Originally Posted by
trouble93
http:///forum/post/2835524
First of all if you walk into a fish store and they let you walk out with a bag of salt in one hand and a bag with fish in the other you never want to go back there again because they don't care about what goes in your tank then in there pockets. You might want to do some more reading on the fish you want to put in a 40gal. tank. That eel will out grow that tank before you know it, but even before that you have to let you tank cycle 12lbs. of lr is not enough. What will happen is you will get half way through a cycle then add more rock and have to start all over again. Do you have a water test kit yet? What kind of lighting do you have? I know you said you are running a canister filter, what type of media are you using these are the things you need to address first the fish will come later down the line. Remember this your LFS are just after your money we want to help you enjoy this hobby of ours.
first off no one has sold me any fish as of yet, which is why i am doing all of this research. i think that the main issue here is both of the fish stores in santa monica that are reasonably close to me are both run by foreigners with very thick accents. it is difficult for me to follow what they are saying in terms of fish lingo, and on top of that their english is somewhat broken. that being said, i think this process has somehow become entirely more complicated than it should be.
to answer your question about the media that is in my canister filter, i'm not sure what it is called - they actually opened up the package and put it in the canister for me at the store. it is the little white circular pieces that are somewhat chalky, if that makes sense. and then some smaller black ones on the top layer that stayed in a bag. i hope that answers your question.
anyhow, so let's figure out what i do next. apparently i need about 20 more lbs of live rock, correct? so i'll go toss those in and wait a month? and yes, i have a water test kit.
so as for tank size issues, having a 40 gallon tank was seemingly huge in my first pass, but now i am seeing that maybe it is smaller than i figured. from my research i have found the following:
- Blackfoot Lionfish: Full size 8 inches. Is this true? If not, would I need a Dwarf Lionfish?
- Puffer: I want to put a puffer in my tank, but is there a puffer small enough to fit in a 40 gal without outgrowing it?
- Is there any species of eel that will fit in a 40 gal?
Other than the above questions, what fish would one recommend for a 40 gal FOWLR that would live with a Lionfish?