stocking list questions

[DewDropPony]

I have a 55gal tank. Here's what I'm thinking about keeping in it. I have nothing right now.

1 Fuzzy Dwarf Lionfish
1 Coral Beauty
1 Lawnmower Blenny
2 Tomato Clowns

I was wondering if I could subsitute the lawnmower blenny for a butterfly blenny
and the fuzzy dwarf lion for a zebra dwarf lion?

Or could I subsitute the tomato clowns for a different type of clown, maybe amphiprion frenatus or something else?

Or could I not get the two clown and get a second zebra lion in its place?

[SharkTreats]

You shouldn't put two lions in a tank that small, too much poop and they may fight...I love my fuzzy dwarf and hear they are more hardy than the dwarf zebras.

[Geoff]

both of those blennies you have listed can be difficult to keep long term. if you want a blenny i would suggest a bi-colour blenny.

as long as you stay with the small dwarf lions you should be fine. you need to double check the full size of these lions. the other fish you are wanting to put in this tank also, are not the biggest fish, so th lion will need to stay smaller than the smallest fish to keep the lion from eating them.

G~

[DewDropPony]

I've been getting lots of conflicting advice about what I can keep with what. I asked for people's opinions at tropical resources and one of the moderator or mentors gave me this list base off the fact that I can to have a lionfish. I like the way the coral beauty looks. The other fish or ok. I wanted to keep clowns but not the ones that look like that. Personally, I'd be happy with just a tank of three lions (all darf, all the same type, or all different types of dwarfs). Some people have told me that the dwarf lions like to be kept in small groups (I've also read these at a couple different websites) while other people tell me that lions don't get along and should only be kept one per tank.

[Geoff]

you can prolly get a way with a couple or three dwarf lions in that tank. they do not move much and as long as they are all of equal size it should not be a problem. make sure you have a massive skimmer on the system to handle thier bioload, but that would be my biggest concern.

just about any Centropyge angel should work. the biggest problem with these guys and the smaller lions (i am assuming you know that a larger lion would much a C. angel if it were small enough) is that C. angels have a tendancy to pick at things they may pick at the resting lions and annoy the daylights out of them.

G~

[PhilOlsen]

That is way to much for a 55, the std rule of tumb is 1' of fish per 5 gal of water and it is measured at fully matured size for the fish you add. even though the lion is not a open water swimmer it needs a larger terriitory than what would be available in a 55, and 2 tomato clowns (which can get to 6" each) are very apt to fighting. By the time you add rock, substrate etc. you can reduce the actual amount of water to as low as 40-45 gal so you really should not have more than 8"-9" of combined fish length.