added diversity.

I will go 25kg of live rock to start with.
So 1x med fish per 10gallons would mean i should have 5 fish in there 6 max.
Why do you say i should only keep 1 clown??? Don't they do better in pairs???
Also what are some good fish to put in with clowns and flame angel???
I am also looking for 1 or 2 cleaners, maybe a shrimp ???

 

[keston]

Hey guys,
I am almost ready to start cycling my tank. My question is how many kg of live rock should i put into my 4 foot tank? Is 20kg enough or go about 30kg?
Also what fish should i go for and roughly how many to not go overboard???
I am sure that i want at least 2x clown fish 1x flameangel, what else can i have in there to stay understock and have a nice looking tank?

Stay away from the angels because they are more difficult to take care of.
Damsels, clownfish, and tangs are they way to go. *note some damsels may be agressive.

 

[Sunny.C]

I read that the tangs require more that the 55gallons, which tang are your referring to?

 

[RoyalGrammaPrincessHannah]

Yeah you can always add more LR later, just cure it before it goes in the tank because it can raise ammonia.

Clowns do fine alone or in pairs, just as they do fine with or without an anemone.

Fortunately, clowns and flame angels are good communtiy fish, as long as its not the same species. Not going reef I suspect? Or maybe testing out the flame for being a coral eater. But royal grammas, gobies, cardinals, firefish, pretty much anything will go with those two, as long as they arent aggressive.

Hermits and snails are good and skunk cleaner shrimp are good as well, they will clean the tank, and your fish! If you havent heard about them already, read about cleaner shrimp, there are some pretty funny stories about their cleaning stations. These particular species like to be in groups and are very social. I like them very much. I wouldnt go with a coral banded, as they will catch and kill fish that are small.

Yellow tangs can live in 55 gallons, but they arent as happy as can be. For 55 gals, id leave the tangs alone.

Not all angels are hard to take care of. When your tank is established with 4-5 of your final fish count, you can definitely add the flame angel, coral beauties work well too but adding them last will reduce any aggression they may have, and will allow time for more algae to grow on your LR for them to graze upon.

The only damsels Id reccommend are the yellow-tails. They arent aggressive and mine acutally is VERY skiddish and shy. I like this fish very much because of the color and swimming pattern.

 

[Aquascaper]

Your tanks a little small for tangs to be honest. Dwarf angels would be the biggest thing i'd put in there personally.

Clowns do a lot better in pairs and create more life in a tank than a single specimen, get two of similar size and they should pair (not necessarily mate), the larger one will eventually turn female.

As for the flame angel.......I would rethink that if you plan for more than one angel as they are the most territorial of the dwarf angels. The key thing to remember when stocking dwarf angels is to never have a pair the same and always get fish that are very different from each other, this will reduce aggression as they are less likely to see the other one as a competitior. A nice mix would be a Coral Beauty and a Candy Stripe (Elibi), two very distinct angels. Another guideline when choosing dwarf angels is always see them feeding (a general rule for buying fish really) and move your finger in front of the tank. The proper reaction will be for the angel to scoot off then to wander back showing curiosity and eventually following your finger along the glass....this shows a healty, happy angel. If you are adding more than one angel always add a bigger fish each time if doing it in stages, never add a smaller fish than the one already established as it will be harassed and possibly killed.

As for the Live Rock question.............did you really need to ask? Buy as much as you can

 

[RoyalGrammaPrincessHannah]

Oh really? I didnt know clowns paired off if they werent becoming a mated pair. From what Ive read they will almost always fight instead of pair off unless you buy like 4 or more to try to find a match.

 

[Sunny.C]

I will be adding corals in later on, just low on cash after spending on all the hardware.
I am for sure getting 2x clowns 1x flameangel 1x Cleaner shrimp, any suggestions for another 1 or 2 fish that will mix well with the above

 

[Sunny.C]

anyone?

 

[Aquascaper]

Sunny.C: No other Dwarf Angels, that's for sure!

RoyalGrammaPrincessHannah: When you buy Clowns look always buy from a well stocked tank and watch them for about 15 - 30 minutes. You'll soon see 'pairs' forming and then all you need to do is catch the right ones

 

[RoyalGrammaPrincessHannah]

RoyalGrammaPrincessHannah: When you buy Clowns look always buy from a well stocked tank and watch them for about 15 - 30 minutes. You'll soon see 'pairs' forming and then all you need to do is catch the right ones
[/quote]

Makes sense.

And Sunny C., I bet you can guess what fish id suggest... a cute little royal gramma of course!

They like extensive rock work to choose a home from, add vibrant color to a community tank, only get 3 inches big, and are only aggressive toward their same species or a similar species, such as pseudochromis. They also have interesting swimming patterns. Wherever they are swimming, they will have their stomachs facing the largest structure closest to them, so if there is no rock in a tank and they are near a wall, they will swim kind of sideways. They will sometimes hang out upside down as well if in a cave.
Just a little tempting info...


And if you are getting the skunk cleaner shrimp by any chance, they like to be in groups and are very social. They will come clean you whenever you put your hand in the tank!

 

[Sunny.C]

Ok i will get a Royal Gramma, but only because you said so
So i am thinking of getting this now what your guys think???
2x clowns 1x flameangel 2x Cleaner shrimp 1x Royal Gramma
Does that sound ok??? not overstocked???

Hannah are you serious about the shrip cleaning your hand?? If so i am going to get a whole
tank full heheh joke.