planning on getting a 40 gallon tank, need ideas/help with a stocking list!

[meganallison88]

Hello! I'm semi new to saltwater tanks, I kept a 55 for a while and I didn't have very good luck with it, it ended up spraying salt all over and ruining the walls etc. so I am now looking at a tank that is all inclosed!

so I am wanting a 40 gallon.. but I need help with stocking ideas! I haven't gotten the tank yet but I am just excited and doing lots of research so that I am prepared this time!
I have been looking at fish on live aquaria, and these are the fish that I like the looks of and from what I've read would be okay in a 40g.
(also I want to do a reef tank)


- 2 Snowflake clowns
- Purple firefish
-Harptail blenny or tailspot blenny
-Sleeper goldhead goby
-Catalina goby
-Orange stripe prawn goby
-Black cap basslet
-Blue reef chromis
-Splendid dottyback
-Bicolour dottyback
-Mandarin goby
-Hi fin red banded goby
-Yasha white ray shrimp goby
-6 Line wrasse
-Cleaner wrasse
-Bangaii cardinal
-Yellow stripe clingfish

and out of those this is my stocking list..

-2 snowflake clownfish
- 1 purple firefish
-1 orange stripe prawn goby
-1 black cap basslet
-1 catalina goby
-1 dwarf angel (flame, eibli, lemonpeel, coral beauty, multicolour)

now I'm not sure if this is overstocking, and if so what would you take out? I really would like an angel in there but I'm not sure which type would be best suited for my tank.
I would like to also possibly have a coral banded shrimp, starfish, anemone, and maybe a sea urchin
as for which corals I should have? I have NO idea!! something really beginner friendly!

Thanks in advance! really hoping to get some answers on this forum as I've had no luck anywhere else!

 

[thegrun]

I would try to keep your list at 5 fish or less. Of your final list the two which I would say are no goes are the Catalina Goby (they are cool water fish that do not last long inn out tropical aquariums) and the Dwarf Angel (all of them need at least a 70 gallon tank or they get very aggressive).

 

[WaReefer458]

Remove the sleeper goby, mandarin and dottyback a from the list and pick 5-6 from the rest. Dottybacks are super aggressive and the sleeper goby/ mandarin will starve to death in a tank that small. I had a sunrise dottyback that terrorized everything in my 75, even the tangs, and I starved a sleeper goby until near death until a friend that had a 1300g tank took him. He lived a fat and long life in that tank. They need a ton to sift to be healthy

 

[Shawn O]

Were it me, I'd go with:

- 2 Snowflake clowns
- 1 Purple firefish
-1 Yasha white ray shrimp goby & Randall's pistol shrimp pair
-1 Bangaii cardinal

 

[meganallison88]

I did not realize the catalina goby was a coldwater fish, that might be important lol! I knew the manadarin was hard to feed but I wasn't sure just how hard! scratch them!
I really like the black cap basslet.. is that one okay?
also are the yasha white ray shrimp goby hard to find? and does the orange stripe goby pair with shrimp aswell?

 

[meganallison88]

hows this for a list?
-2 snowflake clownfish
-1 purple firefish
-1 orange stripe prawn goby& shrimp pair
-1 black cap basslet
-1 white banded possum wrasse

 

[thegrun]

hows this for a list?
-2 snowflake clownfish
-1 purple firefish
-1 orange stripe prawn goby& shrimp pair
-1 black cap basslet
-1 white banded possum wrasse

That should work. It's a fairly heavy bio-load so you are going to need to stay on top of your water changes.

 

[meganallison88]

how often should I do water changes? and when I start adding fish how many should I add at a time? if I added a sea urchin and a starfish, would I have to take off some of my fish on the list?

 

[thegrun]

I would consider either the Urchin or the Starfish part of the clean up crew and not worry about them contributing to your bio-load. That said I would not add a starfish to your aquarium unless you are referring to a Brittle Star which would be appropriate.

 

[A.Astore]

Urchins are great additions to a tank. We have a pincushion urchin that likes to accessorize with shells, hermit crabs, and even attempted a frag at one point so always fun to see what he has decided to decorate with. My only suggestion with the urchin is to make sure you think long term because some of them can get rather large. Just make sure you considering how big they can get when picking one.

I agree about the star fish. They can be difficult to keep and many will bury in the sand to die with you none the wiser until your parameters start going crazy.

 

[meganallison88]

ive always wanted an urchin! I will have to look into the pincushion urchin that sounds hilarious!! I wasn't sure about the star fish, I had one in my first tank and he died.. so I will have to think on that! would a pincushion fit in my tank? or too big?

 

[meganallison88]

I would consider either the Urchin or the Starfish part of the clean up crew and not worry about them contributing to your bio-load. That said I would not add a starfish to your aquarium unless you are referring to a Brittle Star which would be appropriate.

so for a clean up crew, would that just be hermit crabs and snails? or what else can you add?

 

[A.Astore]

Pretty sure the urchin would be okay in your tank (and it is considered part of the CUC!). I would definitely supplement feed it when needed. You will just have to keep an eye on him like you would any other thing in the tank.

I know in our tank the Astraea nails seem to carry the heaviest load in terms of keeping things cleaned up on the rocks. I would definitely suggest them. The cerinths do a good job, it just seems like the Astraea are monsters on the rocks.

When you are adding them make sure you keep in mind what you currently have in the tank for them to eat. I read so many people that take and throw a crazy number of snails and hermits in the tank for the first wave of algae but then once that is gone there is nothing for them to eat so they start dying. Once the algae started after the cycle we put only 5 Astraea, 5 Cerinth, 9 assorted hermits and the pincushion urchin. They were able to keep the algae completely under control initially. From there they can be added to as needed.

You also have some shrimp that are possible. A skunk cleaner shrimp could be fun to watch. While they aren't really considered clean up crew generally they are part of the invert family.

The possibilities are endless so long as you are carefully planning like you are. So many people run into trouble because they impulse buy and then realize they have forced an exclusion of fish they actually wanted.

 

[meganallison88]

Pretty sure the urchin would be okay in your tank (and it is considered part of the CUC!). I would definitely supplement feed it when needed. You will just have to keep an eye on him like you would any other thing in the tank.

I know in our tank the Astraea nails seem to carry the heaviest load in terms of keeping things cleaned up on the rocks. I would definitely suggest them. The cerinths do a good job, it just seems like the Astraea are monsters on the rocks.

When you are adding them make sure you keep in mind what you currently have in the tank for them to eat. I read so many people that take and throw a crazy number of snails and hermits in the tank for the first wave of algae but then once that is gone there is nothing for them to eat so they start dying. Once the algae started after the cycle we put only 5 Astraea, 5 Cerinth, 9 assorted hermits and the pincushion urchin. They were able to keep the algae completely under control initially. From there they can be added to as needed.

You also have some shrimp that are possible. A skunk cleaner shrimp could be fun to watch. While they aren't really considered clean up crew generally they are part of the invert family.

The possibilities are endless so long as you are carefully planning like you are. So many people run into trouble because they impulse buy and then realize they have forced an exclusion of fish they actually wanted.

okay I will make sure not to put to many clean up crew in! would a skunk shrimp be okay with the pistol shrimp?
yah I'm trying to plan this tank out carefully in hopes that I will be successful this time! last tank I did exactly what you said, just bought "neat" fish when I saw them... it was a disaster haha! so I mean I did learn a lot about what not to do haha! hopefully all this research will pay off!

do anemones count for bioload?

once the tank is finished cycling... what fish should I add first?

 

[ClownFishGuy6]

That's a bit over stocked if you include corals and rocks. I would also drop the goldenhead goby and the cardinal and your least favorite. The goldenhead goby because it ruining the rocks. Mine puts sand all over the rocks and makes me have a lot more maintenance. So I would atleast get rid of that plus a couple more. You will need to have a very good filtration system if you are going to have that many fish in a 40 gallon tank

 

[lmforbis]

Fish list seems pretty good. I'd add them very slowly, one at a time except the clowns, and it the order of least agressive to most agressive. Let the bacteria catch up to the increased bioload before you add the next fish.

In my 40 I have one clown, plan on another, and an orchid dottyback. Both are very small. I plan to add a goby pair and shrimp when I find a pair I like. I also have a tuxedo urchin. Love him. In my bigger tank I have a halloween urchin that also tends to carry things around. Carried a conch shell for a good month.

 

[A.Astore]

I posted a thread question a bit ago and if you want a goby/shrimp pair there are some that don't sift sand as crazy as others (that was one of my main concerns because it would cause me to hate the thing). One thing a lot of people commented was that once theirs had a burrow made they generally stayed close, especially when there was a shrimp involved. I don't remember anyone mentioning the one you have listed in the responses.

Considering you didn't seem like you were putting coral in in the near future you would at least not have to worry about the goby killing your prized coral and hopefully the goby would be settled by the time you do. We were questioning it ourselves for that very reason... I was putting the fish in to help with the cleaning not make it worse. We haven't gotten the pair in yet but settled on the yellow prawn with pistol shrimp.

We have a 150 g so the concern of putting more than one shrimp type was not as much of a concern as a 40. You may be okay to have both though because it says the pistol may threaten smaller shrimp on LiveAquaria BUT if you have it paired with a Goby I would think it would be less likely to go causing fights with a shrimp just to do it. It also says smaller with the max size of the pistol being 2.5" and the skunk cleaner being 2" as long as you select ones that are about the same size I see no reason why you would have issues.

Anemone, fun times with one in the old 55 g. I would personally consider it a bio load, but I don't know about as much as a fish. It does expel waste but I don't remember it being as often as a fish.

 

[meganallison88]

any suggestions on an anemone? I do like the bubbletips, not sure how they would be in my tank though.

I would definitely like to do corals! just nothing expensive until I get the hang of it! start off slow!

does the orange stripe prawn goby kill corals? and do you buy them paired? or just put them both in a hope they pair up?

 

[OrQidz]

A bubble tip would probably be your best bet, down the road though. They need a stable tank that has been up and running for a while. Add your fish slowly, not all at once so you don't overload your bio filter.

The first thing to do though, plan out your equipment and lighting. Lights will basically decide what corals you can keep. Beginner corals like softies do well with lower light levels. SPS corals and nems need strong lighting. Are you going to have a sump, skimmer, etc? These are the things to get sorted out before any fish, although I think you are heading on the right direction with your stocking plans.

It's a fun hobby, enjoy!!

 

[meganallison88]

A bubble tip would probably be your best bet, down the road though. They need a stable tank that has been up and running for a while. Add your fish slowly, not all at once so you don't overload your bio filter.

The first thing to do though, plan out your equipment and lighting. Lights will basically decide what corals you can keep. Beginner corals like softies do well with lower light levels. SPS corals and nems need strong lighting. Are you going to have a sump, skimmer, etc? These are the things to get sorted out before any fish, although I think you are heading on the right direction with your stocking plans.

It's a fun hobby, enjoy!!

so if my clowns are in the tank first will they still go to the anemone when I eventually put it in?

I'm going to get the innovative marine mini fusion 40 tank..
these are the filtration specs
"¢Acrylic Filter Wall w / Dual Overflows

"¢(2) - Removable 3 Stage Filter Baskets or
(2) - Removable 200 micron filter socks**

"¢(2) Adjustable Return Flare Nozzles

"¢(1) 45W 110v/60Hz 476 Gallons Per Hour Pump

"¢Designated Heater Column

"¢Designated Skimmer/Reactor Column


I would like to do led lighting if I can find something used and not too expensive! if not led, whats my best option? I would like something more energy efficient. nothing to crazy expensive though as I am on a budget! and I will run a skimmer as well just need to figure out which one I want