Need ideas for stocking a 40 gallon breeder

[jwilkey2468]

Hey guys, I’m currently in the process of planning a 40 gallon reef tank and need ideas for stocking. I definitely plan on keeping 2 clownfish and a cleaner shrimp. Other than that, I’m not sure what else I would want to put in the tank. What will make a good clean up crew? Also what other fish are good to keep in a beginner reef tank that are beautiful and have personalities

As far as how many fish I should keep, should I follow the 1” to 1gallon rule?

-thank you

 

[NeonRabbit221B]

So in mine I have 2 clowns, an algae blenny, a aiptasia eating filefish 2 mandarin gobys. I have also had in the past a 6 line and valentini puffer. For a CUC you should aim for snails that can right themselves when flipped over and preferably ones that can reprduce (trochus). I can't suggest mandarin's for a newbie but the rest are fairly easy.

 

[Timfish]

Royal Grammas, a group of 3 or 4 should be ok and besides swimming in their sides or upside down they "greet" each other when they get close. Hermits, an urchin and brittle stars for CUC.

 

[Frogspon]

might be a little small but a betta could potentially work for a few months

 

[blaxsun]

For a cleanup crew I like urchins, black cucumbers, conches, trochus and nassarius snails. And a good assortment of halloween, blue and scarlet hermit crabs. I also have some emerald and porcelain crabs, which are always entertaining.

In terms of fish, I’ve had good success with clowns, dottybacks, dwarf angels, blennies and damsels (and most are fairly reasonable in terms of price).