New to reef.

Hey! I'm Cameron and I am sort of new to reef tanks and I have just set up a 40 gallon reef last week 2 weeks ago but before I got into reef I've just been doing freshwater for a couple years. I'm pretty sure I will need a little help on what I need for my reef tank because I have my filter setup and have been letting it run for 2 weeks and my salt is where it should be and so is the temperature and all of the test come out fine except nitrite so I will have to wait a couple more weeks for it to go down because my tank is still cycling and I've got my heater and the temp is about 72-75f and I'm just wondering what any other stuff I need for my tank. Thanks.

Welcome!

Hi Cameron welcome to the hobby as far as what else you need it all depends on the type of corals you are wanting to keep if you are wanting to keep Lps and Sps you need to be testing for calcium alkalinity and magnesium each member will tell you a different number to keep your levels at but having said that I run a mixed reef meaning Sps Lps and softies I keep my levels at 440 cal 1400 mag 10 dkh alk 1.025 salinity and 78 degrees for temp and as close to zero for nitrite nitrate ammonia and phosphates but honestly the two most important things (in my opinion) are having stable levels meaning all of your chemicals are reading the same every time you test and the other thing is having good lights this is one of the biggest areas you do not want to be cheap but it is also one of the most controversial subjects on this forum I prefer t5 and metal halides but I know some on here will say sun light and some will tell you led but in my opinion neither of these give your corals the best color or growth possible.

I live in Roy also so if you have any questions or need any help let me know here is my cell feel free to text or call (801)389-9187

Also when your tank is ready I have some corals I will give you if your interested also if you need some help with testing until you get the test kits needed ( they can get quite expensive ) hit me up and you could come use my test kits

Edited by LaRue - January 21 2014 at 6:17pm