55 Gallon Salt water tank restart

[The Laughing Man]

I have a 55 gallon that recently crashed. I lost all my coral, 1 spiny urchin and a damsel. Currently I have a sailfin tang, black & white stripped damsel, yellow wrasser, a goby, and 2 clown fish.

I just put them back and the tank and they are doing good. What could I add that would work well with my guys

[The Laughing Man]

so... no suggestions, ideas?

[Mrc8858]

Are you sure that is a 55 gallon tank? It seems to be a bowfront so it should either be 46 gallons (3ft) or 72 gallons (4ft) and either way the sailfin should not be in there. They should be given a 180 gallon tank. With that said you are fully stocked imo if you wanna go reef. If not then I'd remove the tang and maybe add a couple smaller fish in its place like gobys, blennys, or dartfish.

[The Laughing Man]

It is a bow front, 42 Length x 18 W x 21 H. The Sail Fin has been in this tank going on 2 years now.

[Mrc8858]

Your sure its 42"? So you have a 3.5' light fixture? Also, whether the sailfin was in there for a day or 10 years it doesn't change the fact that its a large tang which needs a 6' tank minimum. I don't wanna come off as rude but if you are putting the kind of money that sw takes to do then you should be doing the proper research on fish husbandry and requirements before purchasing. The only tangs that can be kept in tanks under 4' for life would be like kole tangs. Once again no offense intended just trying to put you on the right track.

[The Laughing Man]

Just measured it before posting

I originally had a Yellow Tang and a Blue Tang, but due to bad advice there was some issues with the Tang

The Sail Fin was suggested by the people we do all are shopping with on aquariums

[Mrc8858]

Originally Posted by The Laughing Man

Just measured it before posting

I originally had a Yellow Tang and a Blue Tang, but due to bad advice there was some issues with the Tang

The Sail Fin was suggested by the people we do all are shopping with on aquariums

Do you mean your local fish/pet store?

[The Laughing Man]

There is 2 here in Charlotte. One gives very bad advice which would kill your aquarium, which is why we lost our yellow tang (the blue one had some virus that killed it off eventually)

The other is a great store that has been a huge help

Yes both are local. We did use Dr. Fosters at one time

[Mrc8858]

Tangs very often will come down with ich or other health problems when not given enough room to swim. Keep in mind tangs in the wild can cover vast distances in their natural habitat on a day to day basis which many fish in the SW trade are from the wild. I'm having trouble believing the size of your tank though as I've never heard of a 55 bowfront. There are 54 bowfront corner tanks but flat backs from what I know (not including euro tanks) are 16, 26, 36, 46, 72, 155, and 220.

[The Laughing Man]

Im just going by what my tape measure tells me, but thanks for the advice on the fish

What would I need in the means of a clean up crew

[Mrc8858]

Clean up crews are optional. When keeping a reef keeping everything where it should be falls into your hands. Any clean up crew you want should only be because you actually want them not so they do your work. With that said some of the best go to CUCs would include blue, red, or white hermits, and for snails nassarius are one of the best available. Even though they are tiny they will relentlessly hunt down any bits of food in your tank that has been stuck somewhere as well as stir your sand since while inactive they bury themselves. Many people will tell you turbos but they are very dirty and can knock over pretty much anything that's not glued into place.

[The Laughing Man]

What about Shrimp? I have a goby and I considered getting him a pistol shrimp but Im wondering if Shrimp are worth getting

[Mrc8858]

I keep three cleaner shrimp and love em. If getting a pistol shrimp though you wanna be sure that all your rock work is resting on the bottom of the tank and not just on sand because they will burrow out that sand which can lead to your scape collapsing and worst case scenario shattering one of the panes of glass. Keep in mind too that many people that own pistols very rarely see them once they begin to burrow. More then likely you'll just catch a quick glimpse of him and that's if he doesn't decide to make his "front door" inside or behind your rock work. If you ask me I would never waste the money on a pistol shrimp on anything but a pico reef since there wouldnt be much chance to hide from me lol.