Newbie stocking question for 55g FOWLR

Hi all,
I'm a newbie here and to SW in general.
I'm setting up a FOWLR 55 gallon tank. I have two bags of live sand, plus 40lbs of live rock in there so far. It's cycling right now, with a piece of raw shrimp.
Once the cycling is completed I want to start adding a clean-up crew and fish at the appropriate times. In the meantime I'm doing a ton of reading and online research.
I'm a planner, so I'd like to go ahead and plan out the stocking.

So, as far as a clean-up crew, what should I get?
And when should I put it in? Do I add it all at once, or break it out into a few batches?
Are there any other invertebrates that I should consider getting?

I have two over-the-back filters, plus a Coralife Super Skimmer protein skimmer. Do I need to get more filters? If I do, will that allow me to safely keep more fish?

I've been researching fish, and I like the following fish, although I KNOW I can't have all of these, so please don't flame me. These are fish that appeal to me, I don't intend on having them all in there, but I need help prioritizing them. I have no idea if some of these won't get along with others, or some require different paramaters than the others, etc.
Also, what order should I add them? And how frequently should I add them? One fish every couple of weeks? Or can I add one fish a week? Or even a few at a time?
Finally, just because I like these fish, doesn't mean I'm familar with all the fish available out there. If you have a suggestion that would go better than these, please speak up.

Here's my current list:
-coral beauty angelfish x1
-blue/green reef chromis x3
-court jester goby x1
-purple firefish x1
-kaudern's cardinal x1
-ocellaris clownfish x2 (pair)
-six line wrasse x1
-spotted cardinalfish x3
-yellow watchman goby x1

Because I'm new to SW, I'm trying to get fish that are fairly hardy and easy to keep. I'd also like a peaceful tank, so I tried to choose fish which are peaceful. I really like the clown fish, and the anglefish, those are probably my favorite in this list, but I'm not set on anything right now.

Finally, I have young children (18 month old triplets), which is my main reason for setting up the tank. I'd like fish that are fairly easy to see, brightly colored, and fun to watch. I don't mind if the fish are "common" and uninteresting to people who really know SW. I just want a pretty tank that's eye-catching, relatively easy to maintain, and fun to watch.

Thanks so much!

Margie

 

Wow.....triplets

Well I would imagine that children that young like to see movement. Cardinalfish didn't get the nickname hover fish for no reason. They barely move at all....they just hover.

It is best to slowly add more clean up crew as your bioload increases. However, because many people buy a lot of these online, that isn't alway practical. As a result, buying it in 2 or 3 batches works. A number of 3Reef sponsors have been given rave reviews for their cleaning critters so make sure you check those out.

Just remember, there's 3 different places where you are going to want cleaning and pick your janitors appropriately.....your glass, your rocks, and your sand


Astraea snails....glass and rock
Turbo snails.....glass and rock
Nerite snails.....glass and sand
Cerith snails....glass and sand (but only where sand meets the glass)
Nassarius snails....sand (make sure they are really Nassarius and not mud whelks)
Fighting Conch.....sand (note that a fighting conch and a queen conch are very different)
Tiger Tail Cucumber.....sand
Dwarf blue legged hermit crab.....sand and rock

Note that in a brand new tank, there's not going to be a lot of food for the detrivores to eat so go sparingly with them at first.

 

as far as your fish go, it looks like a pretty good list. I have right now 3 chromis, a yellow watchman, one clown, a six line wrasse and a yellow tail damsel. I've read that some people have had trouble keeping cardinal fish initially, but im no expert. If you get a yellow watchman, make sure to have a lid, my first one jumped out of quarantine tank and died. The sixline is a great fish, i love mine, my favorite. Coral beauty is another great choice, i am thinking about getting one down the road. If you get one, it should be the last fish added, and should only be added to an established tank, id wait at least 6 months because it likes to forage among the lr. On a side note, you may want to get some good lights too, because you may say that you don't want to keep corals, but you probably wont stop there, i didn't. I went from wanting only a FOWLR to a reef.

 

Thanks for the feedback so far. That sounds great.
So, are you thinking that I may actually be able to do all those fish in my tank?
I was thinking it would be too many for the size & bioload, but I don't really know much.

As far as lights, I've been looking around.
Does this unit look like a good unit?
AQUARIUM LIGHT 48" REEF ODYSSEA 260WT POWER COMPACT LED - eBay (item 270265469279 end time Aug-24-08 06:00:22 PDT)

Thanks again,
Margie

 

what size coralife skimmer do you have?? is it the 125??? If that's the one you have, I think your load will be fine. I really like that list because IME you have chosen creatures that won't step on eachother's fins and are small.

 

IMO I would go with the T5 light frixture.

 

I am a newbie but I have been doing a lot of research on lights and you might want to look into the lights you are choosing. I know they are cheap but I also have two kids and when they talk about the things catching on fire or burning up it turns me the other way. I never have had them but just wanted to let you know because I looked at them and I can't take that risk.

 

The only stories i have heard of too much heat or fire is with metal halides. T5s and other flourescents are fairly cool, particularly with a cooling fan.

 

That problem was with their Metal Halides not the PC or T5'S and it was fixed LONG ago. I currently am using 2 of their T5's, a 36" and 48" and except for the bulbs being marginal I love them, 1/2 to a 1/3 of the cost of any others and they work great. I bought both of mine from www.aquatraders.com who were offering free shipping on all their lights and they were cheaper than that guy!

And I would also recommend that you go with the T5's instead of the PC.

 

Does he need that much light for a FOWLR? But it's always nice to have good lights just in case you'll want to add coral.