Its almost time to add some livestock to my tank.

[fijiwigi]

I am unsure of what I want to add to my 46GA tank. I know I want to have a reef tank. (4watts per gallon of lighting) I have the live rock I have the sand I am ordering the protein skimmer I will have it 1month from now. And I have started using reverse osmosis water. I currently have 1 turbo snail 3 of the small snails white shell? 1 tiny hermit crab and like 6 extremely small snails. And 1 clownfish. I will probably add some beginner corals come first of the year(Starter Pack from Dr fosters smith) But I really do not know what kind of livestock to add to my tank. All I really know is that my goal is to have a lot of life to look at with a lot of action in the tank. The tank is in my living room and I find that I look at it more than my television even though it has practically nothing but rocks and a baby clownfish. I think I want to have a cucumber, starfish, shrimp, sallylight foot crab, long spine sea urchin, blenny(not sure which one), some kind of clam, some pulsating xenia, tubeworms, BTanemone, And I have absolutely no idea what kind of fish to purchase or even if I really need one other than the one clown. I really like the yellow tang or some kind of angelfish. Granted I don't know that I have a large enough tank for all of that or even that it will happen anytime soon these are just some ideas. I was interested in hearing some advice from my Aquarium advice experts. I know to be patient and take it slow and that since I only have a small tank I am limited on options>????? Any ideas?

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Yes... you're limited with a 46g. Same size tank as mine. I wouldn't go for a tang with that size, and if you want to keep corals then I'd avoid any of the dwarf angelfish. Some are said to be "reef safe", but it sounds like they'll all nip corals at some point in their lives - it just might take them a while to get a taste for it. Current fishy inhabitants for me are a clown, a Bangaii cardinal, three blue/green chromis, and a yellow clown goby. (The goby is currently in quarantine, but I think he'll eventually return to the main!) It doesn't seem like a lot of fish, but I consider myself maxed out.

If you want "a lot of action" the chromis will definitely do that for you. They're all over the place. Clown gobies also have a lot of personality, and don't add much to your bioload. I think you've got plenty of choices for fish - it's just a matter of what you want.

Oh... you might think twice about the cucumber - they have the ability to pretty much kill everything in your tank if they feel stressed. Beautiful creatures, but in a small tank they just seem too risky for me.

 

[melosu58]

Your 4 wpg is really only going to be ok for soft and LPS corals. Your wattage is only medium lighting but you can still have some nice looking corals. You will not be able to do SPS or other high light corals.

 

[fijiwigi]

I know about the lighting I am going to start with some real basic stuff just to get a feel for it and later on if I choose to do more I can purchase one of the pendant metal halide lights to add an extra 150w giving me about 7 wpg. Also I am still unsure of a good lighting schedule?? I usually turn on the the 192 watts 96x2. for an hour in the morning and about 3 hours in the evening. I still need to purchase a timer. I was debating leaving my light on all day but concerned about hair algae growth. Hopefully the reverse osmosis water I started adding 2 weeks ago and the protein skimmer that I am getting this month will help. My clean up crew is still pretty small as well.

 

[melosu58]

As far as a schedule you can leave it on 8-12 hours. I leave mine on from 9A-9p.

 

[jollylager]

Dont be so negative, I have seen 12gal tanks bursting with life, you can do a lot with a 46 gal! Try to get some more snails and maybe some gobies. You can get more "nanofish" by staying away from the bigger fish, and they tend to have interesting personalities. Firefish, watchmen, diamonds, and the like are all great goby species. A lot of good small fish stick there. (If the white ones have a thin cone shaped shell they may be Ivory cerith snails.) Cerith snails are great at reef cleaning, so are Nerites and the like. If your really small snails live in the sand and have a colorful brown shell they may be a planaxis snail, I just got some for my substrate. Just do lots of research before you buy fish. (And don't forget about inexpensive and highly personable damselfish-not as bad as people think they are, much more peaceful than the six line wrasse).

 

[melosu58]

Dont be so negative,

Who is being negative? I just see people stating there opinion.