40 cube stocking.

[Hunnid]

Hey everyone I'm new to saltwater, and I'm setting up an Aquatop 40 gallon Recife. I've almost got it cycled and am close to being able to stock it. For stocking I was thinking
- a pair of Fancy Black Ocellaris
- a Royal Gramma
- a Bicolor Dottyback
- 1 or 2 Peppermint shrimp
- 20 Hermit Crabs
- 10 snails
What do you guys think? Should this stocking work? Of course I would add these slowly, starting with the cleaning crew most likely.

 

[Rtaylor]

Should be ok, dottybacks can be aggressive so that would be the watch out. You could add a few more small fish if you avoided that one.

 

[nereefpat]

That dotty will most likely not tolerate the gramma.

 

[Zionas]

x2 Ocellaris Clowns

x1 Royal Gramma (Bicolor is a prick)

x1 shrimp and goby pair

x1 Cherub / Flameback Angel

x1 Azure / Starcki’s Damsel

Any issues?

Or maybe replace either angel or Damsel with a blenny.

But IMO the blue varieties of damsels and the angel are prettier.

 

[Zoa_Fanatic]

Do not get a bicolor dottyback. Dottybacks (except for the orchid dottyback) are the spawn of satan. They’re so mean. You can do an orchid OR a royal gramma the colors of both are similar and they won’t tolerate each other. I would go 20-30 snails ans like 3 hermits. Hermits are morons and will knock over your coral. I have 5 in my biocube 32 ( 3 dwarf blue legs, one scarlet, and one zebra). If I could do it again I’d only get scarlets or zebras. Dwarf blue legs eat snails and knock over my coral. My scarlet and zebra hermit don’t hurt anybody.

 

[yourmom]

I'm also stocking a 40 cube currently so I came to read comments... Here's what I have:

Single clown (might replace with a pair) "Raava" (She killed Vaatu. I'm over her.)
bicolor blenny (had him for 2 years, he's grump AF) "Tommy Twotone"
young royal gramma "Princess Carolyn"
yellow watchman goby + pistol shrimp (HIGHLY recommend this pair) "Ron & Leslie"
1 cleaner shrimp "Garlic"
1 turbo snail, 5 trochus (one is BIG) and 7 nassarius snails (only Gossamer is named)
1 emerald crab (found some bubble algae) "Fenway"
a tiger sand conch (love them, will always have one) "Barry"

I won't have hermits again. I can't handle them eating my snails and conchs. I have to prioritize and I like nice tank mates so hermits don't make the cut! I've added several corals and an anemone that's doing well. I need another swimmer, all but my clown are rock/bottom-dwellers, so it's not as active as I'd like. I may add a neon goby, banggai cardinal, or a non-aggressive wrasse. 40s are hard to stock because we can't do a tang or larger reef fish. I'm already looking forward to an opportunity to upgrade!

 

[polyppal]

I won't have hermits again. I can't handle them eating my snails and conchs. I have to prioritize and I like nice tank mates so hermits don't make the cut! I've added several corals and an anemone that's doing well. I need another swimmer, all but my clown are rock/bottom-dwellers, so it's not as active as I'd like. I may add a neon goby, banggai cardinal, or a non-aggressive wrasse. 40s are hard to stock because we can't do a tang or larger reef fish. I'm already looking forward to an opportunity to upgrade!

There are aggressive murdering/cannibal hermits, and much more docile/peaceful ones. The ones you want to look for are dwarf zebras

 

[polyppal]

Hey everyone I'm new to saltwater, and I'm setting up an Aquatop 40 gallon Recife. I've almost got it cycled and am close to being able to stock it. For stocking I was thinking
- a pair of Fancy Black Ocellaris
- a Royal Gramma
- a Bicolor Dottyback
- 1 or 2 Peppermint shrimp
- 20 Hermit Crabs
- 10 snails
What do you guys think? Should this stocking work? Of course I would add these slowly, starting with the cleaning crew most likely.

Just remember the fish in a cube seldom fill out the whole water column, they usually stay in the mid and lower portions of the aquarium and it can get crowded.

I would do half as many crabs, and choose either the gamma or dottyback. Other than that you should be fine!

 

[yourmom]

There are aggressive murdering/cannibal hermits, and much more docile/peaceful ones. The ones you want to look for are dwarf zebras

But I'd still need spare shells or they'd come after my snails, yes? I gave my murderous hermits plenty of homes, it was like HGTV up in that tank and they still ate everything I loved