Help my fish be happy

Question
QUESTION:  I might have sent the beginning of this to you already, I might have not so I will shorten it down.  We had a 24 gallon aqua pod for two years.  We did not do very well.  we wanted a reef tank but we killed everything we added to it besides the original cast...(it really broke my heart every time).  I think it had a lot to do with misguidance by the fish store employees, my pure ignorance, and just getting too excited about adding new and interesting critters....anyway, Last week we found out the tank was leaking..(probably for a while since there was a good amount of mold under the stand on the carpet), so after thinking long and hard we decided to go for it instead of give up the hobby for good.  We got a 55 gallon "Clear for Life" tank. We would like to make it a fish only since we had such a bad run with the coral. We still have the main cast from the beginning...Two tube anemones one pink and one white, both good size, they can get about ten inches around and high, a percula clown about two inches now, a pajama fish a bit over an inch, a fire fish a little under two inches,a few polyp rocks, and a pretty ornate snail. We also have a bunch of hitch hikers...tons of spaghetti worms, Bristol worms and lots of aptaisia,(ahhhhh).
   So my question to you is what would you suggest I get as fish?  We wanted to get a yellow tang, blue tang, porcupine puffer and a flame hawk.  I know to wait a few weeks to let the water cycle...we used EVERYTHING from the old tank so we could keep as much bacteria as possible, we also put in some liquid bacteria that was suppose to help newly established tanks...three days ago I put in 50 pounds of live rock along with the 20 I already had in the old one...probably around 30 pounds of live sand, (one new bag and the old sand)...I checked the PH, ammonia, nitrate,and nitrite levels and they are right on the lines of an establishing tank, the salinity is right on the nose...and all my critters seem to be doing well.  sooo...what fish do ya think would do well in here, and which ones would you suggest I add first or together or not at all.
  I have learned a lot since first starting, and one of the main lessons is to ask advice, and not from the fish stores because they have always steered me wrong just to make a buck. I am also going to make it a ritual to check my water quality weekly, that is something I didn't do on a regular basis and am sure lead to some of the downfall. I really do not want to make the same mistakes with this tank...all my freshwater fish are happy and have been for a long time....I just want my saltwater babies to have the same fate. Any help and advice will be appreciated and used.        Thanks, Leah

ANSWER: i hate to say it but i fear your reserch is still not enough, there is no way any tang should be kept in a tank smaller than 150gals. they need alot of free swimming space and they are very prone to whitespot when specific conditions arent met.....they are prone to whitespot what ever the case really.

not all fish shops are in it for a few quid, if you go in well clued up they will know they can't pull the wool over your eyes. if the advice still doesn't improve then you can assume they are ignorant themselves.

the first fish i would add is a mate for your clown fish, then do some serious reserch on anything else you would like to add (paying particular attention to minimum tank volume) i always bear in mind, when choosing stock, that its all wild caught, straight from the sea and if i'm unsure if i can look after it as best as natural can be it will stay in the shop.

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QUESTION: thank you for such a quick response.  glad you told me about the tangs...the fish store told me they would be ok...(see why I don't trust them).  I am doing a bunch more research on fish compatibility and tank minimums...guess I just needed someone to kick me in the butt to do it...he he.  So in regards to getting a mate for my clown, doing some research I am pretty sure it is a false percula since they told me it was tank breed.  it is orange and white, my question would be if I could get a black and white one or stay with the same coloration, also what size should the new one be?  Since a lot of the fish we were looking to add need more space do you think going in the direction of blennys, gobies and basslets would be a better choice?  we would like it to be colorful and fun to watch.  thank you

Answer
apologies for taking my time to reply, i have been away with work.

gobies blennies and some wrasses will be fine in your tank, wrasses are possibly some of the most beautifull fish in the ocean and most are pretty well suited to aquarium life. i have kept wrasses for some time myself (personal favourite is the splendid leapoard wrasse) some wrasses are incompatable with each other so, again, reserch is the key. some also grow incredibly large.

also some blennies and gobies are incompatible as they compete for the same food source, mainly sand sifters (a type to steer clear from) sand sifter tend not to do well in relativly new aquariums as they rely on food being in the sand bed.

basslets are also a strange breed, some are fine but others, namely any pseudochromis genus, are vicious. damsels are another fish to stay away from (a favourite of fish shops to sell newbies) they will most likely kill anything else you try and add to your tank.

husbandry is a bit of a black hole but as you go along you will get to know whats what in the fish world