will this work for a reef tank?

[fishieness]

hey guys, im upgrading my snowflake eel into a 40 gallon breeder tank and i would like to put some corals and anenomes in there. For filtration i have a tetra-tec300 which is good for tanks up to 60 gallons. I will also have to get a skimmer. For tankmates i woudl like to get a fu manchu lion fish and maybe in a year or two a mandarin dragonette if im able to pack around 75 pounds of live rock in there. For lighting i will be getting the 36 inch, jebo/odyssea lighting. Its 192 watts or PC and maybe even two of them sence i can fit it on my tank. So then ill have 384 watts of PC. WOuld this be overkill? Keep in mind my tank is only 16 inches high so i would proabalby be okay with only 192 watts seeing how everything will be on top of live rock too. Ill havae a lot of live rock and live sand. Would this be possible to make a reef tank with my equipment and fish selections?

 

[fishieness]

oo, sorry, one more question i forgot to include in the above... what about pH? Salinity levels? Where should those be at? Also what about calcium?

 

[iluvmetang]

no please do not put a dragonet in there the eel will eat it as an expensive snack

 

[iluvmetang]

and those fish a lion and an eel no way in that small a tank i would recomend a 75g or a 90g and some would recomend larger(just dont put in a dragonet it will die and but you need to read up before you do something like that)

 

[fishieness]

yes, i was worried about the dragonette, and didnt think he would do well, but was wondering as long as i got him big. But dont worry, i wasnt going to jsut put one in. I may not know much, but i know enough about them to knwo not to do that. Notice how i asked about MAYBE putting one in after "a year of two". But as far and the fu manchu and the snowflake, it was said to me and others i have read other times by many other people that i could put a snowflake and a fuzzy dwarf in a tank this size as long as i have good filtration. But fu manchu only gets 4 inches, so thats an extra 3 inches shorter than a fuzzy dwarf that i would have for. Sorry, maybe i didnt say it was going to be a snowflake eel and a fu manchu. Two of the much smaller types. Im not talking about a green moray and a V. lion or anything.

 

[acrylic51]

Tank is to small!!!!

 

[bdhough]

For a dwarf lion you should be fine as well as a snowflake. BUT you will not be able to keep any other fish in this tank whatsoever. All WILL Be eaten by either of the two other inhabiants. You will also not be able to keep shrimp and i think starfish as they will be eaten as well. You will have to be carefull with both the eel and lion one biting you the other stinging you as they may come out of no where from the rock. As for the corals they won't look twice at those. Stick to lps and softies and you should be fine.
As a side note you may want to look into getting a 50 breeder. I have one and allglass aquariums makes it. I got mine for 130. Only catch is you have to get your lfs to order it for you. Same width and height as a 40 just taller

 

[fishieness]

thats a good idea. Yeah, i wasnt planning on having any other types of fish in there with it. And for a clean up crew i wanted to rely on some snails, tons of hermit crabs, and possible a coral banded shrimp or a few of the large, but not too larg crabs.
now that i think about it, anenomes probably wouldnt be wise since the snowflake and the fu manchu will be crawling around in the live rock most of the time, so i dont watn them to get stung.
How many watts would i need for some of the harder corals? Just wondering. Cause i wil have 192 in only a 16 inche high tank. So if they were at the top like a few inches form the surface, would that be okay?
I'll look into a 50 though. I got my 40 breeder at ***** for 100, but my cousin works there so i got it for 80 with the discount.

 

[bdhough]

Well. The coral banded will hold his own for a little while. BUT will eventually be eaten by one or the other inhabitants. Coral bandeds release their claws and run. They won't be able to run very far in your tank. Unfortunately no fish in that tank. Better off getting crabs. Since you brought up stinging. Yes it will happen. Anything that sways thats lps can potentially do that. A 192 pc will allow you to keep most corals except for SPS. Most anything else should do nicely in your tank bearing in mind the stinging. No anemones unless you have a halide. Youll keep one alive for a month or two then it will die plus the stinging.