Getting back into the hobby

[mechengr]

Hi all! I'm getting back into the saltwater hobby after a very long hiatus. So much has changed in 20 years! Anyway, I decided to restock my 40 gal aquarium and try my hand at a reef tank. My LFS has been a great help to get me started along with copious amounts of information on the web.

As a newbie worrier, I wanted to get some feedback on how I'm doing. Below are the details of my tank:
Tank has been up and running for about 3 months now
40gal tall
AI blade coral grow
Oversized wet/dry external sump with protein skimmer (from a 125 gal tank)
AI Nero3 flow pump

Params as of Monday
SG - 1.026
Temp - 80.6 (warm but consistent)
Amm - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - <1
Alk - 7.5 (struggling to keep it up)
Phos - 0.15
pH - 8.1

Livestock:
2 clownfish
Yellowtail damsel
Firefish goby
Lubbock Wrasse
hairy mushroom coral
Zoas
Candy Cane Coral
6 turbo snails
3 hermit crabs
Tiger Conch
Cleaner shrimp

So, how does it look for being 3 months in? Anything I should add/change/remove?
Thanks for the feedback!!

 

[Sophie"s mom]

Looks good so far. Temp is a little warm though, I keep my tank at 78. Also you need to get your nitrAtes up. I keep mine between 10 and 25 ppm. But overall, your tank looks good.

 

[PharmrJohn]

Welcome back to it. And Welcome to our Community. I'm sure you'll dig it here!

 

[kevgib67]

Welcome back, glad you are here!

 

[dschuffert]

Welcome back! The tank is looking good.

I noticed the temperature is warmer than I have experience with, but I'm not saying there is anything wrong with it. For alk, I use an Avast MarineWorks Kalk Stirrer, and I am able to keep my alk pretty constant. It helps with pH, too.