Hi.

In my 55 gal tank, I have about 50 lbs of live rock, about 2 inches thick of crushed coral on the bottom, a Fluval FX5 filtration system and barrell heater that I'm really considering not using this summer. I think my Coralife 48" lights are keeping the tank tempurature at 80 degrees on its own since my barrell heater is set at 72 degrees. I only keep the lights running about 8 hours and the house temp is at 78 degrees, I think I need a cooler, not a heater

Anyway, we have a couple very small hermit crabs, a pair of true percula, a yellow bellied African Blue tang, a royal gamma, and a shadow fin shark catfish.

I would love to be able to add some soft coral at some point, possibly some kind of anemone, but not until I see some coral polyps start growning on my live rock again (I lost it all last year when I couldn't care for it on my own due to a surgery and long recovery on a reconstructed tendon and ligaments on my ankle).

But, I would also like to add just one more fish or maybe a shrimp at some point too. I'm just too undecided as to what. Something hardy, that's for sure. My two little girls couldn't handle seeing dead fish again. Last year was kind of tragic for them because they had named all the fish and became attachec to them.

So, what do you think? What do you think is hardy, entertaining, and won't eat anything that is already in there?

Thank you in advance for all of you 2 cents.

Welcome back... I would hold off on adding anymore fish for now. Between the tang and the catfish they will get pretty big in a 55gal. tank. You can always add some invertebrates. Just watch what you add make sure it's reef safe and read up on it's habits. Cleaner shrimp are fun to watch as they pick at fish pulling at parasites. Coral band shrimp are reef safe you just have to watch them with smaller shrimp. And don't forget snails to help with algae control. I hope this helps. Just one more thing watch your water levels because crushed coral can trap nitrates.

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Your kids would probably like to watch the sexy shrimp dance. They stay small and are reef safe. If you're looking for another fish, any reef safe wrasse would work. They rarely get ick and are a very hardy fish. I have 2 myself and they are great. Sleep under the crush coral at night and swim around during the day. There's plenty to choose from just don't get an "expert only" one...they can be a pain to feed.

Wrasse Fish for Sale: Cleaner Wrasse and other Reef Safe Wrasse Species

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180 Gallon Reef tank

60 Gallon frag tank

Thank you all. We have been through a few shrimp in the past, and they have all led to some heartbreak. Our banded shrimp was doing great, shedding monthly for sometime. Then one night, he got all tangled in himself as he was shedding and never could undo himself. It was really sad when we saw him on the bottom the next morning. At first I thought it was just his molt, but it didn't take long to discover it was him.

We switched to a skunk shrimp the last time, but he suffered the same fate as a couple other banded shrimp we had. They got sucked into one of the power-heads.

Does anyone have any ideas what I could use the put over the power-heads to allow them to operate but avoid the disasters we have suffered?

We did really enjoy watching the skunk shrimp clean the fish every night. It was amazing to watch the fish stay in place while it worked.

What type of power heads? And there are a lot of crabs to look at as well.

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