40 gal plans (advice needed)

Hello, I am new to the reef keeping hobby and after about 2 months of ample reasearch (internet and books-The New Marine Aquarium and The Conscientious Marine Aquarist) I am finally ready to begin the planning process of my tank. So far i have decided on a 40g breeder (36x18x16) with 192 watts of PC lighting. I plan on keeping soft corals only and possibly a bubble tip or long haired ananeonome later on down the road (aware of intense lighting needs and possibly unsuitable for my tank), along with a pair of clowns, 1-2 pajama cardinal fish, (any more fish?) and nessacary cleanup crew. For filtration i plan on having an aquamedic turboflotor 1000 multi as my skimmer, powerheads for added circulation, and a signifigant amount of live rock/sand. I plan on using the skimmer as a H.O.T. for a little while and eventually upgrading to a 10 or possibly 30 gallon sump and using it in that.

Tell me what you think so far and any advice is appreciated, thanks.

 

Welcome to 3reef!

If you haven't purchased your lights yet, dump the PC lighting and go with T5 (with individual reflectors). You can get a Current Sundial for around $230, or a Nova Extreme Pro for around $284. Both of those will work well for you and although they might seem pricey, lighting and skimming are the two things you need to spend money on. You can go with other T5 light fixtures, but those are the two I researched the most before I settled on the Sundial. And get some Koralia #1's or #2's for water movement. Trust me, you'll love 'em.

 

Howdy and welcome to 3Reef!

 

You have two posts on the same thing....I responded to the other one! Welcome though!

 

go with metal halide and skip the sump alltogether! i'd buy a penguin 350 or something of the like also, liverock/sand may be enough to filter the tank when things are going well but when something dies you'll be in trouble
welcome to 3reef

 

Thank you all for your help, I have decided to go with the t-5's after hearing bad reviews on the PC's and as far as filtration goes i am a little bit skeptical on using a H.O.B filter with carbon due to the fact that you have to constantly replace the media to prevent a nitrate bloom leading to a massive algae bloom and possibly an entire tank failure. I could run the H.O.B. empty most of the time only being used with media when the water shows signs of yellowing or if particles are obviously visible. Would this be acceptable? Also after hearing great reviews on the Aqua Medic turboflotor multi i was wandering if anyone else had anything to say about this PS and if it would be a good choice for my tank.

Again thank you all for your help, it is greatly appreciated and is sending me on my way to a sucessful reef tank.

 

CPR makes some killer HOB Skimmers and Refuguims with the skimmers built in

 

I run a HOB on both my tanks. As long as I replace the filter floss about once every two weeks, and the carbon once a month, I have no problems at all. I was going to remove the HOB Whisper #2 on my 38, as I have designed my sump to have the ability to do the same (filter and carbon). It seems there is no need to, as the Whisper is actually doing better than I thought it would.