Stocking an odd tank, 54in tall

[Passedyouby]

Okay- so I built a tank that is 22in wide, 11in length, and 54inches tall. Now its time to figure out what in the world will be happy in this crazy shape!



This is a 55gal tank, with an 8gal sump. Currently i am not running a skimmer or reactors etc as the tank is only 2.5 weeks old, but they will be part of the system soon.
The tank also has deep substrate (long story) and 60% of the surface area will NOT be able to be gravel vacuumed. This is a problem im not entirely sure how to tackle yet but having excellent sifters i believe will be a requirement.

Heres the thread talking more about the build, but for now stay here and help with fish!
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/my-first-build-vertical.542352/

Current stock-
My local stores are extremely limited so i ended up with two damsels and a moon wrasse (holy crap he has a personality!!). I plan to do softies in this tank, and would love to end up with a small trigger (bursa maybe) for a couple of years which i know really limits my causation options. I can be swayed some, but am looking for a unique solution.

The question:
I am happy keeping my fish count low and only adding two more into the system; plus something to wildly stir up my crushed coral bottom. What should those be? Heres the huge twist... this is my first tank! I am tying to learn as much as possible, and have been stalking these forums for a bit now, so please feel free to correct me wherever you see fit!!

 

[flooddc]

Cool tank but maintenance is going to be a challenge.
If you keep low light/or no light, you might be able to prevent algae from growing and thus less maintenance. Might be able to keep deep sea fish if available.

 

[Pbh-reef]

I would focus on smaller fish, almost as if this was a 20-30 gallon tank. I would also consider Using powerheads to push water up and increase oxygenation. A skimmer (perhaps a hob off your sump) can help with oxygen too.

For fish I would suggest looking into blennies like the bicolor or tailspot, perhaps a fang blenny too, royal gramma, yellow assessor, swissguard basslet possum and pink streaked wrasses, long nose or flame hawkfish, Pygmy geometric hawkfish, azure damsel or others from the same genus (what species of damsels do you have? Some get very aggressive, as well as
Large and ugly), gobies can work including clown gobies, cleaner gobies, diamond back sand sifter goby can help keep the top
Of your sand clean. Cardinal fish like the pajama and Banggai can work, fire fish can work. Perhaps a snowflake or golden moray eel could work. Maybe a leopard Toby or other very small Toby puffer could work, small filefish like the white pot or aptasia eating filefish, a mimic filefish can work. I’m not saying get all these fish, more like
Here are some options.

I would encourage you to re-home the moon wrasse, they get to be 10” long and need a much bigger tank with more horizontal swimming room. I would not encourage a trigger of any kind in this tank. If your LFS have little to no options I would suggest ordering fish online rather than getting fish you don’t want or that won’t be happy in your tank long term.

 

[Pbh-reef]

Just to add I think this tank could be really cool! I’m suggesting smaller fish that will
Interact with the vertical rock structure rather than larger, more open water fish that really need more space to swim

 

[Vahanyos]

Powerhead placement will be a challange for sure! Cool looking tank, im digging it!! I love unique tanks like this....

I'd stick with smaller fish like the previous poster mentioned... this way you can have several happy fish. Wrasses, blennys, gobys, clownfish, etc...

Following for some future update pics !

 

[GoldeneyeRet]

I've kept assessors forever and I think they would do very well with this vertical space.

 

[Bob Loblaw]

...

 

[Jesterrace]

I would focus on smaller fish, almost as if this was a 20-30 gallon tank. I would also consider Using powerheads to push water up and increase oxygenation. A skimmer (perhaps a hob off your sump) can help with oxygen too.

For fish I would suggest looking into blennies like the bicolor or tailspot, perhaps a fang blenny too, royal gramma, yellow assessor, swissguard basslet possum and pink streaked wrasses, long nose or flame hawkfish, Pygmy geometric hawkfish, azure damsel or others from the same genus (what species of damsels do you have? Some get very aggressive, as well as
Large and ugly), gobies can work including clown gobies, cleaner gobies, diamond back sand sifter goby can help keep the top
Of your sand clean. Cardinal fish like the pajama and Banggai can work, fire fish can work. Perhaps a snowflake or golden moray eel could work. Maybe a leopard Toby or other very small Toby puffer could work, small filefish like the white pot or aptasia eating filefish, a mimic filefish can work. I’m not saying get all these fish, more like
Here are some options.

I would encourage you to re-home the moon wrasse, they get to be 10” long and need a much bigger tank with more horizontal swimming room. I would not encourage a trigger of any kind in this tank. If your LFS have little to no options I would suggest ordering fish online rather than getting fish you don’t want or that won’t be happy in your tank long term.

The Moon Wrasse (aka Lunar or Lyretail Wrasse) and can be flat aggressive. I agree that I am not a fan of the whole "I'll just rehome it when it gets too big" Rarely works out well for the owner, fish or any other party involved. I would rehome it soon as it will not be happy for long without horizontal swimming room. The Trigger is definitely out for a tank of these dimensions.

For this tank, as mentioned above I would treat it like a 20-30 gallon in terms of stocking options (although you will be able to keep more fish in this tank). Here is a list of fish best suited for this tank:

A single or pair of Occ or Percula variety Clowns
Cardinalfish
Possum or Pinkstreaked Wrasse
Royal Gramma Basslet
Dartfish
All but the largest gobies
Blennies
Orchid Dottyback

Possibly a Springer's Damsel

 

[nereefpat]

The insert you made is really well done. Looks professional. Nice work.

 

[Passedyouby]

I would focus on smaller fish, almost as if this was a 20-30 gallon tank. I would also consider Using powerheads to push water up and increase oxygenation. A skimmer (perhaps a hob off your sump) can help with oxygen too.

For fish I would suggest looking into blennies like the bicolor or tailspot, perhaps a fang blenny too, royal gramma, yellow assessor, swissguard basslet possum and pink streaked wrasses, long nose or flame hawkfish, Pygmy geometric hawkfish, azure damsel or others from the same genus (what species of damsels do you have? Some get very aggressive, as well as
Large and ugly), gobies can work including clown gobies, cleaner gobies, diamond back sand sifter goby can help keep the top
Of your sand clean. Cardinal fish like the pajama and Banggai can work, fire fish can work. Perhaps a snowflake or golden moray eel could work. Maybe a leopard Toby or other very small Toby puffer could work, small filefish like the white pot or aptasia eating filefish, a mimic filefish can work. I’m not saying get all these fish, more like
Here are some options.

I would encourage you to re-home the moon wrasse, they get to be 10” long and need a much bigger tank with more horizontal swimming room. I would not encourage a trigger of any kind in this tank. If your LFS have little to no options I would suggest ordering fish online rather than getting fish you don’t want or that won’t be happy in your tank long term.

I didnt expect this, but the wrasse seems to love swimming vertical. He weaves, spins, and is finds plenty of room to move about! Check out the video i was trying to take of my sandfall where he decided to photo bomb. Do you think others that require space to swim will be just as happy?

 

[Pbh-reef]

I didnt expect this, but the wrasse seems to love swimming vertical. He weaves, spins, and is finds plenty of room to move about! Check out the video i was trying to take of my sandfall where he decided to photo bomb. Do you think others that require space to swim will be just as happy?

I really do not. What I see in the video is the wrasse using the only space available to it. As it gets larger (10 inches is its max size) it will be as long as the tank is wide and 1/2 as long as it is length of the tank. I’m sorry I know it isn’t what you want to hear and of course it is your tank and your decisions. The lunar wrasse gets big, is active and can be aggressive. It is recommended for 125 gallon. Your tank is more like a tall 20-30 gallon.

I would reconsider how you think of your tank. I think of reef tanks as fantasies. Rather than see your tank as creating the fantasy of snorkeling 5-10 feet above a reef, watching more active fish like big wrasses and tangs, think of it as a great shape and size for creating the fantasy of a sliver of reef wall, full of smaller fish that claim small territories and stay close to them, either perching on the wall or hovering/darting above and through it. I would also say not to get active swimmers longer than 5” give the length and width of the tank.

If you decide to re-home the moon wrasse see if there is a local reef club member who can take the fish.

The good news is your damsels look like a more peaceful species and should do well in the tank. I think they are springer damsels

 

[lion king]

That's the perfect seahorse tank, the biggest mistake made and most common aspect in the failure of successfully keeping seahorses; they need a deep tank.

 

[mattzang]

A good sand cleaning option would be a conch and some nassarius snails, not sure I'd get a sand sifting goby in a tank that size.

 

[Hybrid Ken]

For water movement I would say that is a perfect candidate for a Maxspec Gyre with the heads turned down if on top or up if on the bottom.

 

[Passedyouby]

For water movement I would say that is a perfect candidate for a Maxspec Gyre with the heads turned down if on top or up if on the bottom.

Hello ken! I planned on having all water movement flowing up to try and reduce debri and food from making it down to the substrate instead of suspended for the filter to grab. Is there a reason this is a bad strategy?

 

[Passedyouby]

I really do not. What I see in the video is the wrasse using the only space available to it. As it gets larger (10 inches is its max size) it will be as long as the tank is wide and 1/2 as long as it is length of the tank. I’m sorry I know it isn’t what you want to hear and of course it is your tank and your decisions. The lunar wrasse gets big, is active and can be aggressive. It is recommended for 125 gallon. Your tank is more like a tall 20-30 gallon.

I would reconsider how you think of your tank. I think of reef tanks as fantasies. Rather than see your tank as creating the fantasy of snorkeling 5-10 feet above a reef, watching more active fish like big wrasses and tangs, think of it as a great shape and size for creating the fantasy of a sliver of reef wall, full of smaller fish that claim small territories and stay close to them, either perching on the wall or hovering/darting above and through it. I would also say not to get active swimmers longer than 5” give the length and width of the tank.

If you decide to re-home the moon wrasse see if there is a local reef club member who can take the fish.

The good news is your damsels look like a more peaceful species and should do well in the tank. I think they are springer damsels

Sorry on my delay, been traveling for 5 days.

I love the idea of turinng this into a "slice" of a reef! The wrasse was a poor choice, i agree. He was a impulse (not how i usually role) and isnt right for this tank. Heres my issue. I am really worried about giving him back to anyone, because i realized on day two that hes missing an eye. Im worried a store wont be able to seel him and not many others would interested either... i hate the idea of sending him somewhere just to be flushed or used as food for another fish.. kinda feel stuck with an awesome dude that i love, but isnt in the correct environment long term

 

[Passedyouby]

The Moon Wrasse (aka Lunar or Lyretail Wrasse) and can be flat aggressive. I agree that I am not a fan of the whole "I'll just rehome it when it gets too big" Rarely works out well for the owner, fish or any other party involved. I would rehome it soon as it will not be happy for long without horizontal swimming room. The Trigger is definitely out for a tank of these dimensions.

For this tank, as mentioned above I would treat it like a 20-30 gallon in terms of stocking options (although you will be able to keep more fish in this tank). Here is a list of fish best suited for this tank:

A single or pair of Occ or Percula variety Clowns
Cardinalfish
Possum or Pinkstreaked Wrasse
Royal Gramma Basslet
Dartfish
All but the largest gobies
Blennies
Orchid Dottyback

Possibly a Springer's Damsel

Thank you for the suggestions and sorry for my delay. I agree with the "rehoming" of the wrasse strategy. See the previous post above for my dilemma.

I do like your ideas for what to stock. These all seem to have a more docile temperament. Would you recommend to add them in larger groups at a time or as onsie twosies? Because of the need to claim territory i like the idea of adding multiples at a time, but worry about the increased bio load etc. Suggestions from previous experience?

 

[Jesterrace]

Generally I would add about 2 at a time (this helps diffuse aggression for the fish that are early additions) and won't freak out your bioload and you can do it every 1-2 weeks. I recommend stocking in order from least aggressive to most aggressive:

From that list hypothetically speaking I would go in the following order:

Dartfish
Possum or Pink Streaked Wrasse
Gobies
Blennies
Cardinalfish
Royal Gramma Basslet

The last 3 would be in any order:

Occ or Percula Clown (or Clowns if you want a pair, but no more than 1 pair)
Orchid Dottyback
Springer's Damsel

Once again, I am not saying add all these fish, I would just go in something similar to the aforementioned order, any of the last 3 would definitely be the last additions to the tank though.

 

[Hybrid Ken]

Hello ken! I planned on having all water movement flowing up to try and reduce debri and food from making it down to the substrate instead of suspended for the filter to grab. Is there a reason this is a bad strategy?

That's why I said "or up if on the bottom"

 

[Pbh-reef]

Sorry on my delay, been traveling for 5 days.

I love the idea of turinng this into a "slice" of a reef! The wrasse was a poor choice, i agree. He was a impulse (not how i usually role) and isnt right for this tank. Heres my issue. I am really worried about giving him back to anyone, because i realized on day two that hes missing an eye. Im worried a store wont be able to seel him and not many others would interested either... i hate the idea of sending him somewhere just to be flushed or used as food for another fish.. kinda feel stuck with an awesome dude that i love, but isnt in the correct environment long term

That is tough. Where do you live? Have you checked to see if a local reef club exists? They may even have a local forum online that can connect you to other people who can help with the wrasse