New 40 Breeder, what corals to add?

[Fel]

Hello fellow reefers!

I've been setting up a 40 breeder with a 20L sump that I intend to be a mixed reef for about six months now (my first reef!), and will be getting my light (AI hydra 26) this upcoming week and am trying to determine what corals I want to add. Here's the current setup (please excuse the lighting on the DT, its a simple LED bulb):

Display tank:

Return on the right, overflow the the left

Sump:

The system:
40 breeder with 20L sump
Aquamaxx WS-1 skimmer
Refugium with chaeto running 660 nm 12w LED (some 420 nm as well), I'll add a second once I get my DT light
Pump is a cheap $20 china pump (will get DC pump prior to corals, cheap pump will become backup), running about 160 gal/hour
Jebao PP-4 currently aimed at the top of the right outcrop
Sand is a bit finer than I intended. It does blow around a decent amount
Actual volume 45 gallons

Current Stock:
Ocellaris Clown (2): One Midnight, One black extreme misbar
Inverts: One Astrea snail, One trochus snail, One cerith snail, three blue leg hermits

Planned Stock:
Blenny: Midas or Canary
Royal Gramma
Flasher Wrasse: The plan is to wait to find one in a LSF that has great coloration
Shrimp: Skunk Cleaner (1), Peppermint (2)
Emerald Crab
Additional blue legs and snails as needs arise
Possible: Cherub Angel - thoughts on this? I know angels are hit and miss as far as reef safety goes, but I really like them.

Planned Corals (in order, assumes survival of predecessor):
Kenya Tree: free from a friend, will be placed in the back right below the return
Green mushrooms: free from a friend, will be placed in the front right on the rock (I expect this to be a low light area)
Gorg (not sure on the timing): To be collected, will be placed in the back left below the overflow
GSP: Placed on a rock in the back middle next to the glass. Hopefully it will grow onto the glass to form a background
Euphyllia Garden (Branch hammers and frogspawn/octospawn): on the left rock outcrop - I've been advised by a friend that euphyllia are hard to kill and to buy rarer versions so that I can have more valuable frags (and they look cooler imo, https://worldwidecorals.com/collector-euphyllia-pack.html)
Purple Monti Dig: This will be the last addition and will go on top of right outcrop.

I'm mainly looking for suggestions as to what other corals I can/should add, I currently like the following but am not sure where I would put them:
Plate coral
Acans
Pagoda cup
Pulsing Xenia
Bubble
Torch
Duncan
Toadstool - These can be very large, however I've read that the males are significantly smaller, is there a way to tell?

Let me know what you think, thanks!

 

[Stevelikesfish]

I have a 40 breeder as well, perfect size imo. I have a 4bulb t5 with zoa's in the middle of the tank, a mushroom in the shade, and a duncan in the sand bed so far. All three are great to start out with, my next coral would like to be the toadstool so I could add it up higher. You have a lot of corals and some of them grow really fast especially the GSP from what I've heard so I would be careful adding those the xenia and the kenya tree.. The octo/frog spawn sounds like a great idea though

 

[Salty1962]

Hello fellow reefers!

I've been setting up a 40 breeder with a 20L sump that I intend to be a mixed reef for about six months now (my first reef!), and will be getting my light (AI hydra 26) this upcoming week and am trying to determine what corals I want to add. Here's the current setup (please excuse the lighting on the DT, its a simple LED bulb):

Display tank:

Return on the right, overflow the the left

Sump:

The system:
40 breeder with 20L sump
Aquamaxx WS-1 skimmer
Refugium with chaeto running 660 nm 12w LED (some 420 nm as well), I'll add a second once I get my DT light
Pump is a cheap $20 china pump (will get DC pump prior to corals, cheap pump will become backup), running about 160 gal/hour
Jebao PP-4 currently aimed at the top of the right outcrop
Sand is a bit finer than I intended. It does blow around a decent amount
Actual volume 45 gallons

Current Stock:
Ocellaris Clown (2): One Midnight, One black extreme misbar
Inverts: One Astrea snail, One trochus snail, One cerith snail, three blue leg hermits

Planned Stock:
Blenny: Midas or Canary
Royal Gramma
Flasher Wrasse: The plan is to wait to find one in a LSF that has great coloration
Shrimp: Skunk Cleaner (1), Peppermint (2)
Emerald Crab
Additional blue legs and snails as needs arise
Possible: Cherub Angel - thoughts on this? I know angels are hit and miss as far as reef safety goes, but I really like them.

Planned Corals (in order, assumes survival of predecessor):
Kenya Tree: free from a friend, will be placed in the back right below the return
Green mushrooms: free from a friend, will be placed in the front right on the rock (I expect this to be a low light area)
Gorg (not sure on the timing): To be collected, will be placed in the back left below the overflow
GSP: Placed on a rock in the back middle next to the glass. Hopefully it will grow onto the glass to form a background
Euphyllia Garden (Branch hammers and frogspawn/octospawn): on the left rock outcrop - I've been advised by a friend that euphyllia are hard to kill and to buy rarer versions so that I can have more valuable frags (and they look cooler imo, https://worldwidecorals.com/collector-euphyllia-pack.html)
Purple Monti Dig: This will be the last addition and will go on top of right outcrop.

I'm mainly looking for suggestions as to what other corals I can/should add, I currently like the following but am not sure where I would put them:
Plate coral
Acans
Pagoda cup
Pulsing Xenia
Bubble
Torch
Duncan
Toadstool - These can be very large, however I've read that the males are significantly smaller, is there a way to tell?

Let me know what you think, thanks!

With it being your first tank, I'd start With some Zoas or some other softy and move up from there.

I have a 40 breeder as well, perfect size imo. I have a 4bulb t5 with zoa's in the middle of the tank, a mushroom in the shade, and a duncan in the sand bed so far. All three are great to start out with, my next coral would like to be the toadstool so I could add it up higher. You have a lot of corals and some of them grow really fast especially the GSP from what I've heard so I would be careful adding those the xenia and the kenya tree.. The octo/frog spawn sounds like a great idea though

 

[devilhunt1231]

Hi, gsp can grow quite quickly in some tanks but it's usually fairly simple to keep under control with trimming as long as you don't allow it to grow over all your rockwork, now as to xenia as nice as it looks pulsing away I have great difficulty recommending it to anyone as it can spread and take over the whole tank, If you decide to try and remove it any small amount left behind will regrow, any bits that break off are likely to grow into another xenia coral, so all I can say is think seriously about xenia before adding it.
Gary

 

[Fel]

Being new to reefing I had originally intended to make this a softy only tank (doing zoas, gsp, kenya, shrooms etc.), however with the success I've had with my FW tanks and with the help of a friend (marine biologist) I eventually decided just to dive in and do a mixed reef. It's worth noting that I do intend to do all this very slowly. The green mushrooms and kenya trees will be the first thing I add, then 2-4 weeks later I'll add some euphyllia, then another 2-4 weeks before the next coral addition. I plan getting 2-3 new frags then waiting 2-4 weeks each time I add something. I also plan on adding only other inverts until all my corals are in place.

I've heard about the xenia becoming a problem before which makes me wary, especially since its being brought up again. I might forgo this now. Will GPS also just pop up in random places in the tank or do they just grow quick? I don't mind trimming, however I don't want to have to remove quick growing corals from places I never had any intention of them being.

 

[tdileo]

I reccomend you start with some zoas that you like, a toadstool, and mushrooms that are nice (I suggest some ricordeas, I have some wonderful oranges, yellows, purples and greens). If they do well find whatever types of montipora you like, as long as your tank is decently healthy they will do great and mine are pretty fast growing. Then add the euphyllia species you want. If all is well at this point you can pretty much go ahead and add anything you want, just make sure you don't add a ton of LPS/SPS at once because your calc/alk demand will shoot up and you will have to adjust dosing accordingly.
Here are some of my favorite corals and "corals"
- Acans
- Goniastrea
- Flower Anemones
- Palys (I like these over zoas because my favorite thing to do is hand feed my corals and these guys will eat)
- Ricordea shrooms
- Encrusting montiporas
- Monti digi
- Monti spongeodes (very fast growing SPS)
- Gorgonians
Good luck and remember no sudden changes! Good things happen over time in the reef tank [emoji4]

 

[PatW]

Soft corals are easy to grow. They do have a drawback, they defend themselves by releasing toxins. So they can produce issues in the tank. Water changes, running charcoal and skimming can keep it under control.

You can get softies to start and if you tire of them, you can rip them out. I just avoid the issue and have hard corals and anemones.

 

[Fel]

I'm not really a huge fan of zoanthids, i'd rather avoid them and do something else. I did like the ricordea though they look awesome.

How difficult are monti? I love the way they look and it would be nice to have a couple of sps. I had planned on adding one as the last addition but if they're really easy I may get a couple of different types.

 

[Fel]

Final got my light setup and a few frags from a friend (3 Kenya tree, 1 Ricordea). There's some pictures at the bottom.

The shadowing is due to my lid, so I suppose I'll be replacing that.

All my stats thus far:
Main Light is a Hydra 26 HD; current setting 40% all channels + acclimation mode 50%
Fug Lighting is a red/blue 10W LED (660, 440) and a 5000k LED both in clip on metal reflectors.
Salinity - 1.025
pH: 8.0
Nitrate: 0 using API test kit
Alk: 9.5
Cal: 455
Mag: 1460
5 Gallon WC/Week (Instant Ocean)

I was just dosing sodium bicarb to up my Alk, however after getting 7.9 on a pH test I've switched over to sodium carbonate.

My sump was growing wild with hair algea. I removed the hair algea from the sump and even off the chaeto. The lights were left on for 24hr/day when we had power during Irma. I'm going to try and keep the hair algea in check, however if its keeping nitrates down and only growing in the sump I won't try to eliminate it.

 

[aKlevans]

+1 on acan
I love all euphyllia corals (torch, frogspawn, hammer)and they are easy to keep. Torches are the most finicky of the bunch but they are still pretty hardy.

 

[aKlevans]

Also maybe think about chalices! They look really neat and are not that hard to keep.
I'm also starting a 40 breeder

 

[trevormass7]

I have a 40 breeder also, great size tank. Honestly is suggest all the coral you named since I have some and want the others. I'll be following this build for sure

 

[Fel]

I'll be slowly adding coral. Next batch will probably be some Euphyllia around mid October.

 

[Fel]

Hola Amigos!

Been a while since my last update and quite a bit has happened so here's the run down, pictures follow.

Current stats:
Gravity - 1.025
pH - 8.2
Alk - 11.2
Nitrate - 0 using Redsea Pro
Phosphate - 0 using Redsea Pro
Magnesium - 1520
Calcium - 425
Lighting - Set to 30% all channels except red with is 0
Dosing 2 part Redsea suppliments - 10mL Alk daily, 10mL Ca weekly
WC scheduled 5 gals/week using instant ocean
Still rocking the same fug lightling

Additions:
2 Blue leg hermits
1 Nerite snail
2 Trochus snails
3 Emerald Crabs (in fug)
1 Zooanthid colony
1 GSP frag
1 Favia frag
1 Riccorida Florida frag
1 Leptastrea

Problems:
Hair Algae - This stuff is growing wild in the sump, I remove it weekly and its still out competing my cheato. I also have small bits of it growing on rocks/sand/glass in the sump. I'm only feeding 3 days a week at night to keep nutrients down. I believe the issue is simply not enough coral, there's just not enough stuff to compete with the hair algae. I plan on keeping the tank as a low nutrient tank until I have a lot more coral and the problem seems to be under control. I bought some emerald crabs and dumped them in the sump to try and get some control over it, we'll see how it works out. Additionally this is why I turned off the red channel on my DT light.

General:
Overall the tank looks great, everything I put in seems to be growing and thriving (including the algae).

The Riccorida yuma which I initially put in the tank look massive compared to what they were. The mouths are oranger and more elongated than they were. I've also noticed several tiny ones on the rock and the two largest have definitely grown.

I'm trying to get the GSP to grow on the back of the tank. They haven't grown too much, but I didn't have them secured so my hermits kept knocking them off their spot.

I did give in and go with some zooanthids. I saw a cool looking colony and just had to get it. I guess there's a zooanthid out there for everyone.

The leptastrea and riccordia florida were added yesterday and appear to be doing well (my fiance picked them out). The lep is my first sps and is already open. Hopefully it likes its new spot and begins encrusting quickly. The only thing I don't like about it is the polyps appear brown, I'm hoping some time in my care with pull out at least a little bit of coloration from them.

In addition to feeding the fish 3 days a week I also plan on doing reef chili for the corals on Monday/Friday.

That's all I got for now. I took a decent amount of pictures to show everything and to keep track of growth. Hopefully over the next couple of months there's a noticeable difference.

 

[VR28man]

Nice setup. This also to me seems like an almost perfect size. Would you mind showing a bit more of your overflow? I may try to set up something similar.

 

[timrocks311]

how do you like the single Hydra 26? do you have a lot of shadow on the ends? I've been considering AI lights for my 40 breeder...still debating 2 AI Primes, 1 or 2 Hydra 26s or a single Hydra 52. Leaning toward two Primes for better coverage.

 

[Fel]

I just used an eshopps pf-3o0 for the overflow. It connects to a piece of pvc with a rubber coupling and rests on the sump for extra support. I was going to secure it to the piece of wood in the picture, but its plenty stable they it is. At some point I do need to get a blackout curtain to go around the outside of my stand.

For the hydra I used the hanging kit to hang it high enough to minimize shadowing at the edges. There is some but in person its less noticeably than in the picture. Also since I'm shooting for a mixed reef I figured the low light on the edges would be a good thing as I can do low PAR corals. I almost did 2 primes, but in the end decided that the one hyrda would be plenty and it was slightly lower cost. The only thing that maybe better with the two primes is it may cut down on the LED flashing colors in shimmer and its probably easier to use the rail system than hang the light.

 

[aKlevans]

Looking good! Love the rockscape. I have almost the same setup, minus the sump (tidal 55 hob) and light (2 ai primes instead of the hydra). Same tank, same hood, exact same magfloat, almost exact same corals and livestock

 

[Fel]

Hey all,

Its been a while since the last post, what can I say life keeps me busy.

Current stats:
Gravity - 1.025
pH - 8.3
Alk - 12.75 (overshot my goal of 12.6 this week)
Nitrate - 0 using Redsea Pro
Phosphate - 0 using Redsea Pro
Magnesium - 1700*, the last couple of weeks this had been 1480, I probably should double check this but I'm lazy
Calcium - 450
Lighting - Set to 30% all channels except red with is 0
Dosing 2 part Redsea suppliments - I'm no calculating what was consumed and using that along with my target levels to determine what my daily dosing should be. This last week I did 7mL Ca and 20mL Alk per day.
Redsea Coral Colors (Trace Elements) - 4 mL each per week
Dropped what changes
Fug now has 2 "Cheato" LEDs I got free from a LFS for their grand openning

Additions:
2 Nerite snail (3 Total)
2 Trochus snails (5 Total)
2 Cerith (3 Total)
1 Turbo snail
1 Black Foot Mexican snail
2 Astrea snails (3 Total)
3 Nassarius snails
2 Peppermint Shrimp (grrrr)
1 Cleaner Shrimp
5 Zoanthid/Paly frags
1 Acan Frag
1 Torch Frag
1 Duncan
1 Candy Cane
1 Birdsnest
1 Rainbow Monti
1 Monti Cap
1 Litho

Feeding - I feed fish 4-5 times a week, corals have been getting fed 1-2 a week. I plan on upping feeding for fish to twice daily. I'll maintain my coral feeding at twice a week, but I'm starting Redseas Coral Nutrition once a week as well.

Problems:
Hair Algae - Still have a lot of hair algea, however adding more CuC has cleaned up a lot of it in the DT, though there's still some on rocks in high flow areas. It doesn't appear to be growing quickly in the DT, and I haven't seen it pop up in a new spot for a couple of weeks now.

Peppermint Shrimp - I was aware there are several species of these when I got them. I tried to learn what I could so I would be able to select the correct ones and not have any issues. Needless to say I failed. The two I got ripped my Lepostrea apart in less than 24 hours. The shrimp were quickly sumped and there they shall stay until I give them to a friend that has a fish only.

Magician Palys - I got some magician palys and tried to place them on the high rock on the shaded side, after gluing them in place I noticed they were getting a bit of direct light. Thinking it was no big deal I left them in place. Low and behold a week later they were totally bleached. I've moved them lower and out of all direct light, they seem to have color coming back to them but aren't open as much as I'd like. Hopefully their recover by the start of the new year.


General:
With the exception of the peppermint shrimp everything seems to be going great. All corals are growing well and I've had no real issues with any of them.

I've gotten quite a few more polyp corals since the last post. A couple of no names then tomahawks, magicians, and spidermans. I read on one place that these can be placed next to more aggressive corals without issues, can anyone confirm this?

My current plans for the tank are to do the shorter rock group with LPS. Currently I'm still looking for the perfect branching hammer to occupy the spot I have picked out.
The tall outcrop is going to be SPS dominate on the well lite sides. I plan on doing branching corals up at the top, bushy/tabling about halfway up and plating down at the bottom.

I'm starting to get itchy to fill out my tank with fish (just the two clowns atm). I plan on working toward getting my QT system setup by the end of the year and then will start filling out my fish. For QT I plan on doing two ten gallon tanks, I'll use the 2-2-2-2-2-2 method which is switching the fish from the current 10 gallon into the other 10 every other day. The purpose of this is to have ich cysts drop off and then move the fish before they can hatch. After the 12 day process I'll throw a sponge filter and copper treatment in with him and leave him for another 3 weeks, only after all this will the fish go in my DT.

The current stocking list is: Midas Blenny, Flasher Wrasse, and a Royal Gramma. I was looking at other fish that would be appropriate for my tank and came across the geometric hawkfish (sp. Plectranthias inermis) the other day, does anyone have any experience with this kind of fish? I'm also open to other suggestions, currently the other other thing I'm considering is a firefish since my fiance likes the spike on their head. She is pushing hard for a Yellow Tang, I'm debating on giving in and getting a small juvenile, then when it gets large telling her we need a bigger tank or he has to go back to the store. I don't really think its a good idea as far as the fish goes, but it sure is a good way to get her on board with a bigger tank in a few years.

Photos! I'm just going to post them all here