Need help with 40 gal FOWLR tank

[TroyMIfishkeeper]

After a lot of experience with freshwater, I've finally decided to make the jump to saltwater. I'm in the process of setting up a 40 gallon (nothing live yet). I'd like to have fish and maybe some invertebrates, as well as live rock. Right now, the tank has:
- Heater
- Fluval U3 underwater filter
- Powerhead
- Some lights I had lying around
- Sand/gravel mixture bottom
Tank is filled with saltwater right now. However, before I do anything else, I could use some advice moving forward? What should be the next step? Can I move on to acclimating and curing live rock, or is there still other equipment I need? Do I need a protein skimmer? Any advice is greatly appreciated.
Also, I could use some stocking ideas too... I don't know much at all about compatibility in marine fish

 

[Josh SaltEmpire]

After a lot of experience with freshwater, I've finally decided to make the jump to saltwater. I'm in the process of setting up a 40 gallon (nothing live yet). I'd like to have fish and maybe some invertebrates, as well as live rock. Right now, the tank has:
- Heater
- Fluval U3 underwater filter
- Powerhead
- Some lights I had lying around
- Sand/gravel mixture bottom
Tank is filled with saltwater right now. However, before I do anything else, I could use some advice moving forward? What should be the next step? Can I move on to acclimating and curing live rock, or is there still other equipment I need? Do I need a protein skimmer? Any advice is greatly appreciated.
Also, I could use some stocking ideas too... I don't know much at all about compatibility in marine fish

Hey there looks like your off to a good start! Have you gotten test kits for Ph,Ammonia,Nitrite , Nitrate etc Do you know what your salinity is at ? I would strongly suggest an upgraded filter something like aquaclear 50 or 70 or even one of the 20-40 filters from walmart with the carbon rock/floss pads and bio filter pad work well !! If your looking at keeping things easier a hob protein skimmer will be a great improvement in water quality! I personally have a Aqua Remora C on my 30g with upgraded diy 317gph silent pump It really helps to suck the black gunk out! I would just throw whatever rock you have laying around or going to purchase right into the tank to start cycling it !

 

[TroyMIfishkeeper]

Hey there looks like your off to a good start! Have you gotten test kits for Ph,Ammonia,Nitrite , Nitrate etc Do you know what your salinity is at ? I would strongly suggest an upgraded filter something like aquaclear 50 or 70 or even one of the 20-40 filters from walmart with the carbon rock/floss pads and bio filter pad work well !! If your looking at keeping things easier a hob protein skimmer will be a great improvement in water quality! I personally have a Aqua Remora C on my 30g with upgraded diy 317gph silent pump It really helps to suck the black gunk out! I would just throw whatever rock you have laying around or going to purchase right into the tank to start cycling it !

Salinity is looking good, still need to test pH, ammonia, and nitrate but I was recently told to remove the play sand I had in the tank and replace it with coral sand... do I need to drain all the water in the tank in order to add the coral sand or can I just remove the play sand and keep the water in there? I'd rather not re-mix all the salt if I don't need to...
I also hooked up a larger filter and am working on getting a protein skimmer

 

[tigerjace]

Salinity is looking good, still need to test pH, ammonia, and nitrate but I was recently told to remove the play sand I had in the tank and replace it with coral sand... do I need to drain all the water in the tank in order to add the coral sand or can I just remove the play sand and keep the water in there? I'd rather not re-mix all the salt if I don't need to...
I also hooked up a larger filter and am working on getting a protein skimmer

I too was in freshwater and now doing reef. Welcome to the darkside. lol. If I were you, i would drain the water in tank in a large container and then scoop the play sand out and add the new sand in and fill back with original water. This will avoid kicking up sand, dirt, and getting your water all murky. Plus its just much easier to remove the sand this way. As for saltwater; If you plan on mixing your own saltwater, I strongly suggest you get a RO unit. Using tapwater will give you major algae bloom. Majority of the serious saltwater enthusiasts use sumps. Saltwater has more equipment involved and the sump will provide a place for all those equipment like protein skimmer, etc. This will remove all clutter hanging on your display tank.

 

[TroyMIfishkeeper]

I too was in freshwater and now doing reef. Welcome to the darkside. lol. If I were you, i would drain the water in tank in a large container and then scoop the play sand out and add the new sand in and fill back with original water. This will avoid kicking up sand, dirt, and getting your water all murky. Plus its just much easier to remove the sand this way. As for saltwater; If you plan on mixing your own saltwater, I strongly suggest you get a RO unit. Using tapwater will give you major algae bloom. Majority of the serious saltwater enthusiasts use sumps. Saltwater has more equipment involved and the sump will provide a place for all those equipment like protein skimmer, etc. This will remove all clutter hanging on your display tank.

"The darkside" lmao I like that.
I drained the water and replaced the play sand with coral sand. I've already mixed the saltwater again but I will look into getting an RO unit. I hooked up a second filter to the tank, a Marineland Penguin 350, in addition to the Fluval U3. Unfortunately the way my stand is built, I cannot have a sump underneath the tank. The equipment hanging on the back of the tank is not ideal for looks but I guess I'll just have to live with it.
I added a lot of live rock, and I just ordered an instant ocean Sea Clone protein skimmer (which is the last thing I need to add before the setup is complete).
How long should I wait before adding livestock? As of now, the live rock has only been in the tank for a day. Regardless I will not add anything until the skimmer is hooked up but if I need to wait longer that's fine... also, any stocking ideas/advice would be appreciated! I know to only add one thing at a time, but as I'm new to saltwater I don't know much about marine fish compatibility. I'd like to have a community tank with fish and inverts... basically a reef tank without coral I guess. I also am not sure how many fish/inverts I can house in a tank that size. Again, any help is appreciated!