Fish advice please!!

[duds]

Hey

So I'm almost at the stocking phase for my 40 breeder. It will be a mixed reef with about 80 pounds of live rock and close to the same as live sand.

I've been looking at fish and what I really want are these: two ocellaris clowns kole tang and dispar anthias maybe 2... And then corals and some shrimp hermits and snails for clean up crew.

Lmk if those are possible I know they recommend slightly bigger tanks but will I really be prohibiting them that much if in my 40? Don't wanna make them unhappy.

Thanks
Stephen

Ps if not those then what other cool fish can I keep besides regular gobies and blennies???

 

[D5HP]

I don't think I'd put the kole tang OR the anthias in that tank.

The tang will not be comfortable by any stretch as a 3' tank just isn't going to cut it. You could get away with a single anthias but they dynamic between two may not work out.

What about a royal gramma or some firefish?

 

[duds]

Yea didn't think I could get the tang that's one of my favorite fish :'( haha. But alright maybe I'll get one anthia. But what else is there I don't like firefish as I've had bad luck with them jumping out of the one tiny little gap that I thought was impossible and died and gramas I never liked don't like there pattern.

What about wrasses what wrasse can I get for a 40?

 

[MrTuskfish]

Yea didn't think I could get the tang that's one of my favorite fish :'( haha. But alright maybe I'll get one anthia. But what else is there I don't like firefish as I've had bad luck with them jumping out of the one tiny little gap that I thought was impossible and died and gramas I never liked don't like there pattern.

What about wrasses what wrasse can I get for a 40?

LA suggests a 70 gal minimum for a Dispar. I'd never think of keeping any Anthias or tank in a tank that size. 80# each LR & substrate? That only leaves about 27 gal of water in the main tank, and not much swimming room, especially for active swimmers, like Anthias. (info from this neat little calculator: http://reef.diesyst.com/volcalc/volcalc.html)

 

[duds]

Well la also says if only single they can be kept in 25 gallons but. Prolly happy with more of the species and swimming room so straying away from those as well.

Next fish on the agenda here is a list of fish I would like not all of course as that's too many just would like to know if there are any on the list that would not do so well in my tank which will be a mixed reef.

Two ocellaris clown fish
4 chalk bass
2 purple firefish
Purple dottyback
2 red tail flasher wrasse
Orange spotted goby
Coral beauty or flame angel fish


Please let me know if any are a bad match. I know the angels are hit and miss I am indecided about them just like the look.

Thanks
Stephen

 

[Monkeyfish]

Purple dottybacks can be aggressive and may not mix well with some of the more passive fish on your list.

A 40g breeder is pushing it for those dwarf angels. Maybe consider a "cherub" instead?

Chalk Bass can get to be about 3 inches long so I don't think you could add other fish if you purchased 4 of them along with the 2 clowns.

 

[D5HP]

Chalk Bass can get to be about 3 inches long so I don't think you could add other fish if you purchased 4 of them along with the 2 clowns.

+1

I think you should search some of the other successful 40B threads that have kept fish for 4-6 months. I can't see you keeping that many fish for very long in such a small tank.

My $.02! :spin2:

 

[duds]

My old 29 I had 5 fish at one point fully stocked with rock and sand more so than what will be in here and way too many corals haha and they were fine swimming everywhere happy not a fish death once I got the right fish I wanted.

Like I said I'm not getting that whole list just selecting a few off the list I just wanted to know if any of those would be problematic with anything I plan on keeping or other fish on that list.

Ok so maybe not the dottyback then I don't want any fighting as this will be in my 2 month old daughters room.

 

[username in use]

I think your going to have way to much rock and sand. With that much space used up with rock and and, I wouldn't put much more than the two clowns in there.

 

[duds]

That's not exactly how much I'm going with I havent got the rock yet and as of now I have 60# of live sand. I am going with the 2# per gallon that people recommend for ls and lr.

But I'll prolly end up getting 4-5 fish max. One other question what is the recommended rate of flow per gallon?

 

[reeferdeefer]

You can get the clowns, a small tang, and one or two other small fish.
Lots of people do it; not just noobs.

The catch is that in a year or so, you'll have to upgrade or give the tang away to a bigger home.

Upgrade is better. hahahahahaaaa

 

[MrTuskfish]

You can get the clowns, a small tang, and one or two other small fish.
Lots of people do it; not just noobs.

The catch is that in a year or so, you'll have to upgrade or give the tang away to a bigger home.

Upgrade is better. hahahahahaaaa

A good example of why our hobby has such a high turnover rate.

 

[OceanDweller]

+1, its better to think long term. Who wants to get a fish they will just have to trade. That said, I suppose if you found a 1" or so tang and wanted to keep it a couple of years until it grew and had a friend with something over say, 120 gallons that had space then by all means. That said, why overstock? I mean even push it to the max? I know tanks look pretty with fish swimming by etc. but think of the extra maintenance you'll likely have to do not to mention possible crashes/added filtration. At one point it makes more sense to upgrade in size if you really want a tang, your full stocking list "like a 75, or 90 and running your 40 breeder as the sump".

 

[Monkeyfish]

That's not exactly how much I'm going with I havent got the rock yet and as of now I have 60# of live sand. I am going with the 2# per gallon that people recommend for ls and lr.

The 2# per gallon thing is nonsense. When you have a sand-bed you either want a shallow coating of an inch or less or 4 inches or more. Otherwise you lose the benefits of a deep sand bed and gain a detritus trap producing noxious gasses.

Since rock varies in density, going soley by weight weight isn't the best method of calculating how much you need. 100 lbs of Fiji is NOT equal to a 100 lbs of Tonga branch in "filtering capacity.". Leave the fish room to swim and buy rock that's more porous.

 

[duds]

Alright cool thanks for the help all of my questions have been answered. Appreciate it!!!

 

[slosht]

Chalk Bass are jumpers too. What about a pair of captive bred banggai cardinals?

 

[aquafresh]

hi everyone, this is my first posting on reef central. i have a problem with my tank. i had two domino damsels that were doing fine but i gave them away because i wanted to get some false clown fish. after a week i found that my two clown fish were dieing and soon after that they did die. i also bought a shrimp and it only lasted me two weeks. i know my water are good because i check it myself and i also took a water sample to my lfs. i acclimated my fish and peppermint shrimp for an hour. when i had them i was dosing Kent Marine A&B, could that maybe have an effect on the fish and shrimp. also my water top off i use regular drinking water not from my house sink. plz help also my tank is a 10 gallon tank