40 breeder reef

I've been wanting to start a saltwater reef tank for a while now, probably since I set up my first few freshwater tanks and had success keeping fish. However, the high cost of the equipment and a lack of confidence had always kept me from taking the plunge into saltwater. Now, after learning from coworkers and customers alike, I have set up my first tank! Here's a look a my specs:

Tank:
40 gallon breeder 36"x18"x17"
50lbs of dry, base rock (mostly lace rock and texas holy rock)
~25lbs of play sand
Equipment:
2 Aqueon 500 gph pumps
150w Aqueon pro heater
Coralife Super Skimmer 65
ZooMed 36" Aquasun t5 lighting system
- ZooMed 39w UltraSun t5
- ZooMed 39w ReefSun actinic t5
Parameters:
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 2 ppm
Nitrate 20 ppm
Salinity 1.023
Temperature 80 degrees

 

Parameter update:
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 2 ppm
Nitrate 20 ppm
Salinity 1.023
Calcium 480 mg/L
KH 11 dKH
Phosphate 0.5 ppm
Temperature 80 degrees

 

lookin good, just take your time

 

Good start! If I had one recommendation.. Buy a few lbs of live rock and add it to your scape. It'll help seed your dry rock in there, and make the whole cycling and maturation process go much quicker.

 

Here's the tank as it now. two months old now.
Fish and inverts:
Harptail Blenny
2 Misbar Clownfish
Six-Line Wrasse
Orchid Dottyback
Yellow Watchman Goby
Tiger Pistol Shrimp
Scarlet Cleaner Shrimp
5 Turbo Snails
6 Nassarius Snails
Feather Duster Worm

And corals:
Whammin' Watermelon Zoanthid colony
Neon Green Birdsnest Acropora
Blue Clover Polyp
2 Branching Frogspawn corals
Sun coral
Dragon's Eye Zoanthid colony
War coral
Maze Brain coral
Plate coral
Trumpet or Candy Cane coral

 

lookin real nice.