My 40 breeder reef stocking

[kidnoname]

Hello everyone,
I'm looking for any recommendations or suggestions for my reef plan. At the moment I have 3 red legged crabs, 3 nassarius snails, 3 trochus snails, and a fire fish. No coral at the moment until my next livestock additions then slowly alternate fish and coral monthly. I'm getting close to being able to afford the next step being the yellow watchman and Randal shrimp as well as finishing my initial clean up crew numbers. I was wondering about peoples thoughts on the livestock compared to my planned equipment. Thank you!

Specifications
Tank: 36" L × 18" W × 16" H
2i nch sand bed of cribsea
35 pounds of live rock
Sump: No (HOB equipment only).
Lid: Custom glass (36" × 14")
Salinity 1.026
pH 8.3 API upgrade to Hanna
Temp 78°F floating thermometer
NO₃ 5-10 ppm API upgrade to Hanna
PO₄ none atm
Alk |8.5-9.5 | Red Sea.
Ca | 420-450 ppm | Red Sea.
Mg | 1350-1450 ppm | Red Sea.
Just recently changed my salt from basic instant ocean to reef crystals so I will retest in a few weeks of water changes.

Equipment
HOB Filter Seachem Tidal 75 foam, ceramic media, and carbon. Replace foam every 6 months carbon monthly.
Protein Skimmer: none currently but thinking Tunze 9004
Powerheads 1× Nero 3, 1× Hygger
Lighting: Light bar (eventually upgrade to 2× AI Prime 16HD) 12-hour ramp (9 AM–9 PM).

Food
Currently flakes, brine shrimp, mysis shrimp alternating daily and no food Sunday.

Refugium
HOB AquaClear 50 (eventually upgrade to a real refugium) with Chaeto
Extra light for refugium until ChaetoMax LED (10hrs/night reverse cycle)

Controllers & Extras
- Heater: Eheim Jäger 150W
- ATO: AutoAqua Smart ATO 5G reservoir.

Livestock Plan
Fish
All quarantined 2-3 weeks
| Species | Qty | Month |
| Firefish | 1 | 1 |
| YWG + Pistol Shrimp | 1+1 | 2 |
| Tailspot Blenny | 1 | 3 |
| Green Clown Goby | 1 | 4 |
| Chalk Bass | 1 | 5 |
| Pink-Streaked Wrasse | 1 | 6 |
| Ocellaris Clowns | 2 | 7 |
| Royal Gramma | 1 | 8 |

Inverts
| Invert | Qty | Month |
| Nassarius Snails | 6 | 1 |
| Trochus Snails | 6 | 1 |
| Red/Blue Hermits | 3+3 | 1 |
| Emerald Crab | 1 | 3 |
| Strawberry Conch | 1 | 5 |
| Sexy Shrimp | 3 | 6 |
| Porcelain Crab | 1 | 7 |
| Pom-Pom Crabs | 2 | 8 |

Optional future adds if possible
- Rock Flower Anemone: Month 6+
- BTA Anemone: Month 9+
- Maxima Clam: Month 12+

Coral Timeline
All corals dipped in CoralRx + Revive
|Month| Kind | Location|
| 2 | Zoas | Islanded rubble |
| 3 | GSP | Isolated rock island |
| 4 | Sinularia Leather | Mid-level |
| 5 | Duncan | Sandbed |
| 6 | Frogspawn | Mid-rock |
| 7 | Blasto | lower rock |
| 8 | Torch Coral | Sandbed/lower rock
| 9 | Birdsnest | Upper third |
| 12+ | Montipora | Upper rock |


Maintenance Routine
Daily
- Check temp/ATO.
- Feed fish/invert
- Pod check

Weekly
- 5 water change (Reef Crystals).
- Test water
- Clean glass and skimmer cup.
- Rinse filter foam in water change water


Any help would be much appreciated. Thank you

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I would suggest a nicrew 150 watts or 200 watts over 2 primes. Where I live, 2 primes with the mount cost $400 each, so you will pay about $800 for average lights and average result. Primes are not strong lights. You can have metal halides for less than $800. Primes may not support a maxima clam.

Personally I would remove any foam from the filter media. The rocks provide the biofiltration, no need for foam which will collect detritus and uneaten food, this is the so-called nitrate factory. A skimmer is a better filter than a hob filter which doesn't do much on a salt tank.

Otherwise it looks good, good luck.

 

[kidnoname]

I would suggest a nicrew 150 watts or 200 watts over 2 primes. Where I live, 2 primes with the mount cost $400 each, so you will pay about $800 for average lights and average result. Primes are not strong lights. You can have metal halides for less than $800. Primes may not support a maxima clam.

Personally I would remove any foam from the filter media. The rocks provide the biofiltration, no need for foam which will collect detritus and uneaten food, this is the so-called nitrate factory. A skimmer is a better filter than a hob filter which doesn't do much on a salt tank.

Otherwise it looks good, good luck.

I was also looking at the nicrew, and noopsyche lights but wasn't sure what peoples thoughts were. I have seen a fair amount of people using them from searching. Would one 150 be enough coverage?

Ok, I will remove the foam and add a bit more media until I get the skimmer. I'm a few months in from finishing cycling the tank and been in freshwater for a few years. Would it make sense to swap the tidal 75 into a refugium instead once I get the skimmer then?

Thank you for your recommendations! I appreciate it.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

yes, IMO, a 150 watt would be enough.
I've never kept a refugium so I can't answer that, but I know some people do it. Personally I would still use as a way to run activated carbon.