Greetings from Minnesota

Been keeping fish for almost 40 years, decided to take my hobby to the limit, looking forward in getting advice from those that our advanced in this beautiful and exciting hobby of Coral reefs in the home.

 

Hello and welcome to the 3reef fam. Remember to go slow, and let it grow.

 

Welcome to 3reef! Lot of good advice found here.

I might also suggest some reading. These books are a must for the library IMHO

The Conscientious Marine Aquarist~ Robert Fenner
The Reef Aquarium Volumes 1,2 & 3~ Julian Sprung
Algae: A Problem Solver Guide~ Julian Sprung
101 Best Marine Fish for the Aquarium~ Scott W. Michael
Marine Fishes~ Scott W. Michael
Aquarium Corals~ Eric H. Borneman
The Coral Reef Aquarium~ Tony Vargas

 

Thanks ReefBruh, I got lots to ask and really don't know where to start our were to post, so I will ask here. This is what I decided to start with and would like to know what others think. I decided to start small and see how it goes.

Tank: 40 gallon breeder
Filter: Coralife Protein Super Skimmer 65 and AquaFuge External Hang-On Refugium
Lighting: 36" 234W Aquarium Light Reef Marine Tank w/ LCD Timer
Not sure what to use for water movement as of yet.

2 questions

1) Would it be a good idea to cycle the tank with live rock and sand?

2) I heard sometimes it better to add the rock before adding the sand, does this really matter?

 

Thanks reefmonkey, I think I went overboard with the reading material, but some very interesting reading, my small collection is

Miniature Reef Aqurium In Your Home
Marine Aquriums
The Coral Reef Aqurium
Hobbyist Guide To Marine Fish & Invertebrates
Marine Algae Control Secrets
Live Sand Secrets
Dynamic Aquaria Building Living Ecosystems, this book gave me a headache trying to understand, hahaha

 

Welcome!

 

Might as well get used to reading. The research never ends. Take the advice of the Pioneers of the hobby as we know it, ie Sprung, Calfo, Fenner, Vargas and make that information the cornerstones of your foundation.
Forums are great places but you'll discover that when one person finds something that works and deems it a "standard of the hobby" from then on it likely won't give you the same results.
I've never had a problem that I couldn't solve by using methods I've learned from the true, proven masters.

Anyway Welcome to 3reef. It probably is the most friendly hobby forum on the WWW