Just Filled Our New Tank, What Now?

[ExtraSalty]

Hey everyone!

It has been a looong time since there has been a fish tank in my house, and I've never been the owner of the tank, it was my parents.

Well, yesterday my wife and I decided we wanted to start our own tank! We had a perfect spot in our home that wasn't being used for anything else and found a 40 gallon tank that fit perfectly. We knew we wanted a saltwater tank and knew that 40 gallons will limit us when it comes time to pick our fish, but we figured it's better to start smaller and get our hands wet (literally) before dumping more money into a larger tank.

Yesterday was a wild ride, we bought our tank, re-enforced the counter the tank was going to be set on, opened the tank and saw the lid was shattered on arrival. Went back to the store and exchanged it for a new one. Filled the tank with crushed coral, and then with our water mix. Installed our heater, thermometer, internal filter and lighting. Then we added some of the mix that helps kick start things.

Well, then this morning I couldn't stop second guessing my decision to go with crushed coral over live sand. And after a couple hours of scouring over the internet I changed my mind and ran to the store and got some live sand and started the painstaking process of getting all the crushed coral out and replaced it with the new live sand.

Which brings us to now, a 40 gallon tank with cloudy saltwater (slowly clearing up), and a live sand substrate. So now we know where we want to end up, but don't know what order of steps we should take. Hoping some of you can give us some pointers!

Here is what we are thinking for our tank:

A couple clown-fish (not sure what number yet)
Live rock & live coral
One or two sea anemone's
Some shrimp
+ Open to suggestions on other things for a 40gal tank!

We originally had our eye on some tangs but decided against it due to our small tank size.

So with that information, is there any tips you could give us? What order should we add things to the tank? What kind of time frame should we be expecting? And what tests should I be performing as a confirmation before moving onto the next step?

Thanks for any advice you may be able to provide us with!

 

[HumbleFish]

What type of internal filter are you running? Is the tank drilled with a sump? If not, a HOB (Hang On Back) filter would probably be a good idea.

Also, what did you add to help kick start things??

After the tank cycles, I would probably add the clowns first. I wouldn't add any anemones until the tank matures a bit.

 

[Bruce51]

Are you using rodi water? If your using a hang on the back filter get one thats rated 2x the size of your tank. You should get the rock in soon.

 

[Sk8r]

you need about 40-50 lbs of conditioned rock---squidge it down a little into the sand (it should have gone in first) and stack it in a pleasing way. Those fish won't burrow and make it fall, so you'll be ok. That and the sand will be your essential bioprocessor once it matures, and it gives your nems a boost closer to the lights. Get a ro/di filter: conditioned tapwater just has too many surprises in it. You'll be fine with what you've done, but hereafter, do your topoff only with ro/di saltwater.

GET an autotopoff. An open 40 can lose a gallon a day to evaporation in some climates, and you'll be happier not having the salinity bounce up and down. So will the fish.

Do you have a sump? Skimmer?