New Fish

[kingPumpkin]

What fish would you recommend? I have a 40 gallon breeder and will continue to grow my reef tank. I currently have 2 clowns and a flame angel. Any recommendations for a newbie?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Firefish goby
Watchman goby
6 line wrasse

 

[Coralsdaily]

with a 40G, I recommend you consider from this list.

 

[PTXReef]

Definitely a royal gramma!

 

[Oropher]

I think you'll need utilitarian fish, especially algae control.
lawnmower blenny?

 

[kingPumpkin]

Well i ended up with a mandarian goby! I am super excited about it! Hopefully it works out

 

[PTXReef]

Well i ended up with a mandarian goby! I am super excited about it! Hopefully it works out

I highly suggest setting up a baby brine shrimp feeder/culture because that mandy will decimate your pod population in a few days (considering if the tank has been seeded with pods/established for months-years).

I seeded my 95g wave with pods and let the population grow for a year. You could see the tank swarming with copepods at night and even during the day due to no natural predators. Once I added my first mandarin, in less than a week there were no more visible pods in the day and only a small population on the glass at night. It's belly also started to shrink, which is why I started adding baby brine shrimp. It allows the pod population to recuperate. If I hadn't started supplementing the tank with baby brine shrimp, both mandys wouldn't make it.

I start a culture every 4-5 days. It takes ~18 hours for mine to hatch. On collection day, I siphon all the bbs out, put it in a container, feed that day, and store the rest in a large container in the fridge. It'll be good for ~2 days (I take some out daily to feed the tank), then you have to take them out of the fridge for the next few days or they'll die (from my experience). Not sure if this supplementation is excessive but I can't argue/want to change anything if I see two fat mandy bellies.

Good luck with yours!! ;Joyful

 

[Jeffcb]

Royals can be mean.

 

[Pistondog]

Well i ended up with a mandarian goby! I am super excited about it! Hopefully it works out

Cool fish, hard to keep unless conditioned to frozen foods.

 

[Jeffcb]

Tank raised?

 

[Super Fly]

FLame angel may not welcome new additions, which is why folks try to add those last. Also agree with others re. Mandarin. Otherwise for 40G how about Firefish, one Chromis (love their color. U can try multiple but most likely will end up with just 1) and perhaps pajama cardinal(s).

 

[kingPumpkin]

The flame angel has been pretty nice to new comers. I added a new clownfish because one of mine died early one for no reason at all with no sign of remains. So we got a new little clown and there weren't any issues. So far with the the spotted mandarin there have been no issues. Once the flame gets to big we will have to find a new home for her but for now she is still small enough to home in our 40 gallon.

When buying the mandarin the owner of the LFS told me we should be fine. We bought a bottle of copepods and added them to the tank. he said we should be fine for a long time and if we ever notice them gone we can just restock them but said we should be fine with this one time add. Does that sound right for copepods?

I've thought of a Chromis because of their colors but there are SO many awesome fish that i almost regret only having a 40 gallon. But so far i love the hobby, ive learned a lot and see the mistakes ive already made but thats part of life.

 

[najer]

Unless it is taking prepared foods you got very poor advice from your lfs, if it is hungry it will want to eat a pod every 5 - 10 seconds or as fast as it can find them, IMO you need to be adding pods every day and also feed live phyto to help the pods grow and reproduce.