Stocking Question?

[Goldie-Maree]

I have a 40 gallon breeder setup (36"Lx18"Wx16"H)

Equipment:
2-maxi jet 500's
Coralife skimmer
Hob bio wheel filter
150w heater

Substrate/Rock/Water
30 #s premium Fiji live rock
40 #s Caribsea live sand oolite
15 #s crushed coral
Ro/Di water mixed with instant ocean reef crystals

Lighting:
Fluval marine and reef full spectrum 2.0

Now for the question part.

Invertebrates:
1 Astraea snail
2 turbo snails
8 nassarius snails
8 red/blue tipped hermits
1 pink pincushion urchin
2 Hawaiian feather dusters
Tons of asterinas, chitons, stomatellas, a few brittles etc
No corals Yet!

Livestock:
2 red firefish
1 green mandarin

Parameters:
Salinity 1.026
Ammonia 0 ppm
Ph 8.3
Nitrite 0 ppm
Nitrate 5 ppm
Phos 0 ppm
KH 11 dkh (196.9)
Calcium 440 ppm

Might I add the tank is about 8 weeks old.

Is this stocked fairly decent?

Could I add 2 ocellaris clownfish and 1 coral beauty angel and be done with the stocking of fish? Or would that be an overkill?

 

[Tahoe61]

I would wait longer.

Your tank is obviously very young, my concern is for the inverts such as the snails and urchin, I doubt there is enough algae to sustain them in such a young tank.

Dwarf Angels can be tricky to acclimate, I would definitely wait on that fish for awhile. You can probably add the clowns in another week or so.

If you have tons of Asterinas I would start removing them on sight to avoid an over population issue.

 

[Naiad]

Please tell me the mandarin is frozen trained... What kind of turbos? Mexicans or zebras will outgrow your tank. I would look into supplimental feeding for them and the urchin as you may need it. Remember CUC are living creatures too. To answer your question yes a pair of clowns and angel would work to finish your tank fish wise but you need to space out the stocking by a few months so as not to overwhelm the biological systems.

 

[Naiad]

A not fully grown turbo... I have been urging my local reefers to stop buying these guys and dooming them to an early death.

Photo via: https://www.spc.int/aquaculture/index.php?option=com_research&view=research&id=105

 

[4FordFamily]

Do not add a mandarin to anything but the most established tank possible. Although they can OCCASIONALLY be transitioned off of pods, they need them there during this transition to eat, and it can take a few months to years for this to happen.

 

[eatbreakfast]

While a 40b may eventually be able to adequately provide for a mandarin, at 8 weeks old, it likely will not.

Cuc are often overstocked in the beginning, and die off from starving cuc, can begin to cause nutrient problems.

Don't worry about asterinas, their population is fairly easily regulated. If the population starts to explode cut back on the quantity of food being fed, they are scavengers, less food = less asterinas.

The tank should be able to handle a pr of clowns and a dwarf angel. Just wait a couple of weeks between additions to allow the biological filtration to catch up to the increased bioload.

 

[Goldie-Maree]

Please tell me the mandarin is frozen trained... What kind of turbos? Mexicans or zebras will outgrow your tank. I would look into supplimental feeding for them and the urchin as you may need it. Remember CUC are living creatures too. To answer your question yes a pair of clowns and angel would work to finish your tank fish wise but you need to space out the stocking by a few months so as not to overwhelm the biological systems.

For the mandarin I've been adding tigger pods to the tank to build up population and I've watched him nibble at a few pieces of the frozen brine shrimp that I feed my firefish. I have 2 zebra turbos and I only got them to clean up the few diatoms that I had bloom in my tank and intend on swapping them out once they get too big for the tank. As for the urchin I think he is doing fine beings he is polishing off all my Caroline algae on my rocks. He has seemed like he has grown a tad bit. Maybe a good sign he is feeding well.

 

[Goldie-Maree]

A not fully grown turbo... I have been urging my local reefers to stop buying these guys and dooming them to an early death.

Photo via: https://www.spc.int/aquaculture/index.php?option=com_research&view=research&id=105

Holy smokes. He must feed on miracle grow. Lol

 

[Goldie-Maree]

Do not add a mandarin to anything but the most established tank possible. Although they can OCCASIONALLY be transitioned off of pods, they need them there during this transition to eat, and it can take a few months to years for this to happen.

I've been adding bottled tigger pods to the tank for the mandarin and I'm in the works of gathering material to make a HOB Refugium for the pods so I can have a ample supply to keep him fed.

 

[4FordFamily]

I've been adding bottled tigger pods to the tank for the mandarin and I'm in the works of gathering material to make a HOB Refugium for the pods so I can have a ample supply to keep him fed.

This isn't the only reason you need a cycled tank. They need stable parameters and IMO you can't possibly have stable enough parameters yet. Not to mention the mandarin may want to eat only one type of pod you haven't added. Just my .02 not to try it yet.

 

[Duke4Life]

Btw only 1 Firefish as 2 in this small of a system will not work, eventually 1 will bully and kill the other.

 

[eatbreakfast]

I've been adding bottled tigger pods to the tank for the mandarin and I'm in the works of gathering material to make a HOB Refugium for the pods so I can have a ample supply to keep him fed.

Mandarins have a very short digestive tract, they need to eat constantly. A single mandarin is able consume the total number of pods in the supplemental bottles within a day, they can deplete a small, new tank in no time.

Btw only 1 Firefish as 2 in this small of a system will not work, eventually 1 will bully and kill the other.

In most cases, yes, but it is quite possible that they are a pr, in which case they will be fine.

 

[Goldie-Maree]

This isn't the only reason you need a cycled tank. They need stable parameters and IMO you can't possibly have stable enough parameters yet. Not to mention the mandarin may want to eat only one type of pod you haven't added. Just my .02 not to try it yet.

I've witnessed him eating frozen brine shrimp which I found odd. Makes me happy but what's the probability that they start eating frozen on their own?

 

[Goldie-Maree]

Btw only 1 Firefish as 2 in this small of a system will not work, eventually 1 will bully and kill the other.

The 2 that I bought had been in the same tank for about 3 months and I've had them about 6 weeks and they swim together eat together and they sleep in the same cave together so far so good but I know that can change over night but I have my fingers crossed.

 

[4FordFamily]

I've witnessed him eating frozen brine shrimp which I found odd. Makes me happy but what's the probability that they start eating frozen on their own?

Not very good. 1/5 at best in a new tank. For most mandarins probably more like 1/10 or worse

 

[Goldie-Maree]

Not very good. 1/5 at best in a new tank. For most mandarins probably more like 1/10 or worse

The last two feedings of brine he has sucked a few up some he has swallowed some he has spit back out. he is pretty active and always nibbling at the rocks