40 gallon breeder stocking

[Zamzam]

Hello everyone. I am still setting up my 40 gallon breeder and have not yet cycled it but im trying to prepare what ill put in there. So far my list is as follows:

-Similar damselfish
-Ocellaris clownfish
-Bicolor dottyback
-Black axil chromis
-Yellow watchmen goby

Not sure how many of each I will be putting in there yet. I also have a list of fish I want to get but not sure if they would work in my size tank or with the fish I listed above:

-Flame angelfish
-Blue spotted puffer
-Coral beauty angelfish

Thoughts??? Also if you have any recommendations on a clean up crew

 

[mattzang]

bicolor dottybacks are pretty absurdly aggressive, i'd get a royal gramma if you want those colors. if you want a dottyback the orchid dottyback is a lot more peaceful

 

[mann1139]

Your list looks tank-size and aggression appropriate to me. Obviously add the Goby first.

I haven't had good luck with dwarf angels in my 40. I crossed them off that tank size.

 

[Reesj]

Looking at that you type Similar damsel fish rather than yellow tail, I guess you from soth east Asia? You from India?

As stated above, the dottyback are way too agressive. Try to get atleast one wrass imo if you can get a lid to the tank. It will be a geat utility fish.
For cleanup crew start off with 2-3 turbo snails (you can add a few more afterwards) and a hermit crab. Considring you get a watchman goby, yoi won't need any for the sand bed i guess. For color you can try to a get a single Anthias maybe.

 

[Zamzam]

Looking at that you type Similar damsel fish rather than yellow tail, I guess you from soth east Asia? You from India?

As stated above, the dottyback are way too agressive. Try to get atleast one wrass imo if you can get a lid to the tank. It will be a geat utility fish.
For cleanup crew start off with 2-3 turbo snails (you can add a few more afterwards) and a hermit crab. Considring you get a watchman goby, yoi won't need any for the sand bed i guess. For color you can try to a get a single Anthias maybe.

I'm from NY actually. I only called it a Similar damselfish cuz thats how it was listed on the website i was using. But there were also a bunch of them that looked alike but had different names so I wasnt sure if that was its name or if they were just saying it was similar to other damselfish lol

 

[Zamzam]

Does anyone have any other suggestions of smaller fish that will work in a 40 gallon breeder tank?

 

[Salty Rambler]

With the caveat that I'm still pretty new to the hobby...

In my 40 gallon I have an Oscellaris clownfish, a blue-green chromis, a starry blenny, a chalk bass, a bangaai cardinalfish, and a mandarin goby -- with lots of copepods for the mandarain. Aside from the mandarin, the rest are usually considered appropriately sized fish for a 40. That said, the chalk bass and the mandarin goby are going to tend to be in and around the rocks most of the time, so if you want something visible in the water column, don't get them. From your list, I echo previous comments on the aggressiveness of the dottyback, and would say that damselfish can also be very aggressive.

On a site like Live Aquaria, you can search by tank size, then come back to R2R and search for tips on how to catch that specific type of fish -- it will surface all of the troubles associated with that breed of fish that don't appear in the normal research.

It probably goes without saying, but it is not recommended to stock everything at once. Put in one or two fish first, then wait a week or so before adding another fish. Think about starting with your least aggressive fish so that they get a chance to get used to the tank and its hiding spots.

For clean up crew -- once the tank is established enough to handle the CUC -- you could look at slowly adding a pencil or tuxedo urchin, a couple emerald crabs, a few blue leg (or other) hermit crabs, and some snails (trochus snails for the glass and rocks, and nasassarius snails if you have a sandbed for them to dive into.

Good luck!

 

[Fin-up reefing]

I just got a Macneill’s Blue Assessor and honestly is probably one of the coolest fish I’ve ever owned.. he’s constantly swimming around and the blue is just amazing!