New here and to the hobby! Here is my first reef tank build. Feedback? Advice?

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#1


Ok everyone so this is my very first reef tank build so please try and cut me some slack on anything you might notice is wrong LOL.

40 gallon aquarium 30W x 17D x 19H
Fluval 307 canister filter
2 Ai prime 16
1 Current USA 1065 gph powerhead
Aquamaxx 1.5 HOB protein Skimmer
Glass top (i need to have a section cut out to fit properly where the protein skimmer is)
1 titanium 200W Heater from amazon (“Goobat”)
40lbs of live sand
50lbs of dry rock from Amazon
And about 10lbs of live rock (totally regret it because i already have bristle worms from it which lead me to buy a coral banded shrimp to keep the problem under control)

I’ve read some bad reviews about current USA power heads so I’m already planning to upgrade to an AI Nero 5 some time in the near future but JUST got this current about a month ago. Reason I already want to upgrade is because I LOVE ANEMONES! Rock flower colorations are just so beautiful. So with that, I want a power head that has a solid nem guard. My current has a foam around which I end up having to clean almost every day. Reduces way too much flow. Yes, I know VorTech is one of the best power heads but I just don’t have the money for that. I have ai lights so it would just be a better experience to fully sync power head with the lights through the app.

Fish:
2 basic clowns
3 green chromis
1 fire fish
1 royal gamma
1 coral banded shrimp
A few turbos and some other snails (don’t remember name)
And Cortez hermits

January 23rd marks the day I started my water cycle

Definitely need to rent a Par meter

I wish I was more patient so I could’ve done nice rock work with inserts because I love the look of caves but I was in a rush to finally get everything done so there is my basic rock work lol

Was using API test kits but just made the switch to salifert.
Additionally, API kit didn’t test for magnesium so when I checked my magnesium for the first time (yesterday) I found out it was only at 1080! From what I’ve been reading and watching, that’s pretty low. I dosed with bright well aquatics magnesion product.

I’ve been having difficulties maintaining my calcium for a while and my alkalinity has been high at 11-12! do you think it’s because of the magnesium deficiency?
I’m going to retest magnesium today to see if it’s where it should be and then retest alkalinity and calcium.

If you’re still reading, thanks for taking the time.
Would really appreciate any sort of feedback. Stay safe everyone and happy reefing!


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dontavo27

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My Tank Build
#2
Welcome! You’re off to a really good start in the Hobby.
I think adding an HOB overflow and a sump would help keep most of the equipment out of the display, including dosing chemicals. You certainly need to raise magnesium, shoot between 1300-1400ppm, once you have that at a desired level, calcium and alkalinity should balance out. Also since you don’t have many coral yet, you might not have to dose as much alkalinity, just try and keep it above 7dkh.
Getting a dosing pump, might help keep everything stable, Bubble magus makes a decent one.
 

five.five-six

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#3
I don’t think you need a par meter if you are just growing nems and softies. Your system is GTG, just don’t get behind on your canister husbandry.

hob 1.5 is a great skimmer


i prefer tunze pumps. I literally spent more on 6105’s than anything else on my tank. I grow acropora so flow is really important.
 
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#4
Welcome! You’re off to a really good start in the Hobby.
I think adding an HOB overflow and a sump would help keep most of the equipment out of the display, including dosing chemicals. You certainly need to raise magnesium, shoot between 1300-1400ppm, once you have that at a desired level, calcium and alkalinity should balance out. Also since you don’t have many coral yet, you might not have to dose as much alkalinity, just try and keep it above 7dkh.
Getting a dosing pump, might help keep everything stable, Bubble magus makes a decent one.
Thanks! Reason I have a canister filter is because I wanted to avoid a sump. I plan on getting a new stand, or at least finding some sort of panels I can install all around to hide everything. Then I will add an ATO reservoir and doser. I’m definitely gonna be testing frequently to see if everything starts balancing out. I should’ve tested my magnesium before adding 2 Acro frags. *face palm* luckily I only added them a day before finding out my mag was low.


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#5
I don’t think you need a par meter if you are just growing nems and softies. Your system is GTG, just don’t get behind on your canister husbandry.

hob 1.5 is a great skimmer


i prefer tunze pumps. I literally spent more on 6105’s than anything else on my tank. I grow acropora so flow is really important.
Thanks, you’re the second person to tell me to keep up with that lol I do a religious weekly cleaning. And reason I want a par meter is because I want to grow a mixed tank. Just a few acros, some SPS and mainly LPS and softies. Also why I want a nero 5. Would definitely like to be able to grow good Acro. I currently have a few different zoas, favia, Duncan, 2 mushrooms, platy, bowerbanki and a rock flower nem.


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five.five-six

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#6
I’d avoid SPS, acro’s at least. You step into a whole other ballpark. With softies/LPS you can maintain water chemistry with monthly water changes and a good salt mix. Acropora, not so much. Acro’s don’t move and they grow slow relative to softies and nems. also, a lot easier to kill and you’ll probably want more lighting and vortech or tunze become your most economic lesson option for power heads.


You have a really nice setup, acropora is for when you have mastered LPS/softie and want a bigger challenge.

IMO
 
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#7
Looking good. Your tank is a fresh setup, roughly over 60 days so your parameters will shift around for a while until it’s locked in. It takes a while to mature & begin producing its own beneficial bacteria. Best thing to do is to get familiar to your fish & providing them with a healthy environment, honing in your fish husbandry practices. Sharpening your fish keeping skills will definitely make it easier to keep coral. I suggest you keep wishing for that patience because that is a must in this hobby. Take it slow, don’t rush into anything until you know for certain the tank is ready to welcome any new member & you have all requirements in hand. Read, read & read some more, as long as i’ve been in the hobby & think I have figured out everything, I still come across new information that adds to my understanding. The hobby is constantly evolving & new studies are always being published. I believe another must have is an understanding of fish illnesses, read up on those because parasitic or fungal infection can cause havoc if theres no understanding of how to recognize it on time, how to properly treat it & eradicate it. Dealing with illnesses depends on how fast you can diagnose & move to the proper treatment. Losing fish when starting in this hobby can be heartbreaking. That’s my 2 cents. Hope it helps & read some more. Good luck.
 
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#8
I’d avoid SPS, acro’s at least. You step into a whole other ballpark. With softies/LPS you can maintain water chemistry with monthly water changes and a good salt mix. Acropora, not so much. Acro’s don’t move and they grow slow relative to softies and nems. also, a lot easier to kill and you’ll probably want more lighting and vortech or tunze become your most economic lesson option for power heads.


You have a really nice setup, acropora is for when you have mastered LPS/softie and want a bigger challenge.

IMO
Thanks! I will start saving for better flow because I am going to take the plunge into acros when I get better at water chemistry lol I am going to rent a Par meter ASAP. Thank you for your feedback!


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#9
Looking good. Your tank is a fresh setup, roughly over 60 days so your parameters will shift around for a while until it’s locked in. It takes a while to mature & begin producing its own beneficial bacteria. Best thing to do is to get familiar to your fish & providing them with a healthy environment, honing in your fish husbandry practices. Sharpening your fish keeping skills will definitely make it easier to keep coral. I suggest you keep wishing for that patience because that is a must in this hobby. Take it slow, don’t rush into anything until you know for certain the tank is ready to welcome any new member & you have all requirements in hand. Read, read & read some more, as long as i’ve been in the hobby & think I have figured out everything, I still come across new information that adds to my understanding. The hobby is constantly evolving & new studies are always being published. I believe another must have is an understanding of fish illnesses, read up on those because parasitic or fungal infection can cause havoc if theres no understanding of how to recognize it on time, how to properly treat it & eradicate it. Dealing with illnesses depends on how fast you can diagnose & move to the proper treatment. Losing fish when starting in this hobby can be heartbreaking. That’s my 2 cents. Hope it helps & read some more. Good luck.
Lol thank you for your two cents. It went a long way because you made a good point in learning more about fish disease. That is probably the area I have looked into the least, not going to lie to you. My most recent event of magnesium deficiency led me to research more about it and I didn’t even realize that it’s something that’s beneficial to everything, not just SPS. It embarrassed me to admit it but I’m gonna use my rookie card! Lol. at what point would you say it starts to produce its own beneficial bacteria?


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#10
Check out api quick start if planning on adding fish before you cycle. Even then I would only add 2 fish for now. I would also use chemi pure in you canister. Its a all in one carbon bag and will benefit you with your tank setup, or any tank setup
 
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Check out api quick start if planning on adding fish before you cycle. Even then I would only add 2 fish for now. I would also use chemi pure in you canister. Its a all in one carbon bag and will benefit you with your tank setup, or any tank setup
Sorry I probably should’ve mentioned that I used DR Tim’s reef one and only when I started the cycle. My cycle was done in a little under 2 weeks. I definitely saw the api when I was looking at all quick starts but I saw a lot of hype and attention on dr tims so I went with that one. I didn’t know what chemi pure was so I looked it up and it sounds like I should replace my carbon bags with that. I definitely want to keep my ph within range for my little buddies. I really thank you for that one! Need to go to my LFS and pick some up cus shipping is crazy right now lol thanks!!


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Sorry I probably should’ve mentioned that I used DR Tim’s reef one and only when I started the cycle. My cycle was done in a little under 2 weeks. I definitely saw the api when I was looking at all quick starts but I saw a lot of hype and attention on dr tims so I went with that one. I didn’t know what chemi pure was so I looked it up and it sounds like I should replace my carbon bags with that. I definitely want to keep my ph within range for my little buddies. I really thank you for that one! Need to go to my LFS and pick some up cus shipping is crazy right now lol thanks!!


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Yea no problem, chemi pure is awesome, one of the best in the biz. I have had great luck with it and even on only doing tank changes every 3 weeks for a 150g, water has never been dirty looking.

Good luck and welcome to a addictive hobby
 
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Update!
Been buying pre mixed salt water from my LFS and I found out their magnesium is low, calcium is low, and alk is high!
Wanted to avoid having to mix my own water but it looks like I’m going to have to do it! I am gonna go to my LFS and go try and find some Tropic Marin pro tomorrow. It’s sold out on marine depots website.

If I can’t find tropic Marin pro what would y’all recommend I go with?


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Red Sea coral pro. 1/2 cup per gallon will have you at 1.025 and perfect levels for you. Also, I’d look at used Red Sea feeder 170s. Really a great intro to reef setup
 
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So I’m just updating y’all on my build, in case anyone is reading. I’m about to share my embarrassing moment :(

In my last post I said my LFS had low magnesium in their salt water I was using for my tank. Turns out I was wrong. This whole time, my refractometer was reading wrong because I never bought a calibration solution. After calibrating, turns out my tank water was at an embarrassing 1.023
Needless to say, I made a bad rookie mistake.

I purchased some Red Sea coral pro mix per recommendation above and have been mixing my own salt water for about 3 weeks. I wanted tropic Marin pro but it was difficult to get some during this whole pandemic going on. I know coral pro mix has been popular for a long time as well and is a lot cheaper so I am just going to stick with it for a while

I spent $100 for 3 polyps of speckled kraks about 1 month ago. I was never getting full polyp extension on them and I just lost 2 and the last one is about to go, sadly. My guess is my bad water parameter shock, along with the change of salt mix and raising the salt level over these 3 weeks finally did it to them.

If I’m not mistaken, the salt mix change, and parameter level changes is putting my corals through a shock.

Forgot to mention that I also changed my power head from a current USA 1065gph to an AI Nero 5 because the feed mode stopped working on me after about a month of use. *trash*








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#16
I would try and very slowly bring your salinity to 1.025 and then if you want you can bring it to 1.026-1.028. Not more than .001 per day.

Corals can thrive and adapt but don’t respond well to parameter swings.

This hobby is a journey and we are learning everyday.

My first tank (2008) I used tap instead of RO and you wouldn’t believe how screwed up my tank. I couldn’t keep a damsel or mushroom coral...
 
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#17
I would try and very slowly bring your salinity to 1.025 and then if you want you can bring it to 1.026-1.028. Not more than .001 per day.

Corals can thrive and adapt but don’t respond well to parameter swings.

This hobby is a journey and we are learning everyday.

My first tank (2008) I used tap instead of RO and you wouldn’t believe how screwed up my tank. I couldn’t keep a damsel or mushroom coral...
Thanks for sharing that. after multiple water changes and letting my water evap I’m at 33ppt when I checked it before coming to work tonight. I understand that stability is the most important part so I’m hoping to get there and then focus on staying there. This summer hit already with a small wave and I had to start tuning the AC at home and uncovered my tank on one half to keep it from over heating since I have glass top and no chiller lol going to be my first experience with this heat. I understand some people clip on fans if they don’t want to get a chiller so I might do that lol since I’m running sumpless


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#18
If you’re digging on your setup. Stick with it for a while. I ran a 30 gallon with a Aqua Remora HOB and a canister filter for about a year without problem. Had many back then tell me I didn’t need anymore than just the skimmer, that it would do everything needed as long as I didn’t over feed. I kept the canister filter for my own mind set. Cleaning it once a week is no big deal.
 

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