New Tank

[T-6 Driver]

I'm about to start my second tank (sold the last one before I moved) and would like advice and inputs from others.

The current plan is:

40 Gallon Tall tank with a combination of Metal Halide and Actinic lighting. Protein skimmer + charcoal and two power heads for water flow and filtration.

50-55 lbs of live rock and a 3-5 in deep live sand bed. (Jaubert plenum)

Fish
1 Maroon Clownfish
3 Green Chromis
1 Manderin Dragonet (after the tank gets established, say 8-12 months or so)

Inverts
1 Cleaner Shrimp
2 Emerald crabs
2 Brittle Star Starfish
1 Royal Urchin
1 Ultra Blue Maxima Clam
Assorted Hermit Crabs and Snails

Coral
Hammer Coral (Euphillia sp.)
Colony Polyps (Zoanthus sp.)
Finger Coral (Porites sp.)
Plate Coral (Heliofungia actiniformis)
- and possibly, if there's space-
Pacific Rose Coral (Trachyphyllia radiata)
Elegance Coral (Catalaphyllia jardinei)

My estimate is that it should take 12 to 18 months to get this up and running.

[bertoni]

<img src="/images/welcome.gif" width="500" height="62"><br><b><i><big><big>To Reef Central</b></i></big></big>

Sounds fairly reasonable. The mandarin might be iffy in that size tank. The fish load is a bit high, IMO, but possibly doable. The maroon clownfish get huge; you might want to substitute a smaller species.

I'm not keen on crabs or hermit crabs because they are predatory, but some people like them.

I would skip the plenum. I think there's pretty good evidence now that they don't really work. I can provide some pointers if you're interested. If you want a DSB, I would go on the high end of your depth range, but you might want to do some research on that. Otherwise, an inch of sand for looks or no substrate have been known to work.

I'm also not sure that all those corals will fit, but I'm always forgetting sizes. This book is a good investment, IMO:

<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1890087483/reeflink" target="_blank"><b>Aquarium Corals</b></a><br>Selection, Husbandry, and Natural History<br><i>by Eric Borneman</i><br><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1890087483/reeflink" target="_blank"><img src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/1890087483.01.TZZZZZZZ.jpg"></a>

[Nuhtty]

I agree with the mandarin.

Unless you have a very large refugium, that fish can quickly use up its food supply