Stocking a new tank

[Koresample]

I am new to SW, had FW for years and need some guidance for stocking my tank. I have a Fluval Osaka 155 litre (41 gallon) that has 60 llbs of aragonite (the stuff that comes pre-seeded with bacteria) as well as 49 lbs of live rock that i purchased from a tank that was established for over a year. The LR has tons of coralline algae and in the 3 weeks i have had it, new growth is coming along. Water has tested good from almost day one (SG 1023, PH 8.2, NO2-0, NO3-0, Amn 0). I added a single skunk clown 13 days ago, had a slight diatom outbreak for about 3 days, but it is pretty much gone now. I have about 10 blue legged hermit crabs and an assortment of about 15-20 snails.

I want to add some corals in the future (SPS and LPS) as well as an anemone for the clown and i want a community tank as much as possible. In researching, i am thinking about a Yello and Naso Tang, another skunk clown, a Bi-coloured Blennie or gobies.
Thoughts on these fish (i am thinking a max of 6 for the tank size) and coral recommendations? How many to stock at once, how long between stocking each one, when to stock the corals. Are there any threads on this that i have missed.

thanks,

mike

[xtreme]

I wouldn't recommend the Naso thats for sure. They need a very large tank. Even the yellow tang may not have enough room. Also I would look at increasing circulation by a lot if you are looking at SPS. What type of lighting do you have?

[Keri]

I wouldn't recommend the Naso thats for sure. They need a very large tank. Even the yellow tang may not have enough room. Also I would look at increasing circulation by a lot if you are looking at SPS. What type of lighting do you have?


+1 a naso tang especially may get longer than your tank is deep!

You could go with a dwarf angel, they have beautiful colours but some of them are coral eaters so you have to be careful.

[Powertec]

Definetly not on the tangs more specifically the naso....I saw one the other day at about a foot long...We had one in our 180 and sold him as it was not enough swimming room for him anymore.

In a 40 gallon you are looking at smaller sized fish for sure.

[Keri]

You could get another skunk clown but I would hold off for at least 6 months on the anemone, they need a pretty stable environment.

[mseepman]

Yeah, I would stay away from Tangs...maybe the Yellow would work or a mimic maybe. They really need space to live healthy and your tank just won't allow that.

There are a lot of beautiful fish that work well in a community tank that aren't tangs.

[fdiddy]

Look into some wrasses! They are really cool fish and some are very good community fish with awesome colours and designs.

[xtreme]

You could get another skunk clown but I would hold off for at least 6 months on the anemone, they need a pretty stable environment.

Agreed. 6 months to a year for a nem.

[digital-audiophile]

I think anemones are more resiliant than people give them credit for. The last time I had a tank crash my bubble tip was one of the sole survivors :twised:

That being said, I agree that the tank should be a little more established before adding one.

[Rbacchiega]

ever given thought to going with just small fish IE max size is 5 inches? I'm tossing that idea (as well as a shoal of dartfish idea) around in my brain for the 90 that I have up and running. The way it's going, it'll be stocked with corals before I add fish...which doesn't seem like too bad of an idea as it seems

[fishoholic]

A 41g tank is way to small for tangs a minium of 90g is needed for a tang. There are nice small reef safe wrasse's that would be a good choice, and dwarf angels are nice however some might nip at corals.

[naesco]

I support what the tang police force have already posted.

It is really important in marine fish keeping to go very slowly especially in a small tank like yours or you have lots of problems.

You should be only adding one fish at a time one month apart.

[Koresample]

Cool, so ixnay on the Tangs, wrasses and Blennies? Any suggestions as to which kinds? My lights are the Glo T5HO 24" X2 that came with the set-up. It has a Marine Glo and a Life Glo (going to be replaced with better quality bulbs, recommendations as to what type of bulbs?) I am hoping i can use this lighting system with what i want to do, just get better bulbs and at least 1 of them being an actinic.
Does the fact that my tank has 49 lbs of well established rock (they came out of a tank that had then in it for almost 2 yrs), plus the live sand change anything with regards to how 'old' the tank is? Isn't this like the conditions you would have if you moved your exisitng established tank?

[naesco]

Cool, so ixnay on the Tangs, wrasses and Blennies? Any suggestions as to which kinds? My lights are the Glo T5HO 24" X2 that came with the set-up. It has a Marine Glo and a Life Glo (going to be replaced with better quality bulbs, recommendations as to what type of bulbs?) I am hoping i can use this lighting system with what i want to do, just get better bulbs and at least 1 of them being an actinic.
Does the fact that my tank has 49 lbs of well established rock (they came out of a tank that had then in it for almost 2 yrs), plus the live sand change anything with regards to how 'old' the tank is? Isn't this like the conditions you would have if you moved your exisitng established tank?

The answer is maybe. Sometime it causes a new cycle in the tank.
After the lights are off for an hour or so check with a flashlight. If the tank is crawling with tiny critters a mandarin is possible.