I have a 40 gallon tank (48long 18 tall 12wide) and was thinking about a pair or two of clownfish and a yellowback gramma and a gobie or two no coral unless Idont have to feed plankton or something and maybe an anemone even if Ihave to feed it
If you can keep an anemone in the tank then you can keep photosynthetic corals that do not require plankton feeding. They basically have the same requirements (with anemone's being a bit on the pickier side).
Ok how about:
Diamond watchman goby(valenciennea puellaris)
1-2 purple fire fish (nemateleotris decora)
orchid dottyback (pseudochromis fridmani)
Maybe a group of yellowtail damsels ( chrysiptera parasema)
Pair of or one black clownfish (amPhiprion ocellaris var.)
(shrimp could be with goby if compatible with other tankmates) let me know if I could add more or if I can keep some on the list but not all.
I'd dump the damsels, I know they're tempting but so many stories of a fine fish that suddenly starts terrorizing a tank. Then you have to tear the tank down to get the damsel out.
I would look at a blenny instead if the damsels. I have a black sailfin blenny, but they are many kinds and they have great personalities.
I have a diamond watchman, he's cool looking but a bit shy. My yellow watchman is much more bold. My ywg is paired with a candy pistol shrimp, highly recommend as well to go with a goby.
I love live aquaria! they have the best selection ever! I will check it out. Are there places that I can get cheap but healthy live rock? Now many pounds do I need
Do you have to have live rock? Personally I would do the brs Eco saver rock. I did their pukani rock, and had some pretty bad algae problems. I would get 25 to 35 lbs of dry rock and get a piece or two of live rock to get started.