Stocking order for 40 gallon

[Lonewalkerr]

I’m setting up a 40-gallon breeder with a 20-gallon sump. I plan on either buying pre-quarantined fish from Dr. Reef’s Quarantined Fish. I know there are some mixed reviews, but I’m considering giving them a try.

I also have an observation quarantine tank (already cycled) where I’ll keep each fish or pair for 4–6 weeks before moving them to the display and prey there's no ich. My hope is that this will give each fish time to establish territory and help reduce aggression once the more dominant species are added. It's also a reason to have another tank set-up and the wife didn't push back.

I’ve read that royal grammas can sometimes be aggressive, but it’s my wife’s favorite fish from this list, so I’ve placed it near the top of the stocking order. Since this is my first tank, I really want to get things right.

Here’s the order I’ve planned so far:

1. Firefish
2. Royal Gramma
3. Goby + Pistol Shrimp Pair
4. Tailspot Blenny
5. Clownfish (pair) – unless there’s a strong reason to only keep one, but I’d really like a pair for this first tank
6. Mandarin Dragonet

If there's any fish that you believe should be replaced I'll definitely take it into consideration since I keep going back and fourth on the Firefish but don't know what to replace it with. I really want the royal gramma, clownfish, and mandarin (when the pod population is mature or buy a biota one but I feel it's near the end of the list)

 

[mpatterson42]

I think the order is fine, you might move the tailspot blenny up to #2 as they are very small and shy fish and giving it a head start on finding territory is a good idea.

My royal gramma is very shy (more shy than my firefish!), but I have heard of people having aggressive ones.