Help us pick our fish? :)

Javor91 · Mar 30, 2018

Hello all!

I remember that the first time we set up our 40 gallon tank, the cycling process (4 1/2 weeks) was unbearably boring - I am a very impatient person ;Smuggrin. SO, while we wait - what types of fish would you recommend for us? Any suggestions on coral? I've included some information below to further explain what we're looking for/capable of.

90 gallon DT
20 gallon sump w/ GFO - I will have questions about this at another time, first sump!
Reef friendly fish only

Husbands only requirement - Rose bubble tip anemone w/ 2 clowns (Won't be coming until the tank is stable and aged but still, he wants it

)

My turn - I'm obsessed with hammer coral. I LOVE LOVE LOVE foxface.. They're considered reef friendly w/ caution - would I be setting myself up for heartache? I also love the pistol shrimp w/ watchman goby & skunk cleaner shrimp - it's my favorite thing to watch in our 40 breeder!! How many skunk cleaner shrimp could I have? We only have a singleton in our other tank.

Thank you so much for your time!

Kremis · Mar 30, 2018

You could do a pair of skunk cleaner shrimp, thats what I had in my 180 gallon. A foxface is generally reef safe and wont really harm corals, so you should be fine with that. Some other cool fish include:
fairy wrasses
anthias
flasher wrasses
leopard wrasses
cardinal fish
dwarf angelfish (can nip at corals/clams)
royal gramma
gobies
coral wise, if you like hammer corals you could get others that are similiar like frogspawn, torch, grape coral, etc. and keep in mind there are 2 types of hammer coral branching hammer and wall hammers

HB AL · Mar 30, 2018

Coral would be an absolute no till tank is fully cycled. As far as fish I would not put a fish in there that your not gonna want long term unless catching it is something you want to deal with down the line. If you put a fish in while it's cycling it should be a very hardy fish. I always had predator tanks( triggers, groupers, etc. ) and patience when I was young was non existent for me plus the fact there wasn't the wealth of knowledge 20 to 30 years ago there is now I would put a couple damsels and a trigger in my tanks within a week of starting it and never lost one while cycling. I would then wait a couple months before I started adding the rest of the inhabitants.

Jfishwild · Mar 30, 2018

I personal love tangs. achilles tang and purple and powdered blue. In my last tank I had all 3 in the same tank it was awesome

reefpaddy · Mar 30, 2018

Tangs to help clean algae off rocks, wrasses to keep pests at bay and sand sifting gobies to keep the sand clean. For me most fish are there to serve a purpose or perform a job.