Is 40 gallons good enough for a good saltwater tank?

Question

i want community fish ..am going to start off with just live rock and fish and later move to coarls little by little

and when i start it i just siphone the water not the live sand ? right?

any advice is welcomed . and am sure 40 gallons is good cause i see small 10 gallons at the aqueriuam places that look beautiful . and name me some great fish to have am an expert at freshwater so gave me all types of fish that i should have not just the easy ones but the good ones and please ADVICE!!!

o and am boiling some of my freshwater sand to use in my upcoming saltwater rank and i am still going to put live sand

Answer 1

A 40 is fine, depending on the ADULT size and number of fish you want. I started with a 29, but added a 55 in less than a year since the 29 couldn't hold all the fish and inverts I wanted. Now I'm up to three tanks (WARNING! - this is addictive!)

Just research the needs of the specific fish you want, since territoriality and aggression play a big factor in which fish are compatible. You can't keep as many fish per tank as you can in freshwater without having problems with behavior or water quality (so big is definitely better and gives you more options). And even fish that don't seem to be that large may need a big tank if the fish is highly active.

You just want to siphon the water at a level that it pulls up anything laying on the surface of the sand - if you get tto close, the sand will be pulled up as well. I advise people to have a long enough hose on the siphn that you can bend the hose enough to put a small crimp in it. This slows the flow a little, so if any sand gets pulled into the siphon, you can close your hand quickly and stop the flow - this will let the sand fall back into the tank.

I would also suggest rethinking adding sand to your tank for two reaons. One, the actual sand isn't made of carbonate material to help buffer the pH of your water (live sand isn't beach sand as you might think, it's very small shell and coral and keeps the pH from falling below 7.8 - the pH should be 8.2-8.4, so this could save some of your organisms if the pH drops). Also, quartz sand is composed of silica which diatons (a forn of brown algae) uses to make it's shell. If you provide it with silica in the tank, you'll have a problem with this algae.

In a 40 gallon, I would suggest any of these (although I'm listing too many to keep all of them, pick a few you like): a pair of percula or ocellaris clownfish (any two juveniles of the same species will become a pair), a school of chromis, a canary blenny, a longnose hawkfish, 1-2 cardinalfish (if 2, they will have to be sexed to be sure you have a male and female), a clown goby, a school of scissortail gobies, a jawfish, a dartfish/firefish, or a dwarf angelfish (more aggressive, so keep with larger tankmates). You can get an idea of these in the following links: http://www.tropicalfishoutlet.com/ , http://www.marinedepotlive.com/ , http://www.liveaquaria.com/

on substrates: http://www.caribsea.com/pages/products/substrates.html - see examples of the dry aragonite and live sand - also has a good chart for choosing what type/size to use

on diatoms: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/brownalgcontfaqs.htm

Answer 2

40 gallons is fairly small for most saltwater species. Pet stores can get away with housing marine fish in inadequately sized aquariums because this is generally not a permanent situation and the fish are usually sold before capacity/bioload issues arise.


For a tank this size you might consider a small school of one of the following fish:

Banggai Cardinal
Chromis
Ocellaris Clownfish
Firefish
Neon Blue Goby
Red Headed Goby


Be mindful of the needs of the fish you intend to stock and make sure everything you've got in mind is compatible and share similar temperature requirements.



I'm a little confused about your boiling sand from your freshwater tank. It might be better if you simply stuck with live sand or crushed coral. This way it's not so fine that your gravel vac would get clogged with sand particles during water changes.

Answer 3

yes it is
u have a 20 gallon nano tank

Answer 4

Hi,
It should be enough to hold lots of fish, a school of saltwater fish or any other other saltwater creatures. Like shrimps and stingrays. You can put in about 10-20 saltwater fish in that 40gal tank. Good luck and your so lucky.

Answer 5

It is big enough, but I would get about a 55 gal. aquarium.

Answer 6

yes it is