What to stock my 40gl

AYE RUSS

So im pretty much done with my cycle and water is where they're suppose to be. So far i have a pair of clowns plus a cleaner shrimp.
What should be my next addition or better yet
what do you guys recommend or suggest i can stock a 40gl with? thanks

bettababy

The next thing I would be adding would be the cleaning crew... snails, hermit crabs, starfish, etc.

How much live rock is in the tank? Is it a sand substrate? Are you running a skimmer? Planning corals?

Pasfur

Agreed, although use caution with starfish. Most of the recent studies are finding that starfish are not able to sustain their dietary needs in smaller sized aquariums, and will far to often slowly starve to death over a period of many months.

Welcome back Dawn! Hope you are doing well.

bettababy

Thanks Pasfur, I am doing well and appreciate your warm welcome! If you haven't yet, be sure to check out my reef tank pics I put up the other night... its thriving.

I would like to add that I agree with watching starfish, but more watching the species of starfish instead of avoiding them all together. Just like with the other animals, some are more suitable for some situations than others, and that includes tank size. There are a number of starfish that could thrive in that size tank as long as their condition requirements are met. There are also starfish that will accept prepared foods, such as the brittle stars. Button brittles stay small enough for a 40 gallon provided there is only 1 in the tank, but also tile stars (not the easiest star to keep, not suggested for beginners), sand sifting stars work well if there is a healthy amount of sand bed, and if there is enough alage growth a blue linkia could also be worked into the mix later when the tank is mature. Check stats on the species before considering or purchasing a star, by all means. A note about the button brittles... they are great maintenance animals but be careful not to overfeed them. They will eat until they rupture the disk if allowed to.

aunt kymmie

[quote=bettababy;266940]Thanks Pasfur, I am doing well and appreciate your warm welcome! If you haven't yet, be sure to check out my reef tank pics I put up the other night... its thriving.[quote]

Hummm, the pics won't open for me and also let me say: Welcome back, Dawn. Nice to see you on the forum again.

Aye Russ, looking forward to following your progress with your 40 :)

bettababy

Thanks for the heads up on the pics Kymmie, and also the warm welcome. Gorgeous double yellow head parrot in your avatar photo, is it yours?

I will see about fixing my pics asap.

AYE RUSS

well right now i have about 30 lbs of live rock with 4'' live sand bed so far along with the fish i have i already have some snails (5) and some hermits (4) intrested adding some real nice looking fish now =)
i am running a protein skimmer also.

Pasfur

Great. It sounds like you have a nice setup in place. What fish do you have your eyes on?

AYE RUSS

Well i really did want a snowflake eel but just not sure if my tank will be big enough especially in the future. Im really more into aggressive fish are they're any thatll fit in my 40? im really open to suggestions. Just want my tank to look more alive with color and action.

Cody

If you want a snowflake, go ahead. Just know that you will never see the thing. "Action" and "Eel" should not be put together.

I would add more rock, too. In my 40G I have 75lbs ish of live rock, and that is low.