Thanks to many of the members on this board, my 40g mixed tank has made it about a year, and has stabilized with fish and coral growing. There have been bumps on the way and I am still learning, but these are some thoughts I would share with other newcomers.
1. Just go with the sump, in case you’re on the fence. Makes life easier. I started with out one, but added within a couple months. I didn’t want to buy an overpriced acrylic box, so I just made my own from a 20g tank. Pros: You don’t have to lift buckets high for water changes. Put a big piece of sponge in your return compartment and your mechanical filtration is done. Plus you have room for stuff like a ...
2. Reactor. I couldn’t get my phosphates down, regardless of water changes, decreased feeding etc. But then I started running Rowaphos. Made a huge difference, corals started growing much better.
3. An ATO + kalk does wonders to keep things stable. Now, two major parameters , salinity and Ca++ should be OK so you don’t have to worry about all the time. No tinkering with 2 part or dosers. One day, my tank will need more calcium, but that will be a good day and I will worry about that later.
4. Go with a Chinese BB light and save some money to spend on other reef stuff. Photons are photons, regardless of how much you pay for the light. Maybe there are some advantages to certain spectrums, but I think the hype is overblown and you run into diminishing returns. I initially went with a Kessil A360x , but wanted brighter. I sold it and bought a viparspectra 300w light with money to spare. Great decision. After acclimating corals, I have it blasting and SPS and my clam are doing well.
5. Wait 6 months before adding signficant coral. After 6 months with the GFO, the tank stabilized and I had coralline algae. Corals started doing much better and I stopped having corals melt off into nothing.
6. Easy to overlook, but have a power outage plan to keep the water moving and aerated in an emergency.
This is all super basic stuff to the experienced folk, but maybe some of this advice may help prevent some headaches for newcomers as they start.
Good luck and happy reefing!
1. Just go with the sump, in case you’re on the fence. Makes life easier. I started with out one, but added within a couple months. I didn’t want to buy an overpriced acrylic box, so I just made my own from a 20g tank. Pros: You don’t have to lift buckets high for water changes. Put a big piece of sponge in your return compartment and your mechanical filtration is done. Plus you have room for stuff like a ...
2. Reactor. I couldn’t get my phosphates down, regardless of water changes, decreased feeding etc. But then I started running Rowaphos. Made a huge difference, corals started growing much better.
3. An ATO + kalk does wonders to keep things stable. Now, two major parameters , salinity and Ca++ should be OK so you don’t have to worry about all the time. No tinkering with 2 part or dosers. One day, my tank will need more calcium, but that will be a good day and I will worry about that later.
4. Go with a Chinese BB light and save some money to spend on other reef stuff. Photons are photons, regardless of how much you pay for the light. Maybe there are some advantages to certain spectrums, but I think the hype is overblown and you run into diminishing returns. I initially went with a Kessil A360x , but wanted brighter. I sold it and bought a viparspectra 300w light with money to spare. Great decision. After acclimating corals, I have it blasting and SPS and my clam are doing well.
5. Wait 6 months before adding signficant coral. After 6 months with the GFO, the tank stabilized and I had coralline algae. Corals started doing much better and I stopped having corals melt off into nothing.
6. Easy to overlook, but have a power outage plan to keep the water moving and aerated in an emergency.
This is all super basic stuff to the experienced folk, but maybe some of this advice may help prevent some headaches for newcomers as they start.
Good luck and happy reefing!
