New Saltwater Tank :)

lightdouth

New Member
Here's what i set up on 6/30:

Fluval Vicenza 180 40-gallon dark bow front glass
Marineland C-220 Canister filter
Marineland maxi jet 400 power head
Aqueon 150W heater
20# live sand
26# live rock
Water is perfect already, however I'm waiting it out for another week or so.

Here is what I'd like to potentially put in it:
Huma Huma Trigger (must have)
Purple Reef Lobster (must have)
Red Caribbean Pistol Shrimp
Cortez Rainbow Wrasse
Springers Orazure Damsel
Red Spotted Hawkfish
Aurora Shrimp Goby
Pajama Cardinal
Hancocks Barnacle Blenny

I'd appreciate any input. I know to introduce the Trigger last, however curious in which order I should introduce others.

I appreciate your advice and look forward to getting my fish family soon.
 

lmforbis

Well-Known Member
Trigger of any sort is an absolute no way in a 40 gal. You need at least a 180.
purple reef lobster may harm small fish. In a 40 all you can have are small fish.
damsel will harass everything else to death. It is small but vicious. Not even a good idea in a large tank.
Cortez rainbow wrasse needs a much larger tank. 40 gal is way too small. It also isn’t compatible with peaceful tankmates.
The rest are fine. And would pretty much max out a 40 gallon tank. You can maybe do 2 more small peaceful fish.

You have a SMALL tank. Large or aggressive fish can not go in a small tank, the result tends to be a blood bath. I suggest you do some more research and come up with a list that will work with the system you have. Look at the adult requirement s for the fish.
 

Patrick Seastar

New Member
Here's what i set up on 6/30:

Fluval Vicenza 180 40-gallon dark bow front glass
Marineland C-220 Canister filter
Marineland maxi jet 400 power head
Aqueon 150W heater
20# live sand
26# live rock
Water is perfect already, however I'm waiting it out for another week or so.

Here is what I'd like to potentially put in it:
Huma Huma Trigger (must have)
Purple Reef Lobster (must have)
Red Caribbean Pistol Shrimp
Cortez Rainbow Wrasse
Springers Orazure Damsel
Red Spotted Hawkfish
Aurora Shrimp Goby
Pajama Cardinal
Hancocks Barnacle Blenny

I'd appreciate any input. I know to introduce the Trigger last, however curious in which order I should introduce others.

I appreciate your advice and look forward to getting my fish family soon.
The problem is that those are predator fish which are aggressive & will battle each other in a small tank. They are also very territorial & won't tolerate other fish coming into it's territory. The second problem is your small fish. If the predator fish are bigger than the small ones, they'll try to eat them. Predator tanks. Some of those fish aren't even compatible like Damsels & Cardinals with a Trigger Fish. Every time you add fish, you gotta be strategic & research their requirements & compatibility with a compatibility chart. If you really want to do it, you need a bigger tank other wise it'll be stress, failure, & money down the drain & I'm sure you don't want that my friend. I did crazy things when I started, most of them I learned the hard way lol.

The third thing would be the filtration you've chosen. As per old school aquarist from the 80's, 90's, & early 2000's, canister filters are a no no. That however has changed with the advance in biological & chemical filtration technology available today. That being said, you can make it work, but you gotta know what you're doing. I've used them before with success as others have too. The problem though is with beginners that are going through the learning experience. There's very little room for failure here. Most beginners run into several issues & situation they don't know how to handle & then the aquarium needs to be rebooted. I'm telling you that if you want canister filters for fish like that, you'll need two of the absolute biggest canisters you can find, I prefer Fluval. You'll need Massive amounts of anaerobic bacteria that process nitrate into nitrogen gas. That means biological filter media like matrix, bio-home, or bricks. I prefer bio-home since it has the most surface area out of all of them, plus the usual 1 pound of rock per gallon rule. It takes at least two months for this bacteria to fully develop, so you gotta give some time by adding raw seafood into the tank with no fish for that amount of time. Use carbon & phosphate removing media as usual. You need to be disciplined & punctual with your cleaning of the canisters. You gotta clean them every month & you gotta do at least a bi-weekly water change schedule. The bigger you go in filter size, the easier you make for yourself. Now that you know the kind of work involved with having a canister filter, I think you're better prepared to make a decision.

To summarize, it's really not recommended, either of these things for a beginner. My advise is to start small so you can get the hang of it & gain experience otherwise, I would recommend you buy the proper equipment like a sump with a protein skimmer. Let me know what it is you decide on doing.
 

SALTWAT3RFISH

Administrator
Staff member
Unfortunately a trigger is all nope with any crustaceans. Sounds like a solid start. Canister filters can be a bit of a hassle to clean, but they work well if maintained properly.
 

SALTWAT3RFISH

Administrator
Staff member
I've had great success with canister filters when using a hang on protein skimmer. If you set the canister up with a back wash valve they are less troublesome. You can use the backwash for water change and media flush in one shot. It takes a bit of plumbing experience, but it's totally worth it. There are benefits to closed loop filtration systems, but that's an entire other thread lol
 

SALTWAT3RFISH

Administrator
Staff member
You will find some form of fluidized bed filter in most of the largest most successful aquariums in the world. I don't think it's an "old school" method really. As long as you set them up properly, they can lessen many of the flooding risks associated with open sumps, they also allow for superior anaerobic bacteria colonization for systems with little live rock or shallow sand beds. They can drastically reduce evaporation. I do highly recommend a good HOTB protein skimmer like this one. https://www.saltwaterfish.com/product-reef-octopus-octo-classic-protein-skimmer-2000-hob
 
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