what coral/fish would you guys recommend for a 56g? its like a big brick, about 3ft long, 2.5-3ft tall, and 1.5ft in width. going for a mini reef and would like to do some clams or anemones also. looking for good shrimp and starfish if possible. All suggestions welcome. thanks all
coral/fish for 56g???
- Thread starter OscarHook
- Start date
Well, it depends on what you like. It sounds to me like you are going for a mixed reef. I don't know if you are ever going to have any sesile inverts or not but, it does sound like you like the mobile ones. With that in mind
Chromis: hardy peacefull damsel realtives look quite nice and play well with others.
clowns : Depends on the clown
but, they are all pretty hardy and most of them play well with others,"not tomatoe or marron". Don't get them an anem at least not at first they have some pretty exacting tank requirements and if you are really interested ask it will be a post all of it's own!"
dwarf angels: cherubs pretty little fish "don't play well with other angels" Flames same as cherubs but, they may not have quite as much well....... spunk.
Hawks: great fish if you don't want to keep shrimp.
Cardianals: the most suitable for a tank like this are the pajama or the bangaii cards either one of these are able to breed in home tanks.
Dragonetts: very doable if you don't have any other pod eaters and will give the tank time to establish.
There are numerous species of fish that you can put in this tank. That having been said it will really depend on if you want the anems and what kind you want.
hth
Max
Chromis: hardy peacefull damsel realtives look quite nice and play well with others.
clowns : Depends on the clown
but, they are all pretty hardy and most of them play well with others,"not tomatoe or marron". Don't get them an anem at least not at first they have some pretty exacting tank requirements and if you are really interested ask it will be a post all of it's own!"dwarf angels: cherubs pretty little fish "don't play well with other angels" Flames same as cherubs but, they may not have quite as much well....... spunk.
Hawks: great fish if you don't want to keep shrimp.
Cardianals: the most suitable for a tank like this are the pajama or the bangaii cards either one of these are able to breed in home tanks.
Dragonetts: very doable if you don't have any other pod eaters and will give the tank time to establish.
There are numerous species of fish that you can put in this tank. That having been said it will really depend on if you want the anems and what kind you want.
hth
Max
As far as corals go it depends on what kind you want. If you go SPS or LPS then you will need really good lighting, T-5 or Metal Halides. For soft corals you can get away with Power compacts. Fish there are alot of neat reef safe fish just choose the ones that need a small swiming space and you are good. Shrimp depends, Cleaners are good pepermint some times are good coarl banded will work too. Just look around and plan the system out before you start.
Good luck!
Good luck!
Most clams get too large for your tank and if you get a small one and a star fish the starfish might eat it. Anenomes are nice but be carful if you plan on clownfish with them. Certain types of anenomes don't mix with clowns. Your fishstore should know which ones are compatible. I had a 20 gallon with a pygmy(cherub) angel in it. It was very cool and slightly smaller than a dwarf angel, but with a fifty I would get a dwarf like a flame or coral beauty. I would get cleaner shrimp to clean the angel and some of the other fish. Very cool to watch a cleaner shrimp have a station and the fish pull up like a drive through. I also had a crab called a sally lightfoot that moved like a spider across the rocks. very neat. There are alot of possibilities. I also like small schools of firefish. I would go here just to look at the inverts and fish. They don't have everything but they will tell you if they are reef safe or not. Have fun. I love mini reefs.http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/categ.cfm?pcatid=15
I don't know what my friend runs on his 90 gallon reef, but lighting wise you are going to need a wattage strong enough to penetrate that deep. The 56s are 40 breeders that are really tall. They are great tanks because of their compactness. I know this because they sent us one for the holiday too!
I'd suggest only keeping soft corals in your tank, they can live on water changes alone and medium lighting, You go with LPS or SPS corals, you'll have to dose two part or invest in a calcium reactor and better lighting like High watt PC's or MH.
Good luck
Good luck