40 gallon reef

fishesfriend

I got a 40 gallon breeder.


These are stocking Ideas !!!! not the stocking list.

• a goby shrimp pair
• royal gramma
• Mandarin goby
• clown pair
• firefish
• yellow headed jawfish
• yellow headed sleeper goby
• trio of banggaii cardinals
• cintron goby
• green clown goby

I think I will order 50 pounds of key largo dry rock. Then seed it with base rock

Pasfur

You need to eliminate the Mandarin Goby from your possible fish list. This fish will not survive in a 40 gallon tank. The extreme amounts of copepods & amphipods consumed by this fish in a day are not practical for a small tank.

fishesfriend

Ok the list is down to

a shrimp goby pair
clown pair
firefish
yellow headed jawfish
yellow headed sleeper goby
banggaii cardinal trio of youngsters
cintron goby ( what is the proper spelling)
clown goby

I know this. The tank sould be here on tuesday.
the tank stand is not done.
I can't have an external sump. maby an internal.
I need a type of food that can be used like flake food.(can I use flake food if it is not the staple in the diet?)


I don't know
Where should I get my water from.
Pasfur, Is key largo rock ok? I will proably get 50 pounds and seed with live rock.

JohnnyD

I don't want to answer for Pasfur, but I do know he often recommends the Key Largo rock from marcorocks to many people, including me.

fishesfriend

I am mainly focusing on making my list of fish smaller.

Cody

o hai there...

I have a 40G as well, and keep the following:
-2 Clowns
-1 Mystery Wrasse
-1 Bicolor Blenny
-1 Yellow Watchman Goby
-1 Cherub Pygmy Angel
I love my setup. They all get along great and each have amazing personality.

From your list, I would eliminate/select... (Personally)

-a goby shrimp pair = Would work Great. Yasha Hashe's or high-bandes are my personal favorites.
-royal gramma =
-Mandarin goby = Eliminate, for above reason.
-clown pair = Obviously great.
-firefish = Great.
-yellow headed jawfish = Needs a DEEP sandbed in order to thrive, unless you make a custom burrow.
-yellow headed sleeper goby = Hard to keep. Eliminate.
-trio of banggaii cardinals = You will most likely get fry eventually.
-cintron goby = Size issue (Small). Eliminate.
-green clown goby = Stays too small for a 40G in my opinion. Eliminate

I would get the clown pair, goby shrimp pair, a firefish, and the trio of Banggaiis personally.

fishesfriend

Cody I like that stocking idea! Could I switch the firefish for a royal gramma, without problems?

fishesfriend

Could a long spine urchin survive in my tank?

Pasfur

All of the advice above is fabulous. Thanks Cody for catching the Citron Goby...definitely not a fish for this tank.

I used Key Largo Rock in my 180. I have been very happy with it and found it very easy to work with.

Flake food is fine. As for a staple, i don't believe anything should be a staple. You need 6 to 8 different foods and should just rotate. I feed frozen Angel Formula, Brine, Squid, Marine Cuzine, Plankton, plus Garlic enhanced pellets and several different flake foods. Plus algae sheets daily.

Cody

Yep, the Gramma is a great substitute for the firefish.

I would also like to direct you to Purple Firefish, or even the expensive Helfrich Firefish ifyou are into purple. All four choices (firefish, firefish, firefish, gramma) would work great.