MarkW19 said:
so putting those 2 fish in my tank could cause water quality problems? What sort of problems?
Steve: I'm going to add a coral beauty next.
But, I really want either a 2" copperband butterfly, yellow long-nosed butterfly, or regal tang as my fourth and final fish.
The coral beauty would be okay for the 40
gal but that would be about it for your bioload other than mabye one more small fish. Keep in mind though that dwarf angels can be prone to coral nipping but it's a 50/50 chance either way.
The other three you've mention would be a bad choice for you current set up even if you intend on upgrading. There simpley isn't enough space for even one of them to live adequately in a 40
gal tank. Aside from bioload and aggression, there is a large chance or stunting the fish's natural growth and developement which will have long term affects of the fish's health and typically results in a much shorter life span.
how often should I be rinsing the filter media balls then?
A few times monthly at the least but preferably weekly. Be sure to use
SW though, not
FW.
Will my 2 fish be ok with the huge change in my aquascape?? And, re "cured" liverock. My
LFS says their cured liverock is ok to put straight into my tank, with no problems and ammonia spikes etc. Is this true?
The fish might be a little stressed with the addition of the new rock and the aquascaping but they should be fine as long as it doesn't take long. Many people aquascape over and over again but as long as the fish is healthy there should be no concerns.
As far as the
LR from the
LFS, unless they have had it for a minimum of 6 weeks curing in their store, it should be recured. Additions of even partially cured
LR will cause enough of a water quality issue you may lose a fish. Unless you know these people very well I wouldn't take the risk. It's really your call though.
I've upgraded my lighting - 2 36" actinic T5, 2 36" white T5 and moonlight LEDs for late at night (12am - 3am) and morning (9am - 12pm).
I'm just wondering about the order of the 4 T5 tubes in my lid - from front to back: white at front, then actinic, then white, then actinic. Is that ok?
It doesn't matter much really but most of your coral will likely end up running along the middle of the tanks rockscape. Personally I would have both white in the middle and the actinics on the outside slots.
have 9 hermit crabs (assortment of blue and red legged) and a fire shrimp. Will my corals be safe with them?
Nothing to worry about...
I'm keeping 2 x pachyclavularia sp., 2 x zoanthus sp., 2 x discosoma sp., 1 x sarcophyton sp., and 1 x capnella sp.
Is it really neccessary to add the actinic lighting to my 2 39w white T5s to keep these corals?
Actinics are not a necessary item in the strictest meaning of the word but they do help the fuorescence of many corals species and greatly improves the overall
visual appeal of a reef tank
IMO. Zoo's, GSP and
shrooms will definately show some good colors and the toadstool will possibley take on a pink, yellow or greenish hue. The capnella will have a little more defined color under the actinics but will not fluoresce.
Are these all just different shapes of the same coral (Toadstool leather coral), so therefore they all have exactly the same requirements?
All three of the images you posted will have the same basic care requirements. The last one looks more like
Cladiella though, not a
Sarcophyton.
Is carbon really necessary do you think? What could happen to my corals if I don't use it (I'm going to be feeding them DT's Live Phytoplankton)?
No carbon is not absolutely necessary but given you have no skimmer or refugium with macro algae to harvest, a good idea to use at least weekly. DT's is a decent product but you really don't need it for those corals although it will bolster the pod populations. The corals will only benefit from it marginally. If you do use it though do not overdo it. Over use will just cause enormous algae problems. Try to stick with once a week at most.
Cheers
Steve