Stocking a 40 gallon breeder?

[FirePanda]

So, I’m truly new to saltwater, so no clue if this stocking is good or beginner-friendly. Are all of these fish alright in a reef 40 gallon breeder? There will also be Bubble Tip and Rock Flower Anemones, so I’m not sure if that matters or not.

 

2x Ocellaris Clownfish

1x Flame Angel (If size-appropriate: can’t tell if they’re fit for this size tank).

1x Firefish

1x Royal Gramma

1x Yellowhead Jawfish

Plus a Yellow Watchman Goby if I have space, but…probably not.

And in terms of invertebrates…

5x Sexy Shrimp

5x Skunk Shrimp

1x Pistol Shrimp (With the goby, if I get it)

5x Bumblebee Snails

5x Trochus Snails

1x Porcelain Crab

1x Emerald Crab

1x Brittle Star

Im also considering a Snowflake Moray Eel, but I’m not sure how predatory they are. Or how much space they need.

[MLS_Reef]

If you plan on having a snowflake eel you should buy yourself a shrimp dinner instead of the cleaner shrimp! 

Jawfish are great but they require a deeper sand bed and some structure in it so they can burrow and you will need a cover, they tend to leave the tank I would skip as a new tank owner. 

[FirePanda]

Yeah, no eel…heard they don’t come out much anyways, and it’s not worth it if I can’t have inverts. I’ll just have the goby and the shrimp if the jawfish isn’t beginner-friendly. Maybe replace him with a neon blue goby. Are the rest of the fish and inverts good? Nothing extremely hard, predatory, non-reef-safe?

 

Also, side note: pistol shrimp can’t punch though a aquarium wall, right?

[SLA10]

I would hold off on the porcelain crab, they're filter feeders, so unless your dosing pods or phytoplankton.  And maybe add a brittle star a little farther down the line of a new tank.  The emerald needs algae, unless your going to feed it dried seaweed or other supplement.  You'd be best served to start the tank get it cycled with as few things as possible, maybe a pair of clowns or chemically cycle, Dr tims etc... then build over time, snails need algae, shrimp need algae or other protein, you want stable parameters before bringing in corals, don't set yourself up and move too fast and watch a significant invest dissolve before your eyes.  Build slowly, learn how to maintain your tank, too many people jump in feet first and are done with the hobby a year later.  Not trying to rain on your parade, your welcome to dump as much coral and invertebrates in a new tank as you want.  Just want you to succeed and be successful.

[mcarroll]

20 hours ago, FirePanda said:

So, I’m truly new to saltwater

What books do you have?   If none, what book are you gonna start with?   Martin Moe's books are an excellent starting point.  (Check out this thread if you need more ideas!) 

 

20 hours ago, FirePanda said:

, so no clue if this stocking is good or beginner-friendly. Are all of these fish alright in a reef 40 gallon breeder?

If you mean all of them, all together at once, then the answer is a straight "No."

 

If not, then see details below...

 

20 hours ago, FirePanda said:

There will also be Bubble Tip and Rock Flower Anemones, so I’m not sure if that matters or not.

This is sounding like an awful lot for such a small tank.   Certainly do not start the tank out with that whole stock list.....build up to that list slowly starting with the ones that are the most important to you.   (And don't start the tank out with fish....start with smaller critters first....like a crab or snail or two.  Slowly work your way up to fish....avoid making an ammonia spike.   Use an Ammo Alert badge to monitor just in case you over-do it.)

 

Is it supposed to be an "anemone tank" or are you also focusing on fish and/or coral?  BTA's can get very large.  Their stinging tentacles give them hella reach on top of their outright size too.   One could dominate most of a 36" tank like this once it's grown.

 

Consider picking one anemone  or the other....and consider favoring the smaller species.  👍

 

20 hours ago, FirePanda said:

2x Ocellaris Clownfish

Good beginner friendly fish.  Read up on them though – they aren't without personality.  🙂

 

As for how much room is left for other fish, IMO you can consider about 50% of the tank theirs.

 

20 hours ago, FirePanda said:

1x Flame Angel (If size-appropriate: can’t tell if they’re fit for this size tank).

I would pass unless you know this fish pretty well already.

 

20 hours ago, FirePanda said:

1x Firefish

1x Royal Gramma

Good candidates.  Both have personalities, especially the Gramma, so again make sure you read up and don't take either one for granted as "easy".

 

20 hours ago, FirePanda said:

1x Yellowhead Jawfish

I would avoid.

 

20 hours ago, FirePanda said:

Plus a Yellow Watchman Goby if I have space, but…probably not.

Another good candidate.  Same terms apply (ie read up) as with the others.

 

20 hours ago, FirePanda said:

And in terms of invertebrates…

5x Sexy Shrimp

Fun when you can find them.  But a snack for fish with a hungry belly and a mouth that's big enough.....such as a Gramma.

 

20 hours ago, FirePanda said:

5x Skunk Shrimp

Seems excessive unless you have specific plans for them.

 

20 hours ago, FirePanda said:

1x Pistol Shrimp (With the goby, if I get it)

If it's not high-priority for you, then I would avoid.  On top of care issues, they are likely to pick a place to live where you can't see them.

 

20 hours ago, FirePanda said:

5x Bumblebee Snails

Probably not a good generally member of a CUC, but can be useful in some cases.

 

Unless you have a specific plan for them, I would avoid, at least until the tank has matured.

 

20 hours ago, FirePanda said:

5x Trochus Snails

An excellent herbivore.   Five is probably a great starting point.  If you see algae growing long (vs just color on the rocks/glass) then you probably need to add a few more.

 

20 hours ago, FirePanda said:

1x Porcelain Crab

Usually a good tank mate, but also subject to disappearing into the reef never to be seen again.  I've had them in larger tanks, but they are better-seen in smaller tanks....almost the smaller the better.

 

20 hours ago, FirePanda said:

1x Emerald Crab

1x Brittle Star

Again unless there are specific plans or interests, I would avoid these.  They aren't great CUC members....and Serpent Stars are semi-known to be nocturnal predators.  They've been known to eat anything from crabs to fish....whatrever they can succeed in grabbing.  You have to keep these guys fed to keep them from "making their own menu".

 

20 hours ago, FirePanda said:

Im also considering a Snowflake Moray Eel, but I’m not sure how predatory they are. Or how much space they need.

You can do a Snowflake reef, but not with all that other stuff.  You'll want to find more than one example tank that's doing it successfully and understand why they are succeeding before you begin.

 

Also, I think you'd want to upgrade from 40G fairly soon – they tend to grow fast, and don't stay tiny.