hi everyone!!

[Bullitt3123]

so i just bought a 40g breeder at the petco sale.
just stopping by and saying hi. i was wondering how many fish and what kind can i have in there? also what heater would you guys recommend?

[CKI]

Is this your first SW build?

[Bullitt3123]

yep

[CKI]

First Welcome to RC! Lots of good people here ...

How much live rock do you have?
How much Sand?

As far as your questions .. the heater, look for one around 125w i personally use a Eheim.


Fish...well... www.liveaquaria.com That will show you tons of fish and min. tank sizes... just remember dont over stock! Also, what are you running as far as filtration? will you be using a sump set up?

[Bullitt3123]

im thinking about getting 10lbs of live rock and 30lbs of dead rock, also 50lbs of sand.
ive been reading that 2 heaters is recommended....is that true?

and what is the general rule of thumb for stocking fish?

[CKI]

I only run one heater on my 75 gallon.... and the general rule is 1" per gallon, but every case is different, figure out what kind of fish you want and let us know and we can help ya out from there!

[Bullitt3123]

i was thinking these fish flame hawkfish, 3 blue reef chomis, lemonpeel angelfish,2 clownfish
kauderns cardinal, engineer goby, high fin red banded goby, indigo dottyback, black stripped cardinal,black cap basslet

[ReefTron5000]

That is way too many fish for a 40 gallon tank bud.

[CKI]

Need a bigger tank for that angelfish ... do you plan to have corals?

[Bullitt3123]

i plan to have some corrals....i just dont know what kind yet

[Bullitt3123]

also is a sump require red?

[Reefer54]

a sump is preferred always. the best advice you can get from anyone here is to go get some good books and read them twice before you make more decisions...never buy on impulse.

Books by Calfo or Sprung as well as some revered others are always considered great resources. Of course the newer editions are more up to date as this hobby has taken leaps and bounds in the last 5 years, let alone the last 25 years.

If it were my 40 g I would get 3 fish....1 sand sifting goby, a coral beauty, and a clown. 1 scarlet cleaner shrimp. you can fudge on the smaller side when it comes to LR as many corals you buy will end up coming on a piece, especially if they not little frags.

research research research...and when you have a question, come ask it. keeping fish and coral is fun, replacing them is not.

[Bullitt3123]

yea i figured it was way to many fish for the little tank. so ive been seeing that a lot of people paint the back of the tank...is there any benefit to it?

[athompson]

as far as heaters go, I would run two, at opposite ends. In my experience, this allow a more even heat distrubution. Also, as I have found out the hard way, heaters malfunction and you have no way to know it until your temp is off. If you run two, and one malfunctions, atleast you have a backup. No it's not necessary, but I am of the belief better safe than sorry.

[Bullitt3123]

what kind/brand of heater would you recommend?

[Cu455]

I have several tanks set up and have been through many heaters. I think the marineland stealth heater is the best. It is heavy so it sinks and you don't really have to worry about suction cups. The heater comes in a hard case which does a great job of protecting it. Mine has taken a beating. It is not glass so I don't think it can shatter. I have to warn you that there was a recall because they exploded. Out of over 1 million produced 45 were reported to be faulty. I have seen many heaters shatter, I figure this is just as much of a risk as the other heaters.

[Bullitt3123]

so something like this http://www.marinedepot.com/Eheim_Jager_TruTemp_250_Watt_Fully_Submersible_UL_Approved_Heater_Glass_Tube_Aquarium_Heaters-Jager-EJ1111-FIHTGH-EJ1121-vi.html

also what size power heads would i need?

[athompson]

I'm upset with Marineland right now, because I bought a 75W heater for my 10 gallon nano and it quit working within 3 or 4 days. I run marinelands on a few other of my tanks and haven't had any problems. That being said, I sent an email to Marineland and they are replacing the heater free of charge, so that is nice. The fact that it malfunctioned so quickly being brand new, and that heaters are such an important part to one's tank that i'm skeptical now. I hear eheim jagers are about the best you can buy, but I have no experience with them.

[athompson]

generally your powerhead needs to turn over your total tank volume 10x-20x an hour.

[Bullitt3123]

so i would need 2 that moves 400-800gph?
any brands i should lean towards?

[robotman]

so i would need 2 that moves 400-800gph?
any brands i should lean towards?

I have a koralia 1150 in my 55g tank, plus the return pump from the sump.

[Bullitt3123]

so then i would need a 10? 20?g sump plus another powerhead and that should be fine?

[athompson]

Well, add Penn Plax to my list of crappy heaters.... In my 75 gallon my 300W busted. Only about 6-7 months old. Thank God I have dual heaters in that tank. My only concern: the other heater is a Marineland. That's it, I'm only buy Eheims from now on. Just thought I'd put that out there since you had asked about heaters.

[Bullitt3123]

Thanks for the info. Yea that seems to be the general idea that an eheim is the best heater to add.
So I just bought a 20g for a sump build, would it be better to add 2 heaters instead of just one?

[athompson]

I wouldnt say it is required but i think id prolly do 2 75w heaters. Thats just me tho

[Bullitt3123]

wont the 75w heaters not be enough?

[athompson]

I didnt take into account a sump. You can bump it up to 2 100 watts