40G Breeder Stocking help, please

[hillehaus]

Hi there,
I've got a 40G Breeder that has been set up for about 1.5 years. The total volume on the tank is 60g, including the sump.

The tank is currently stocked with:
2 ocellaris clownfish
1 valentini puffer
2 Small Montipora
2 hammer coral
1 frogspawn
mushrooms
many, many zoanthids/palythoa

Is there any room to add in 1, 2 at most smaller fish for a splash of color, or should i leave well enough alone? If there is room, i'd love to hear some suggestions. Thank you!

 

[vhuang168]

A flasher or fairy wrasse will add movement and color.


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[fishbox]

I thought puffers were not good for this small of a tank. Asking for my own knowledge

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[hillehaus]

Valentini Puffers are much smaller than most other saltwater puffers. Here are the live aquaria stats:


Minimum Tank Size: 30 gallons
Care Level: Moderate
Temperament: Peaceful
Reef Compatible: With Caution
Water Conditions: 72-78° F, dKH 8-12, pH 8.1-8.4, sg 1.020-1.025
Max. Size: 4"
Color Form: Black, Blue, Orange, Tan, Yellow
Diet: Omnivore
Compatibility: View Chart
Origin: Hawaii, Indonesia, Sumatra
Family: Tetraodontidae

 

[ratherbeflyen]

You can keep more than 3 fish in a 40 gallon tank. As long as your filtration or water change schedule keeps up with the increased bio load. It's hit or miss if new fish will get along with the old fish.

 

[fishbox]

Valentini Puffers are much smaller than most other saltwater puffers. Here are the live aquaria stats:


Minimum Tank Size: 30 gallons
Care Level: Moderate
Temperament: Peaceful
Reef Compatible: With Caution
Water Conditions: 72-78° F, dKH 8-12, pH 8.1-8.4, sg 1.020-1.025
Max. Size: 4"
Color Form: Black, Blue, Orange, Tan, Yellow
Diet: Omnivore
Compatibility: View Chart
Origin: Hawaii, Indonesia, Sumatra
Family: Tetraodontidae

Ohh sweet! I'll have to research them. I wonder what they mean by Reef Safe / With Caution.

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[scooter31707]

I would like some of the Flasher/Fairy Wrasses and some of the smaller Blennies.

 

[NAClFiSHy]

Wrasses are really cool.

 

[marleesan]

Id recommend a cherub angel a wrasse and a blenny

 

[hillehaus]

Thanks for all of the suggestions.

How does this sound:
1 Valentini
2 Ocellaris Clowns
1 Firefish
1 Bicolored Dottyback
1 6-lined wrass

 

[HuskerBioProf]

I have heard bad things about the nastiness of 6-lined wrasses. I opted for a longfin fairy wrasse instead. He is very peaceful, very colorful, and very active.

 

[heathlindner25]

Ohh sweet! I'll have to research them. I wonder what they mean by Reef Safe / With Caution.

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They will eat your cuc.

 

[marleesan]

The bicolored dottyback will bully the other fish

 

[Dkuhlmann]

Most dottybacks are very aggressive as are 6 lined wrasses, I would scratch both from your list. This is my opinion on them.

FYI a 40 breeder is not 40 gals, it's 47.5 gallons. If you use the formula for volume it comes to 47.5 gal. Dimensions of a 40b are 36"x18"x17" I do love my 40b.

Also to let you know what you can do in regards to # of fish here is what's in my 40b

Cherub Angel
Pair of Mocha Ocellaris clowns
Royal Gramma
Yellow Candy Hog Fish
McCosker's wrasse
Matted File Fish
Midas Blenny

I'm probably going to add some sort of bottom dweller just haven't decided on one yet. It's important to have a good skimmer as well as plenty of rock to house bacteria that consumes the ammonia that fish produce. I also have Chaeto in my sump, with lights running 24/7.

What you want to eliminate are high nitrates and having your tank setup to export those nitrates is key. Tanks with minimal rock can't eliminate waste because there isn't enough places for the bacteria. I"ve got about 40 or more lbs of LR in my DT and another 40lbs or so in my sump.

I normally do 20% wc's every two weeks or so just depends on my nitrate levels.

Sorry for the long post but it sounds to me like you want to have several more fish and yes you can but can't get crazy with it. LOL many think I'm crazy and severely overstocked but I don't think so and like I said there will be another fish in my future that is a bottom dweller since I don't have one.

 

[vhuang168]

. FYI a 40 breeder is not 40 gals, it's 47.5 gallons. If you use the formula for volume it comes to 47.5 gal. Dimensions of a 40b are 36"x18"x17" I do love my 40b.

If you really want to be precise, it is 44.4g when you subtract the glass thickness!




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[hillehaus]

I've got about 60lb. of rock between the sump and the display.

I'm trying to take my fish count up to around 5, with nothing getting larger than 3". I'm definately looking for a peaceful reef (well minus the CuC predation by the Valentini).

So the six line wrasse and bicolor dottyback are out. As nice as they look, i don't want the clowns or the Valentini bullied, as they have been there over a year now.

I like the cherub angels but, i'm concerned about my coral.

The altered list is as follows:
1 valentini
2 ocellaris clowns
royal gramma
Cherub Angel of flasher wrasse

 

[Dkuhlmann]

The Cherub is said to be one of the safest angels with corals. Mine would nip slightly when I first got him and he demolished Pocillipora's for some strange reason. But now he doesn't touch anything.

Why not a Royal Gramma?

 

[JC Slater]

I had a 6 line in a bio cube 29 along with a small valentini puffer. The 6 line had been in there for a while before the puffer went in though. Anyways, it was a great fish and friendly toward my 2 clowns the the few fish that came and went and was pals with the puffer after about a week or so. So this puffer, what an awesome fish, eats the small cerith snails (?) and loves to go after the larger nassarious snails and pecks at them. Thought he was eating them to but one night I counted just about all the snails I thought he ate. Lol. By the way, he decimated a nice assuie acan and nipped at the acro colonies before I killed them, lol. He picks at the large monti cap but doesn't do any damage. He leaves all my other corals and zoas alone. Any colorful frags I put in, especially sps, he likes to nibble at and try out. Most of the time, he just checks them out and moves one. So yeah, reef safe with caution. Lol. Such a cool fish to watch, I'd recommend one. Anyways I'm a noob but had salt tanks 20 years ago when I was a kid, so just my observations