40 gallon stock list ideas

ajanicki10 · Dec 26, 2014

I am setting up a 40 gallon reef tank and looking for ideas for livestock. I will be putting a pair of oscellaris clowns. Looking for other active fish. I will be upgrading the tank within the next year or so to a larger tank. Any recommendations are appreciated.

ajanicki10 · Dec 26, 2014

I should also mention I really want a Hutu trigger and hippo tang in the larger tank. Can I put juveniles of those two knowing I am going to upgrade?

NanaReefer · Dec 26, 2014

I have in my 40 a Bi-Colored Blenny, Royal Gramma and a Banggai Cardinal. All very active and model citizens

Love watching them!

Humblefish · Dec 26, 2014

You can put a baby hippo in there, so long as you know you'll be upgrading. But I would pass on the Humu Picasso trigger. They get big & mean in no time, start killing other fish and will even move frags around. There are several flasher/fairy wrasses with amazing colors, are reef safe and would go well in a 40 breeder. Just make sure you have a cover to prevent jumping.

ajanicki10 · Dec 26, 2014

NanaReefer said:
I have in my 40 a Bi-Colored Blenny, Royal Gramma and a Banggai Cardinal. All very active and model citizens Love watching them!

Is the cardinal active? The tank at work has pajama cardinals and they are still as can be.

ajanicki10 · Dec 27, 2014

Humblefish said:
You can put a baby hippo in there, so long as you know you'll be upgrading. But I would pass on the Humu Picasso trigger. They get big & mean in no time, start killing other fish and will even move frags around. There are several flasher/fairy wrasses with amazing colors, are reef safe and would go well in a 40 breeder. Just make sure you have a cover to prevent jumping.

I appreciate it. I will probably still do the trigger in the bigger tank because that is one of my absolute favorites.

NanaReefer · Dec 27, 2014

ajanicki10 said:
Is the cardinal active? The tank at work has pajama cardinals and they are still as can be.

http://youtu.be/z95FTX7hPRE

Marshall O · Dec 27, 2014

Humblefish said:
You can put a baby hippo in there, so long as you know you'll be upgrading. But I would pass on the Humu Picasso trigger. They get big & mean in no time, start killing other fish and will even move frags around. There are several flasher/fairy wrasses with amazing colors, are reef safe and would go well in a 40 breeder. Just make sure you have a cover to prevent jumping.

I have to disagree with a couple things here. First, only buy fish you can house longterm now. Too many people have every intention of upgrading, but end up not being able to. This is not fair to the fish. Just wait until you have the new tank. I do agree with passing on the Humu Humu Trigger though.

Second, a 40 is borderline for even the smallest Fairy/Flasher Wrasses. Good options for Wrasses would be Possum Wrasses & the Pink Streaked Wrasse (Pseudocheilinops ataenia).

ajanicki10 · Dec 27, 2014

Marshall O said:
I have to disagree with a couple things here. First, only buy fish you can house longterm now. Too many people have every intention of upgrading, but end up not being able to. This is not fair to the fish. Just wait until you have the new tank. I do agree with passing on the Humu Humu Trigger though.

Second, a 40 is borderline for even the smallest Fairy/Flasher Wrasses. Good options for Wrasses would be Possum Wrasses & the Pink Streaked Wrasse (Pseudocheilinops ataenia).

Would doing just 4 clowns be too much for the tank? I'm thinking more coral until the bigger tank.

Marshall O · Dec 27, 2014

ajanicki10 said:
Would doing just 4 clowns be too much for the tank? I'm thinking more coral until the bigger tank.

Yes, but only because the likelihood of 2 sets of clowns working out in a smaller tank is very small. A pair of clowns would be perfect. Those, plus a couple of other smaller fish and it will be a nice tank for you IMO. For reference, I have 7 fish in my 50 gallon cube, a pair of clowns, juvenile Melanurus Wrasse, and 4 "nano" fish (Firefish, Possum Wrasse, Yellow Assessor, and Tailspot Blenny).

ajanicki10 · Dec 28, 2014

Marshall O said:
Yes, but only because the likelihood of 2 sets of clowns working out in a smaller tank is very small. A pair of clowns would be perfect. Those, plus a couple of other smaller fish and it will be a nice tank for you IMO. For reference, I have 7 fish in my 50 gallon cube, a pair of clowns, juvenile Melanurus Wrasse, and 4 "nano" fish (Firefish, Possum Wrasse, Yellow Assessor, and Tailspot Blenny).

I appreciate everyone's input. Setup the tank today and will update in a few weeks after the tank cycles.

Coralsdaily · Dec 28, 2014

Humblefish said:
You can put a baby hippo in there, so long as you know you'll be upgrading. But I would pass on the Humu Picasso trigger. They get big & mean in no time, start killing other fish and will even move frags around. There are several flasher/fairy wrasses with amazing colors, are reef safe and would go well in a 40 breeder. Just make sure you have a cover to prevent jumping.

Agree, and you will have to pick trigger or mix reef not both, since trigger will wreck your inverts.