Converting to SW

[gedreosan]

I've got a 55g that currently is housing 10 African cichlids and a bristlenose cat that I want to switch over to salt. The only thing stopping me from doing it right this moment is finding a new home for those fish. Anyway, I want ed to check on some fish I was thinking of ending up wit, not necessarily right from the get go. I was looking at firefish, hi fin red banded gobby, green chromis, spotted cardinalfish, flame hawkfish and a bit later if I feel I can a green mandarin. Any input on this combination? If one had to be dropped I'd prefer to drop the hawk.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

That would be a good combination... all little passive fish. I know that hawks like to eat little inverts (snails, hermits). You might be able to get away with a mandarin also because I don't think any of those other fish are real browsers. You'd want to have a lot of live rock since I believe they're best in a 75g+ (but with enough rock, it would be the same thing).

 

[TRe]

firefish ... a good choice just becareful they are jumpers
hi fin red banded goby... great choice you may want to get him a pistol shrimp to pair up with
green chromis.... im not a big fan but they like to school up wich is cool (kinda like the poor man's anthia )
spotted cardinalfish.... i prefer the bangai cardinal but what ever
flame hawkfish..... ther ok but you do have to moniter them around shrimp and stuff so i would pass
green mandarin.... some people have success with these i on the other hand havnt been able to keep one of these longer than 6 months and ive tried a few times

 

[KahluaZzZ]

altough it's not clear that flame hawkfish are jumpers...mine jumped and dried on the floor!
for the firefish...if you put some coral rubbles..he might not jump...safe haven

 

[Lorna]

Yes I agree all are good choices, I am with Tre in that I like the bangaii's better than the pj cardinals. Also, I would pass on the mandarin as I am not sure that without a good sized refugium you would have enough of a pod population to sustain a mandarin long term unless it was a proven eater of mysis etc and there is no guarantee of that. I would definitely go with a pistol shrimp for the gobie and think about a citron gobie rather than the hawk if you plan on keeping snails & hermits.....just a thought, another thought would be a small fairy/flasher wrasse as they are great swimmers out in the open and peaceful for the most part.

 

[gedreosan]

Thanks for all the advice. If I did get the mandarin it wouldn't be for awhile, and who knows what might happen between now and then. The hawk's out since I'd like some snails and hermit crabs. Also, with the pistol shrimp, I was thinking of getting a fire shrimp, any conflict either with each other or the size of the tank?

I found a lfs who said they can take the cichlids as donations. But they'll stay with me until I can get hold of what I need to change the tank over.