Hello from Staten Island, New York

Hello 3reef i hope all is well. Ive been researching numerous things about the hobby and always found myself here so i guess it was meant to be that i join the family. I have found nothing but intelligent, insightful people on this site and trust you guys more then my lfs. I currently just set up a 40 gallon and though i am not new to the hobby financial problems and my patience were always an issue. This time around many years later i decided to take my time and with 3reef's help hopefully make my tank will be a success. Currently on 3rd week of cycle.

Tank specs:
40 gallon high
40 pounds live sand
45lbs live rock (plan to get some more from brs)
2 Coralife aqualight t5. 1 24" fixture(from previous tank) 1 36" fixture
2 10,000 bulbs 2 actinic
Fluval 306 o i know i know. Planning to upgrade to a sump in near future)
Reef Octopus Bh1000 (in mail should be here this week.)
2 Hydor Koralia Nano Circulation Pump/Powerhead 425gph



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Welcome to 3reef! Your tank looks totally awesome! It also looks bigger than 40 gallons.

 

Welcome to 3reef! What are your livestock plans?

 

Welcome, and nice tank. I look forward to seeing it grow!

 

Welcome to 3reef!

 

Welcome to 3reef, looks like an excellent start.

 

Thank you everybody. As far as livestock options go Marshall i wasn't really sure. I would love to go reef but not having much experience with it i am a little hesitant. I am a big fan of no risk no reward so i may start of small with some frags and just let them grow along with my tank . I was thinking maybe some polyps and mushroom leather corals would be good starters. As for fish i know reef safe fish and volume is an issue. I wanted to do a clown pair, a goby, and maybe a reef safe wrasse. Let me know what you guy think and what is a good way of working my way into having a reef tank. Nothing but open ears here =). Oh yeah and off course a clean up crew of some sort.

 

That is exactly how I started; with easy soft corals and have since moved on to LPS and some easier SPS. Zoas & Mushrooms would be a great start, as you are likely never to want to rid them from the tank like you would if you added things like Xenia, Colt/Kenya Tree, Green Star Polyps, etc.

Your fish list would actually work just fine for that tank. Actually, what are your tank dimensions? I am unfamiliar with a 40 high. If it is 3' long, I think any Flasher Wrasse would do quite well, or even a smaller Fairy Wrasse. You could also look into Possum Wrasse, as they are excellent reef fish, especially in a smaller tank. You could do a Goby (not a sand sifter, but a watchman would work maybe paired with a pistol shrimp), as well as a blenny (an omnivore, such as a Tail Spot, etc). 5-6 smaller fish should do quite well as long as they are given enough space (i.e. one in the sand (goby), one on rocks (blenny), one-two in the column and through the rocks (wrasse), and the clowns (hosted by something in your tank so they should stay in their own area). Then you can also add a shrimp or two, or other inverts such as a Sea Urchin. If you are considering LPS corals, I would get a Blood Red Fire Shrimp instead of a Scarlett Skunk Cleaner as my Skunk steals any and all food I try to spot food where as the Blood Red does not.

Goal is to take it slow; ideally you would quarantine all new fish for 4-6 weeks. Either way, space out new fish by at least 2 weeks, preferably a month. Corals do not need to be spaced out between additions, but you do not want to add too many at first, as you want to make sure your husbandry can allow them to live and grow. Wait at least 2 months before adding anything, except maybe a minimal clean up crew.

Probably more info than you needed, but hope you can use some of this info