Stocking recommendations for 5.5 AGA?

[pat_man_ta]

I am cycling my desktop 5.5g AGA in my office.

Here are the specs:

1 x 5.5 gallon AGA tank

1 x 25W HAGEN heater

1 x Thermometer, floating glass

2 x Aquaclear 200 HOT filters (no media currently)

1 x AGA Glass top

1 x Stock AGA light hood (modified to sit 2" above tank)

1 x Stock AGA 15" Flourescent bulb

 

on order from premium aquatics:

3# LR RUBBLE ):

Flame Hawkfish

Maroon Clowns

Green Chromis

Royal Gramma

perhaps some sort of Wrasse, like the possum?

 

Inverts:

I am looking into getting some reef GRUNGE from GARF for little critter seeding.

2 x Turbo snails

2 x blue leg hermits

1 x peppermint cleaner shrimp

[drewmd.]

pat make sure you let your tank fully cycle before adding any inhabitants. and also make sure your water parameters are in order as well. with that said i would avoid the flame hawkfish due to it's know aggressiveness. they also like a lot of room to move around. if you want to keep one i would keep a very close eye on your tank as they do like to eat shrimp and other crustaceans. you could try and feed them a diet of frozen plankton and Formula 1 soaked in selcon, frozen shrimp and black worms. as far as a maroon clown i would also stray away in only a 5.5 g only because they are very hardy fish but can grow quite large in size. up to 6". he won't be very happy in your environment. i would stick to the percula clown as they stay rather small. try to get tank raised rather than wild caught. they are more hardier. a pair would do fair in your tank. a green chromis is another fine fish with one downfall, (they are defensive eaters). they won't let many other fish (lets say you had one perc clown and a chromis) eat and will usually bite at them until they move. now the royal gramma is a very good choice. it's a very hardy fish and social as well. not aggressive. the possum wrasse is also a good choice for your size tank. very hardy as well. as far as your snails, hermits and shrimp go you can add them with no problem although i would go with a smaller type shrimp such as the sexy shrimp. but a peppermint will do fine. just get one that is rather small. good luck on your endeavor.

[pat_man_ta]

I'm running that Catalina Water NSW in it at the moment, it's in my office and I'm limited in what wetwork I can do (so it seemed the perfect solution).

 

I am hoping the uncured state of the tonga rock will cycle the tank for me. the rest of the rock is cured (in theory).

 

so, that being said, could I start the tank with say, 2 teeny chromis and then add a royal gramma or a possum wrasse?

[drewmd.]

>so, that being said, could I start the tank with say, 2 teeny chromis and then add a royal gramma or a possum wrasse?<

 

you could but i would not recommend it. your overcrowding your tank by doing this. 1 fish per 2-3 gallons of water. (rule of thumb.) not to mention the high level of ammonia that will come from this. (nitrates as well) seeing as you won't be using a skimmer. your lr will do a good job at filtering your water but if your going to overstock your tank as you want to your fish will eventually perish. i know that the fish are very pretty to look at but you have to think first of their well being and not just your own wants. and if your wanting to stock polyps and others i recommend going with a 50/50 mixture between day light and actinic. preferably in the range of 5500-6500k. but at the time your just housing fish your 15 w lamp will work.

[drewmd.]

and make sure you test your water before adding anything to it. your on the right track now gaining info on the species of fish you want to keep. just keep reading and gain as much knowledge as you can. it will help you in the long run my friend.

[pat_man_ta]

ok, well then would 1 wrasse/gramma and 1 clown/chromis work out IYO?

[pat_man_ta]

Originally posted by drewmd.

and make sure you test your water before adding anything to it. your on the right track now gaining info on the species of fish you want to keep. just keep reading and gain as much knowledge as you can. it will help you in the long run my friend.

 

indeed, i have been. I have read the new marine aquarium cover to cover as well as read this forum, reef central, and koivet (for my koi). I also helped spec and set up my friend's 65g FOWLR last month (it is still cycling, it has 5 chromis, 4 turbo snails and 4 redleg hermits, 50lb figi LR, a hitchhiker polyp/anymonae, a mix of live and inert substrate sands, a seaclone 100 skimmer, and a FilStar XP2 canister filter).

[drewmd.]

both of your choices for fish would be fine. and it's good to know that your doing your research. i too have read that same book.(very informative)

[USFnano]

I wouldn't put more then one small fish in a 5.5g. I had a small cinnimon clown(maybe 1" long) in a 5.5g a while back and it just wasn't happy with such a small space. I'd stick with a small goby, maybe a small clown.