New to the site

Franklin Garcia · Jun 26, 2018

Hi everyone,
I started a 40 gallon tank to gain experience. New to the salt water community and want to get some helpful advise regarding my journey.
I have started with a fish only tank before taking on the big task of corals (but coral is my main goal). Any helpful advise would greatly be appreciated. I’ve been reading a lot of forum on the site and been learning a lot, also been watching videos online.
My main concern are the water chemistry and balances. I want to be able to succeed with fish only before spending so much on corals just to lose them.
The current tank has been running for about 8 months now, mainly just simple equipment has been used such as hang on filters but I am starting to upgrade with a sump and other better equipment shortly.
Any guides, suggestions, advise are all greatly appropriate. Thank you everyone.

Crabs McJones · Jun 26, 2018

Franklin Garcia said:
Hi everyone,
I started a 40 gallon tank to gain experience. New to the salt water community and want to get some helpful advise regarding my journey.
I have started with a fish only tank before taking on the big task of corals (but coral is my main goal). Any helpful advise would greatly be appreciated. I’ve been reading a lot of forum on the site and been learning a lot, also been watching videos online.
My main concern are the water chemistry and balances. I want to be able to succeed with fish only before spending so much on corals just to lose them.
The current tank has been running for about 8 months now, mainly just simple equipment has been used such as hang on filters but I am starting to upgrade with a sump and other better equipment shortly.
Any guides, suggestions, advise are all greatly appropriate. Thank you everyone.

Welcome to R2R!

#WelcometoR2R
Give these threads a good read through, tons of information for you

Revhtree's supreme guide to starting a saltwater tank
Revhtree's How to successfully keep SPS corals

NY_Caveman · Jun 26, 2018

Nice plan! Welcome to R2R!

KJ · Jun 26, 2018

Welcome to R2R!!!

Dsnakes · Jun 26, 2018

Welcome to R2R

Thanks for joining us!

WWIII · Jun 26, 2018

Welcome to R2R! STABILITY is key, as I'm sure you've learned already. A good start towards corals would be keeping alkalinity stable and keeping nutrients lowish and stable as well (phosphate/nitrate).

How's the fish only going so far? Sump is a very good thing!

Ruben's Reef · Jun 26, 2018

!!! Welcome to R2R !!! I start with the same size tank 40g FOWLR and already getting some hardy corals little by little. Don't forget to post some pictures. We love pictures...

Franklin Garcia · Jun 26, 2018

WWIII said:
Welcome to R2R! STABILITY is key, as I'm sure you've learned already. A good start towards corals would be keeping alkalinity stable and keeping nutrients lowish and stable as well (phosphate/nitrate).

How's the fish only going so far? Sump is a very good thing!

The fish only is working good so far. I haven’t lost a fish. I am currently having a little issue with my nitrate levels. I’ve been doing weekly water changes to try to keep it down. My phosphate are low. So I’m a little concerned about that.
With the sump being added soon, I’m also planning on adding a skimmer.

Franklin Garcia · Jun 26, 2018

Crabs Mcjones said:
Welcome to R2R!

#WelcometoR2R
Give these threads a good read through, tons of information for you
Revhtree's supreme guide to starting a saltwater tank
Revhtree's How to successfully keep SPS corals

Thank you for all that information. I will start reading and expanding my knowledge.

Jason mack · Jun 26, 2018

Welcome to R2R,happy Reefing!!

hdsoftail1065 · Jun 26, 2018

Welcome to R2R Franklin!!!

Franklin Garcia · Jun 26, 2018

spyder813 said:
!!! Welcome to R2R !!! I start with the same size tank 40g FOWLR and already getting some hardy corals little by little. Don't forget to post some pictures. We love pictures...

I definitely will start sharing some pictures soon. still learning to use the site...haha.
How long did you wait till you started with corals?

Chrisfish · Jun 26, 2018

Welcome to R2R, we’re really happy your here and can’t wait to see pictures

WWIII · Jun 26, 2018

Franklin Garcia said:
I definitely will start sharing some pictures soon. still learning to use the site...haha.
How long did you wait till you started with corals?

I think if you have the time and want, 8 months is a good time to start adding corals in general. I would probably do your big changes (sump, skimmer, etc) first. That should help with the nitrates and then try to keep alkalinity fairly stable for a week or so and go for it!

Any ideas what kinds of corals you would like to eventually keep?

Do you use rodi?

Franklin Garcia · Jun 26, 2018

WWIII said:
I think if you have the time and want, 8 months is a good time to start adding corals in general. I would probably do your big changes (sump, skimmer, etc) first. That should help with the nitrates and then try to keep alkalinity fairly stable for a week or so and go for it!

Any ideas what kinds of corals you would like to eventually keep?

Do you use rodi?

Yeah I am starting to gather a few new equipment for the sump set up now, hopefully by next month I can set it all up. Once I have it running I will start with easy corals. I am not sure what kind to start with yet.
Yes, I got a 5 stage 150GPD plus rodi from bulk reef supply.

Any good suggestions on light units best for a 40 gallon tank for the corals?

WWIII · Jun 26, 2018

Franklin Garcia said:
Yeah I am starting to gather a few new equipment for the sump set up now, hopefully by next month I can set it all up. Once I have it running I will start with easy corals. I am not sure what kind to start with yet.
Yes, I got a 5 stage 150GPD plus rodi from bulk reef supply.

Any good suggestions on light units best for a 40 gallon tank for the corals?

Lot's of guys seem to like the sb reef reef lights as a better alternative from the chinese black box leds (mars aqua). Although many run the cheaper black boxes as well with success. Me personally, I prefer t5 with led combo (kessils or reefbrite), but wouldn't really suggest that for someone just getting their feet wet with corals. I would suggest led, just because of there's a lot to like about them! You can go on the "cheap" end with black boxes, or move up to some higher end ones. Kessil, ecotech radions, ai hydra are all very good. If money was no issue and I was going led only I would probably buy radions. If money was a factor (almost always is) I would most likely suggest sb reef lights.

T5s are great at growing coral, but they need to be replaced every year roughly and take up a lot of space on a 40 breeder.