First Saltwater tank - Stocking help

Gadbery · Aug 2, 2022

Good Day! Finally getting into my first saltwater Tank, did fresh water planted tanks in the past. I have a second hand Red Sea refer 250( 54 gallon tank and 11 gallon sump, tank dimensions - 35.5"x21"x20") and plan to do a mixed reef tank (mostly soft coral with some LPS mixed in, will start with just soft). stocking wise I need advice on how many fish i can realistically have down the road. I'm doing a negative scapped rock work that will have caves and over hangs fairly heavily. My current stocking idea is this

pair of clowns (will be first in after cycle)
a Blenny (not sure which yet)
Royal Gramma
Watchman Goby/pistol shrimp pair (after few months of running to allow sand microbes and pods to be active)
maybe a hawkfish?
Wrasse of sorts (last added)

could i also do 3 green chromis with this or is that getting a little heavy on stocking? I do have an appropriate sized Protein skimmer if that matters. My goal is to have good tank movement but when up-close be able to see the little nuances of the goby and blenny and hawkfish.

Peter C · Aug 2, 2022

I think that should be fine, most of those are smaller fish, depending on what kind of clowns and wrasses you add. I would say stick to smaller wrasses and less aggressive clown species and if you add slowly and let cycle for an appropriate amount of time you should be okay.

Gadbery · Aug 2, 2022

Peter C said:
I think that should be fine, most of those are smaller fish, depending on what kind of clowns and wrasses you add. I would say stick to smaller wrasses and less aggressive clown species and if you add slowly and let cycle for an appropriate amount of time you should be okay.

probably going to stick to classic clown fish, as that is my girlfriends favorite. Wrasses i was just looking at 5 line or 6 line but know 6 line can be problematic. Wrasse will be last fish in so have time to look at other types. Yes i plan to stock this slow over a year. (will hold off stocking during ugly phase after the clowns are in.

may reconsider the crohmis for a different movement fish