First Saltwater Tank Stocking Options.

[scottbennett86]

Hello. I am starting my first saltwater tank. I have been busy and had the time to wait so am just finishing up a fish less cycle in my 40 gallon(nitrites are falling) aquarium with sump using dry rock. Once my cichlids that are in my 120 grow enough to go into my 180 it will become my saltwater tank.

The biggest concerns I have are about stocking are related to the green mandarin goby. It is the fish that I want more than any other sw fish.

I have found many "compatible" fish that I like but many of them are small carnivores. My concern is that if I get to many of them will they eat to many copepods to support the mandarin if I can't get mine to eat prepared foods?

Secondly I understand that mandarins are not a good beginner fish and am curious about how to begin stocking the tank.

The fish I am interested in are(in no particular order)

A pair of clowns- no particular species in mind many appeal to me

Pajama Cardinal fish- not sure how many would be a good number.

Algae blenny

Firefish

Watchman goby

Fox face

Yellow tang

Black cap or royal gamma basslet

I am sure I have missed a few. Also coming from African cichlids where over stocking is a good thing to saltwater I am unsure how to judge how many fish to keep.

Sorry for the long post and thankyou.

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[heath]

welcome to the site, that is a nice variety of fish... most are very hardy except for the mandarin..what ever you decide just remember to go slow...

 

[Luke.]

Welcome ! I have a 40 gallon tank aswell and yes i have had a madrian biggest problem keeping the pod stock up to par with the fish they can eat a lot and you could be spending a lot on pods ive spent over $100 and he died about 4 months later and my tank is about 2yeats old before I treid one

Stick to 1 bigger fish I have
1 tang
2 clowns
1Yellow wrasse with putple tail
1 fire fish
1 Cardinal

And I wouldn't add another thery get territorial in a smaller tank . Good luck !

 

[Nonuser]

if your new to salt and this is a 40 gallon your starting go with a pair of clowns then hold off as long as you can before adding any more fish if possible. Its unfortunately true that it takes forever to get a tank to the stage where you can keep a mandarin goby with cope pods. Others may disagree but the 6 months to a year to get your feet wet. Ive kept fresh for over 25 years and been in the saltwater game a year and a half? any ways its a totally different animal inf you want corals lights and the more you buy the more you want and then you have a crash. Its hard to juggle more than one SW tank not impossible but hard.

There are great people here with more experience and knowledge than I will ever have, so take notes, read everything and then experiment slowly.

Salt is 10 times less forgiving than fresh. But clowns or Cardinals are pretty hardy so start there and good luck and welcome

 

[scottbennett86]

Clowns and cardinals being more resilient is probably the number one reason they are on the list.
Keeping the mandarin is my primary goal. This is a long term goal. Not until after my cichlids vacate the 120 though.

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[AdInfinitum]

Another note on maintaining fauna for pod eaters...Many of the creatures that people add to their tanks as "clean up crew" will actually decimate the system's micro fauna before they start to scavenge.

 

[scottbennett86]

Hmmm.... Did not know that. Would these clean up crew be something like hermit crabs eating them?

What would you recommend as far as a pod safe clean up crew?

 

[AdInfinitum]

In fairness I will point out that I am very much in the minority here regarding the keeping of "clean up crew". Keep anything that you find interesting, but don't keep anything just because you have been led to believe that it is necessary. The micro fauna themselves along with the assortment of worms etc. that will inevitably grow inside rocks and sand bed are more than enough to consume uneaten foods. Sand sifting stars, conchs, hermits etc. will consume enormous quantities of fauna...which is great if your aim is to keep those creatures. However if they are only in your tank to serve some alleged purpose and you wish to keep something else that depends on pods or the like, then you have to choose. Just don't fall for the too common misconception that these creatures are required to keep a successful system.

 

[scottbennett86]

I have done some reading and decided to change some things

1. I temporarily had a 20 hooked on the side to keep my extra live rock live. I am going to keep it like that except tweak it to improve it as a Refugium.

2. Also read some articles about clean up crews. Have to say I agree with the assessment that many clean up crew members will hurt the pod population (though only through reading not experience-yet) . I think the best course of action for me will be to introduce mostly members that do not eat pods. With the exception of the ones I want(or the wife wants) But only keep very few of them.

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[LIttle Reef Keeper]

A fuge is a great idea! Mandarins are actually one of the the easiest fish to keep because you don't have to feed them haha, just have to watch there's enough pods to sustain them. With good filtration I don't think that's over stocking. But just remember that a tang going into a smaller tank will cause stress, so it needs to be quarantined or you will have a problem!

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