New 40 gal tank, which fish to put in?

[wpost2]

i cant build or buy a stand. i have no room. i live 6 blocks from the beach with two other guys, all i have is my room for this stuff, which involves enough space for only a tank and the canister filter. a stand is out of the question, unfortunately. =/
my tank is on my chest of drawers. when i move out of here ill get a bigger tank and a stand, etc. but as of now i just cant. so is there any option wherein i can get away with only the tank and canister and nothing that involves a separate tank?

 

[mboswell1982]

ouch, hmmmmmm, thats gonna be a tough one then, ur gonna need one heckuva canister filter, IMO to keep everything runnin smoothly

 

[wpost2]

I have the Eheim Professional II 2026 canister filter.
For aquariums to 92gal
251gph
Delivery head 6.7ft
Power consumption 25w
Filter volume 1.3gal
Dimensions 8.5 x 8.5 x 14.5"h
Tubing 594 (5/8")(16mm) in x 494 (½")(12mm) out

 

[mboswell1982]

ok, here's what ill do, ill see if i can get rotary to post on here, he's usually pretty good about stuff like this, and he's done small tanks before. but, i know they make HOB skimmers and what not, what kinda lights do you have? and have you decided on what fish you want for the tank? and are you sure your chest of drawers will handle the weight?

 

[wpost2]

the chest of drawers is handling the weight just fine, it has 30 lbs of live rock and 40 gal of water already in it.
what is an HOB skimmer?
as for the fish, i think that list i recently posted is what i'd like to do, but not sure of the compatibility:
Coral Beauty Angelfish
Fu Manchu Lionfish? (I'm assuming he will not be able to exist in this tank)
Saddle Valentini Puffer
Yellow Stripe Maroon Clown
Pygmy Yellowtail Angelfish
Purple or Red Lobster
also i was thinking of adding coral at some point, is that even an option with this?

 

[mboswell1982]

also, what are the dimensions on your tank? is it a 40g long or a 40g breeder tank?

 

[mboswell1982]

lobsters are out right away, they require a well established and mature tank, the fu manchu, he'll eat any fish in the tank that he can fit in his mouth, the puffer im not sure on, but ive been told they're skin is poisonous, clownfish, your better off having a pair to be honest, and if your gonna go with an angel, get either a pygmy cherub or a dwarf flame, they're a lil easier than a coral beauty, IMO

 

[mboswell1982]

and with ur fish list, no, coral is not an option, also, what kind of lights do you have for the tank? if your wanting to go reef, you have to have killer lighting for them

 

[wpost2]

ok so..
Coral Beauty Angelfish
Fu Manchu Lionfish? (I'm assuming he will not be able to exist in this tank)
Saddle Valentini Puffer
Yellow Stripe Maroon Clown x2
Pygmy Yellowtail Angelfish
seems my tank may be a bit bare? if i get a small fu manchu and he progresses at the same growth as the other fish then he won't eat them, as he is pretty small, right?
my light: 36" hood with a 24" 20 watt 20,000K Coralife bulb in it. "High-Intensity Purified Super-daylight Lamp"

 

[mboswell1982]

its not just him eating them, and u cant have 2 angels in a tank that size, they'll kill each other, and they're liable to go after him as well. the fu manchu is really an expert only fish, he's very very hard to get to feed, and they're very very delicate as well, JMO. also, you'd be surprised on ur tank man, with the right combination of fish and corals, it will be a color explosion, but, u just have to be careful that u dont over stock, especially witha canister filter, it wont do nearly as good a job as a sump/fuge set up will

 

[mboswell1982]

ur light only has one bulb in it? its not enough for corals, period, you need a minimum, so ive been told, of T5's for corals, if not MH
and a HOB skimmer is a hang ont he back skimmer

 

[mboswell1982]

ok, if you want lots and lots of color man, here's what i would do
a trio of Longfin Fairy Wrasse, 1 male, 2 females, make sure u only get one male
a pair of clowns, preferably, if it was me, B&W O. clowns
a cleaner goby
and maybe a watchman goby of some kind with host shrimp
and, to top it off, a pygmy cherub angel, but thats just me

 

[wpost2]

so then my tank would be.....
Coral Beauty Angelfish
Saddle Valentini Puffer
Yellow Stripe Maroon Clown x2
or the fish you listed, of which none of them excite me in the very least.
and this is worth over $1000?

 

[mboswell1982]

i think u missed the list i posted before u replied lol check out that list and check out those fish, and then see what u think about em man, and u can do a trio of those wrasses and have a small school of them swimming in and out of your rocks and corals. and after reading up on the clowns you want, i would choose another one, they get big, and from what i have read, they get nasty, and should only be kept singly. check out these guys right here and let me know what you think of em
Black & White Ocellaris Clownfish

 

[wpost2]

i think im going to just return everything. this is nothing but a huge disappointment. and no, i don't like those clowns particularly in the least. nothing about this seems worth it unless i spent even MORE money. one would think a 40 gallon tank would have plenty of great fish options, but apparently not. im sorry but wrasses and gobies just bore me.

 

[mboswell1982]

did you even look at the wrasses i listed? there's i think 24 different wrasses that are reef safe, and are schoolable, and dude, with saltwater, you gotta start with the, as you call them, lame fish before you are ready to care for a fish thats gonna cost you 100 bucks or more and requires expert knowlege on how to care for it

 

[mboswell1982]

what you should really do is check out a list on this one site i found, email me if you want, at chovuk1982@yahoo.com and ill give u the link, and look at the fish they have for SWF beginners, i know your smart an all man, but u do not jump into this hobby feet first, u take ur time, learn everything u can, and slowly upgrade as time goes on, both in tanks, and fish

 

[wpost2]

once again i did not jump in without research. i went to an aquarium store with 5000 square feet of fish tanks and trusted what the OWNER told me. this is me getting taken advantage of, not me doing no research. never in a billion years would i have thought that the owner of a fish store would give me bunk information about fish. now i have the awkward task of trying to return all of this equipment, most of which is already hooked up.

 

[mboswell1982]

why return it? why not take the advice all of us here on the thread are giving you and setting up a nice peaceful reef tank that will give you a massive color explosion, and have a lot of colorful fish swimming among the rock an corals peacefully?

 

[wpost2]

what colorful fish? wrasses and gobies are far from colorful. they are essentially just guppies to me. and as for setting up a coral tank, what else would that involve? i'm just assuming i couldnt possibly do that with my current setup. that would mean i would need more stuff, which means more money, and im sorry but these fish just arent exciting for me
given my current specs, what would i need to add to accomplish a coral tank? and what would it cost?