A real noobie

nikolai

Member
Hi guys,
This is my first post here. Hello everyone! :yes:
Now on to my question.
I will be buying a 40 gallon tank very shortly... Dimensions are 36"x15"x16", and plan on setting up a reef aquarium.
What equipment do I need for this (Filtering... etc)
Do you have any suggestions for fish.... invertebrates... coral etc?
I would like to keep between 10-20 fish (Is that a good amount?) in the tank. I would also like the initial price tag to be below $400.
Please help!
-Nikolai
Forgot to ask... Do I use regular tap water?
 
N

nabisco

Guest

Originally posted by nikolai
Hi guys,
This is my first post here. Hello everyone! :yes:
Now on to my question.
I will be buying a 40 gallon tank very shortly... Dimensions are 36"x15"x16", and plan on setting up a reef aquarium.
What equipment do I need for this (Filtering... etc)
Do you have any suggestions for fish.... invertebrates... coral etc?
I would like to keep between 10-20 fish (Is that a good amount?) in the tank. I would also like the initial price tag to be below $400.
Please help!
-Nikolai
Forgot to ask... Do I use regular tap water?

i have a 37 gal tank that is just starting to come to life.
maybe i can help just a little, though you may want to search.
filtering: i currently have a fluval 204 canister on my tank. i plan on adding more filtration shortly (maybe another 204, or possibly a 304 if i get a deal on one... cant have too much filtration)
lighting: you will need lighting for your tank, up to 3-4 watts per gal if you plan on having coral (from what i have read). I have two 65 watt bulbs over my tank.
Live rock: I have read that you should have atleast 1lb per gal of live rock in your tank. I currently have about 23lbs of live rock, i have been adding it slowly (because its friggin costly!!!)
Water: i started with a totally dry and dead tank. I mixed my salt/water in two gal intervals, i liked to use that because it was easy with the salt measuring (1/2 a cup per gal) and it was easy to lift and pour, i started doing 4 gal but too much was spilling. i then added Prime (its a dechlorinator) and did final salt measuring and fine tuning.
I have read that adding tap water is not the way to go, instead getting reverse osmosis filtered water (like at walmart for a quarter) is better. if you have nothing in your tank though, and you add cleaning agents, i dont see the problem.
Fish ammount: 10-20 seems really high, i came from the fresh water world where as long as it was not a oscar, most fish you could stack like cord wood. Salt water fish seem to need more room. depending on the size of the fish you are probably going to end up with 4-6. You should think abotu what you want in your tank, some fish will eat the things you may want to include (like coral). Angel fish are like this. Other fish eat anything that moves (triggers, puffers) and you will have to adjust accordinly. The fish that got me in to this was the spiny puffer, what with his cute little blue eyes and happy mouth... come to find out that they are the devil and if i put one in my tank, thats pretty much all i can have.
Inverts: again, read up on them, you can stuff alot of inverts in there depending on size. for example blue leg hermit crabs and what not. There is alot of info about shrimps and crabs on this site also, but one thing to remember is that your miles may vary... you will get conflicting reports about some of the shrimps and crabs, as in what they will eat in your tank and not eat.
Are you putting live sand or crushed coral in your tank?
any advice that i have is pretty much stuff that i have read or heard at the LFS... we all know how that goes. make sure you research alot.
 

lefty

Active Member
Check out my second post in this thread for tank necessities: https://www.saltwaterfish.com/vb/show...st+need+a+list
10-20 fish is way too many for a 40g tank. SW fish are not like FW fish. They need a lot more space. :). Going with the one inch of fish per five gallons rule, you can have around eight inches of fish in your tank (make sure to use the adult size of the fish, too). You could go a little over the eight inches and that'd be fine too. :)
Regular tap water is a no-no. If at all possible, try to get RO or RO/DI water. Some Wal-Marts sell this water by the gallon. Or you could buy a purifying unit. They can cost some money though, so it'd probably put you over your $400.
Hope this helps! :)
-lefty
 

tooniami

New Member
Hey I am also a newbie here and i just would like to inform you that I found a good source of information on the New Hobbiest forum on this site under the advice column.
 

hermitkrab

Member
Okay this will be long so bear with me but you are asking a lot of questions...
First off I was a newb once to so I kinda know how you are thinking but what I will say may not make sense know but will later. Okay now let us get on to what you need... I have a 40g tank also. You should have like 90 pounds of live sand which is sold at this site. It may seem expensive but it's worth it. And you will need live rock which is also sold on this site and it is good quality and price. You should have around 60 pounds live rock. I have 75 pounds but that seems like to much. Next is your water dilemma. I use distilled water which is about as purified at water can get and most grocery stores sell it (ex. Wal*Mart). You definitely will not want to use tap water unless you have a reverse osmosis filter (R.O. unit) because water from the faucet has a lot of metals and chemicals in it which is can been harmful to saltwater tanks. As for filtering this isn't like freshwater stuff needs to be balanced. I would recommend a protein skimmer. The skimmer I would recommend is the Aqua C Remora Pro with the Mag drive. That is about the best. The skimmer hangs on the side of the tank like a freshwater skimmer and sucks up water through the motor and makes bubbles which fill up the chamber which in turn pop and the waste in the water collects in the collection cup. Then the cleaned water goes into another chamber which then goes back into the tank. I would also recommend getting another filter. I would say a bio-wheel would bee good. Try and get a penguin 400 bio-wheel. The bio-wheel is a good place for bacteria to grow which in the case of saltwater is good. And it is here I better explain the whole bacteria deal-
1. Fish and invertebrates (shrimp, crabs, snails, etc.) create waste, as well as things that die in your tank will decay and produce a toxic chemical known as ammonia. Which even at low levels ammonia can burn fish gills and choke off their air supply.
2. A bacteria call Nitrosomonas consumes the ammonia, but creates a chemical byproduct called nitrite in the process. Nitrite is highly toxic (it prevents blood from carrying oxygen), but fish can normally take twice as much nitrite as ammonia.
3. Then a bacteria called Nitrobacter consumes the nitrite, and in turn of that releases a less toxic chemical called nitrate.
4. Nitrate requires anaerobic conditions, which are not common in most aquariums, to be converted into a harmless nitrogen gas. Therefore, water change (about 6 gallon water changes every other week for you would be good) and proper feeding regulations are the most effective ways to keep nitrate in check.
As for light a fluorescent light made for you size of tank will be okay but if you want corals or plants you will need better lighting that can cost $200-$100 called metal halide lighting. You will also need water movement to recreate waves and to keep good amounts of oxygen in your water. You should have at least one power head like a Maxi-Jet (which I recommend). They come in different gallons per hour so you need to decide about how powerful you need (mines 160gph I believe). And I also recommend a wave maker such as a Power Sweep to make waves. They also come in different gph. Okay now I will tally up everything you will need.
-Salt (I use Oceanic Salt, but you decide) cost about $25 for enough to treat 50 gallons.
-Water distilled water is 25-40 cents per gallon. R.O. units cost from $50-$400, the more money the better the filtration and the more gallons per day it can make. Keep in mind you need to replace the R.O. unit's filter every so often.
-Live sand. This is a good place for the bacteria I mentioned above to grow. Can cost a lot of money. Mix live sand with aragmax sand to save money. Will cost you over $100 for 90 lb. of sand.
-Live rock. 60 lb. will cost $120- $240 depending of type and quality. This also has the good bacteria but also has bad things and need to be "cured" before adding it to a tank.
-Penguin 400 Bio-wheel will be about $40 not counting the extra filter media you can buy for it.
-Aqua C Remora with mag drive will cost around $230.
-Light depends. Anywhere from $30-$1000.
-Power Sweep (wave maker) cost $15- $30 depending on how powerful you need it to be.
-Maxi-Jet (powerhead). Need at least one. Anywhere from $14 to $22 also depending on how powerful you want it to be.
Total- Over $400.
Also you will need to wait I think like a month after you set up you tank before you add fish to allow the bacteria time to cycle because in the beginning if you add live things they will die. Also you can't have 20 fish in a 40 gallon tank. Maybe 10 but that would be stretching it a bit. A good rule of thumb is one fish per 5 gallons so for a 40 gallon that would be 5 fish but you can bend the rule but don't break it. Also as for what snails, shrimp, and crabs you need I will say this...
-20 Scarlet Hermit crabs
-20 Turbo snails
-10 nassarius snails
-1-2 cleaner shrimp or fire shrimp
-2-3 peppermint shrimp
-Other stuff you might like such as feather dusters, a conch or two, clams, etc.
^
All of this is sold at this site and this is where I buy my live goods.
But always research thing before adding them and be very patient and allow you tank to catch up with the new additions. Although you can add a lot of invertebrates at once. Fish you can add 1-2 fish every couple weeks. Oh ya and make sure where you put this tank can take the weight. Because the thing will way a quarter of a ton when you are done.
Enjoy your new hobby and welcome!
:happyfish :happyfish :happyfish
P.S.
Be patient, reasearch, and have fun!
 

nikolai

Member
Do you guys have any suggestions for the fish I should get? I like bright colors, and some of the clown fish and tangs looked good.
 
N

nabisco

Guest

Originally posted by nikolai
Do you guys have any suggestions for the fish I should get? I like bright colors, and some of the clown fish and tangs looked good.

tangs from what i have read get big.
like bigger than a 40 gal.
 

hermitkrab

Member
Okay here are some fish I recommend for your size tank. False Percula Clowns, firefish, jawfish, maybe one dwarf angel, some types of blennies, blue green chromis, royal gamma basslet, some wrasse, gobies, and that's all I can think of for now but I am sure there are more you could keep in your type of tank.
 

wax32

Active Member
Before you get in over your head, buy a book or two and read. :)
I really liked The Conscientious Marine Aquarist by Robert Fenner. It is a REALLY good intro to reef keeping.
 

nikolai

Member
I was looking around the site and these fish looked good... Is this a good list?
2 Percula Clown Fish
1 Mandarin Dragonet
1 Kole Tang
1 Lyretail Anthias
2 3-Stripes (Damsels)
1 Clown Goby
Is this a good list for a 40 gallon reef tank?
 
J

jamie907

Guest
2 Percula Clown Fish
1 Mandarin Dragonet
1 Kole Tang
1 Lyretail Anthias
2 3-Stripes (Damsels)
1 Clown Goby
I've heard that the Mandarin Dragonets are an absolute b**** to take care of. You have to have a heavily live-rock stocked tank, because their best food source, copepods, breeds and lives in liverock. Plus, in order for the copepode population to be strong enough, your tank has to be pretty mature and it's best if you have a refugium where you have more live rock as a kind of breeding ground for them. I'm not sure if they're the best fish for a beginner, but I know what you're talking about. I saw them and fell in love with them myself, but I don't want to kill one because I think they're pretty. :-/
The three-stripes. Those suckers are agressive! I had one of them, two electric blue damsels, and this weird brown damsel I've never seen anywhere except at my LFS in my tank to cycle it, and I had to get rid of it once I added my two perculas because they were tearin' up my babies' fins. I'd be careful with that.
The clowns are definitely awesome. My two are my favorite thing right now. I'm just in love with them.
Okay, I'm done babbling now. Hope I helped! Have fun.
 

lexus9903

New Member
I would make some changes to the fish selection you have chose. First off anthias are schooling fish. Without a school, they stress and hide. 9 chances out of 10 you wont ever see him because he'll be hiding behind the rocks. They are als active swimmers in a school so they would need a tank of at least 75 gallons. I tried 3 in my 55 once and they still stressed out because of to little swimming room. They are also delicate and suseptible to ick and other issues due to stressing so easily.
As for the mandarin. I would avoid at all costs. They needs a tank of at least 75 gallons that has been set up for over a year unless you buy copepods to feed them. Most of the time they will not eat flake, brine or mysis shrimp. (brine shrimp asctually has little nutritinal value) If you do get one that does eat these foods, it will do fine for a while then slowly waste away as these foods do not have their needed diet requirements. These are hard fish to keep and most end up starving to death especially in a new or small aquarium.
Remeber, damsels are aggressive, especially in schools. While they are super hardy, they tend to pick on the smaller fish. With a tank fo this size, you will need to go with the more docile smaller fish. Chromis tend to be more docile and accepting of tank mates.
If you get a dwarf angel remeber that they too are territorial. If you get one, add him last after everyone else has selected their parts of the tank. Its no fun trying to rearrange a tank because of an aggressive angel!
Although bright and colorful, I would also avoid yellow tangs. They are extremly active swimmers and get stressed in a confined tank. This can lead to issues like lateral line disease and a variety of other diseases. The last thing you want is a tank breakout!
As for equipment, it is my belief that protein skimmers are mandatory to hold the bio-load of a reef tank. Another not necessary item but very benneficial is a UV steralizer. You dont need a large one for that tank size so you don't have to spend an arm and a leg. This will help if you do get an outbreak of ick or any other disease or parasite. I run these only when the tank is in an outbreak as it will kill the phytoplankton in the water. Since you cant really treat ich aggressivly in a reef tank without killing the corals and algae, these are definatly helpful. I would avoid canister filters like a fluval. These end up being nitrate traps. The debris gets caught in the media and then sits and rots until you clean it out. The water still gets cycled through this debris and thus it is basically still in the tank releasing these chemicals. Look into a fluidized bed filter. These are easy to use, cheap on the budget and work well.
If you get RO water, you will have to buff up the alkalinity and the PH to satisfactory reef tank levels. Personally I have always run tap water without a problem and now run the well water at my house. It really depends on where you live what all is in the water.
As long as you arnt planning on doing a lot of stony corals and clams, you will be fine with not getting a metal halide. Coralife has a great little light fixture with an actinic,10000k and lunar lights in it for a decent price. (about $160) If you do specifically want those corals, you will need more aggressive lighting.
Hope this helps!
:D
 

nikolai

Member
Any suggestions for corals? Some of the mushroom corals seemed very nice..... I also have heard that some require a very high wattage lightbulb, so I would like to stay clear of those.
 
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