My 40 gallon project DR SEUSE

This is my 2nd post on this forum.. (1st was saying hello)

I have been in this hobbie for over almost two years now so i'm not exactly a newbie however I am always learning.

The goal with this 40gallon is to make for a pair of Mandarins that I will be getting soon.

the tank has cycled and I only have one blue hermit and one snail and a blue damsel with a yellow tail that i can't catch yet but will have him out soon

now please I have owned a mandarin and well aware of their needs of pods so please don't flame me for that.. I have already put two bottles of tigger pods and plan on putting a little bath container with chatoe in and im prepared to be adding pods every other week if i need too but obviously the goal is to not do that...

or even better i might get lucky with some trained mandarins

currently the setup is simple 40 gallon w/a tubulb t5 ho two power heads
and i'm thinking of getting a small HOB skimmer or refugium please suggestions for that would be nice

10 gallons of water and 1 of the rocks came from my established (1year+) 46 reef

what i'm really wondering if someone can help me out on what kind of bright and unique corals i can safely add w/just the two bulb t5

I want a lot of mushrooms for sure maybe a clam in the far future but please suggestions on the corals would be great

also, fish I know the two mandarins will be first and then once they are comfortable i want to add no more than 3 fish as time goes by no jumpers i will not have a top on this tank and nothing that will eat off too many of the pods i know all can and will eat them but I deff won't be adding a wrasse of any sort

I will snap some pictures of the tank tonight and might find add some mushrooms tonight as well as a peppermint shirmp just in case the new rock (2 weeks in the tank) has some aptasia that i haven't seen yet

happy to be here and looking forward to what u guys can suggest for me

-romie

 

Dendrophyllia and some nonphotosynthetic/photosynthetic gorgonians might fit the bill. Duncans would do fine as well. Green star polyps, if you do not mind their invasive nature. Green Sinularia and perhaps some cabbage coral.

 

Corailline. Thanks the first one you mentioned looks amazing I'm so glad that you replied I've seen you help give a lot of good advice to many users before I registered what do you think about the high fin banded goby. Are these guys jumpers

 

Thank you Romie.

I have never had a that type of Goby. All fish even Mandarins are jumpers, while probably not as prone to jumping as Wrasses. In fact I have had a Mandarin jump, very frustrating.

Have you looked at the DIY mesh tops at all? Easy to make, allows the light and gas exchange. Just a thought.

As far as tank mates for the Mandarins, you might have an issue even with a Goby secondary to both types of fish sharing the same zone/level in the tank. The Goby will not hunt down the Mandarin, but if the Mandarin is passing the Gobies burrow it might become victim of aggression.

Dart fish might be a good passive choice, but they are jumpers. The Chalk Bass or Royal Gramma if added last tend to on the less aggressive side.

With all that said the High Fin is a small fish and may very well fit in.

 

i forgot about that netting that's a great idea i will look into that...!!!!

 

i promised some pix but i worked late last night and by the time i got home my lights were off..

i did snap some pix of my 46 bow with the moonlights on
sorry about the picture quality




my kryptonite candy cane


armor of god

 

I dig the concept of a Dr. Seuss tank... Following. I'd look for anything that has a whimsical growth pattern (not sure what would fit the bill here without going SPS) and cool colors. Maybe some acans/blastos/micromussas/favias. Lot's of color combinations possible with those. A Torch or a Frogspawn would be a nice add as well.

 

that's the plan..!

mushrooms acans some colorful palys
i have a purple tip frogspawn in my 46 that i want to move over or frag but i'm scared to frag the frogspawn

did you see the person that posted that twisting coral from happy coral?? it was in a spiral i would love to find one of those!

I have never ordered off the internet corals or fish and very nervous about that as well

how does the shipping work becuase i would hate to ship it home and it just sits there till i get home at 7pm or to my work which would be the same thing just sitting here till i get home? is that a problem how do you guys usually deal w/that? i guess at work at least it wouldn't be sitting on my front porch

 

and by the way ELWOLFE
your 90g looks very nice! i wish i left more space on the sides in my 46 like u did for cleaning but oh well too late now... next time i move or rearrange i will be doing that as well

 

for a diffrent and look what about getting the plastic decorations and glueing the zoas to them. they then can grow in what ever patternyou want and whatever color you want without alot of light needs.