First reef 40B

Fiberacci

Non-member
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This is my 40B cycling at the moment

1xmame skimmer
1xaquaclear70( will turn into refugium)
1xmp10
1x200w hygger heater
Lots of random dry rock
1xhydra 26(will get another)
Standing is from my old aqueon 65

Planning to have a fairly light stocking and for everything in the tank to have a purpose towards maintaing it and maybe 1 centerpiece fish. I am gonna keep it barebottom. Hoping to have a couple sps and the rest lps and softies. Also planning to keep the coral stocking relatively light and just have maybe 6- 8 standout corals.
 
Thanks! Ive just started and now would be a good time to do it and drill the tank, but doing all that is a bit intimidating right now. I can live with myself if I end up regretting it later.
 
Thanks! Ive just started and now would be a good time to do it and drill the tank, but doing all that is a bit intimidating right now. I can live with myself if I end up regretting it later.
Honestly.
It's not too tough. Just gotta give it a try. Consider picking up a free tank and testing on that.
That said, welcome to the addiction. Look forward to seeing what comes of your system :)
 
I was in same boat. Honestly especially with small tank water changes are key. I no that its not effient and what not. Keeping the water in there for a month at the most is easiest way to maintain stability. Two five gallon buckets every week will go a real long way to keeping everything right. The other piece of advice is to big as you can. 125 are given away all the time cause there a pain to move. A fish fart throws off a nano. Stability is king and trying to does accuratly on 10g of water is very hard.1ml of whatever will move you ten times farther than in 100g. Think about how easy it is to be off by 1ml. A bigger tank with a light bio load will keep itself stable just on shear volume of water and elements in said water.
 
Congrats! It's so fun to plan and develop a new tank.

Is the tank in the middle of the room? If not, consider painting the back or adding a background.

I think as long as you stick with light stocking you should have a really nice tank. A 40b is a great size to start with.

You should have the timing to pick up a few starter goodies at the Fragtastic show.
 
I was in same boat. Honestly especially with small tank water changes are key. I no that its not effient and what not. Keeping the water in there for a month at the most is easiest way to maintain stability. Two five gallon buckets every week will go a real long way to keeping everything right. The other piece of advice is to big as you can. 125 are given away all the time cause there a pain to move. A fish fart throws off a nano. Stability is king and trying to does accuratly on 10g of water is very hard.1ml of whatever will move you ten times farther than in 100g. Think about how easy it is to be off by 1ml. A bigger tank with a light bio load will keep itself stable just on shear volume of water and elements in said water.

Thanks for the advice. I have a ro di unit and 30ish gallon brute trash can for water changes. I was planning to dose via ATO whenever I get one.
 
Congrats! It's so fun to plan and develop a new tank.

Is the tank in the middle of the room? If not, consider painting the back or adding a background.

I think as long as you stick with light stocking you should have a really nice tank. A 40b is a great size to start with.

You should have the timing to pick up a few starter goodies at the Fragtastic show.

Thanks! Yeh it is in the middle of the room. I have 180 gallon freshwater so I'm limited on room. The side thats faces the window I was planing to put black wallpaper on that side. Will help with keeping the light on the aquaclear refugium from entering the tank at night.
 
Thanks for the advice. I have a ro di unit and 30ish gallon brute trash can for water changes. I was planning to dose via ATO whenever I get one.
I have a hydor ATO that you can have for free. I use one currently on my 29. Bought it our auction in March and probably will never use this one, so it's your if you want it. Pickup is in East Bridgewater.
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Thanks for the advice. I have a ro di unit and 30ish gallon brute trash can for water changes. I was planning to dose via ATO whenever I get one.
Ya man solid start. Im not saying 40 is bad or anything. Just that larger volumes are easier. If your successful with a small tank you'll def be a better reefer. Awsome you have a 180 freshwater. What kind of fish do you enjoy. What kind of reef is ur goal.
 
Ya man solid start. Im not saying 40 is bad or anything. Just that larger volumes are easier. If your successful with a small tank you'll def be a better reefer. Awsome you have a 180 freshwater. What kind of fish do you enjoy. What kind of reef is ur goal.
No worries, I dont get offended easily. Honestly fish arent really my focus for this tank. Id say the theme im going for is simple, effecient, stunning. Fish with purpose, strong clean up crew and a few stunning corals
 
Ya man solid start. Im not saying 40 is bad or anything. Just that larger volumes are easier. If your successful with a small tank you'll def be a better reefer. Awsome you have a 180 freshwater. What kind of fish do you enjoy. What kind of reef is ur goal.
40B is honestly the perfect starter tank. Great for wetting the feet and getting the basics down. Sometimes jumping right into a large tank is daunting. Especially the cost of start up.
Nice footprint, manageable volume.
Just over the nano category.
This was my 40B at its peak.
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With a 180 im sure the volume security blanket I need you dont. Thats a big tank for fest water. I'm sure that didnt happen overnight. Do you run sump on that. How do you filter that much water?
 
With a 180 im sure the volume security blanket I need you dont. Thats a big tank for fest water. I'm sure that didnt happen overnight. Do you run sump on that. How do you filter that much water?
Definitely not overnight. This was probably 6 months after setting it up and moving over from my biocube. It had a 20H sump, really simple set up. I just did weekly water changes, and dosed with 2 little fishies Cbalance. It went well until I switched salts and apparently wasnt as diligent as before. Lost a lot.
 
40B is honestly the perfect starter tank. Great for wetting the feet and getting the basics down. Sometimes jumping right into a large tank is daunting. Especially the cost of start up.
Nice footprint, manageable volume.
Just over the nano category.
This was my 40B at its peak.View attachment 127879
Nicee!! Hope fully mine will run similarly. What fish did you stock?
 
Nicee!! Hope fully mine will run similarly. What fish did you stock?
In its prime....2 clowns, chromis, neon dottyback, 6line wrasse, yellow tang.
I was stretching it with the yellow tang, but I knew I would be in a larger tank eventually. Poor guy died in my tote when I was switching everything over :/

Stick to your regular maintenance, keep learning and you'll be on the right track. My reef room a dive when I started expanding to a large frag tank. Then trying to breed clowns. It all became too much. Just know what you're capable of and dont write checks your clowns cant cash :p
 
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I've been dosing 2ppm of Dr tims ammonia and now after 24hours 0 ammonia and 0 nitrates. Decided to do 20 percent water change to lower nitrates and added a small amount of CUC.
 
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