Beginner's first aquarium- Fluval Flex 32.5

[waterwedunehair]

Hey everyone,
I'm Andrej. I just started by reef tank journey 6 weeks ago and so far I love it! I am very much a newbie so I am absolutely open to any advice or suggestions on this build. Here is a quick account of my setup:

-Fluval Flex 32.5 gallon tank with stock light, pump, and filtration. The tank has a lid so evaporation is not an issue.
-Fluval T150 heater
-Sicce Voyager Nano 2000 Stream Pump
-CaribSea Fiji Pink sand
-Water is purchased from my local fish store
-Livestock: 4 Zoanthids, Duncan, Clove Polyps, Frogspawn, 2 Mushrooms, snails, sand sifting starfish, 2 Clownfish, 1 Red Headed Fairy Wrasse, 1 Purple Firefish (RIP)

I started my tank 6 weeks ago and jumped in without doing a lot of research. The tank was seeded with live rock from my local fish store and I added Fritz Turbostart 900 and a clownfish. At 6 weeks in, the tank looks pretty decent, although there have been some significant challenges. A couple of my Zoas are not doing so well, and I had a purple firefish die. It was a very shy fish and wouldn't eat once I added a second clownfish to the tank. Buying the sand sifting starfish was a bad idea. I learned a valuable lesson- I should research my purchases before buying, instead of going with what the store recommends...

My goal for this tank is to learn how to keep a steady reef tank and keep my animals alive and thriving. I have some updates planned for the next month or so- I bought 2 AI prime 16HDs and I'm going to ditch the lid. I'm going to add some more coral and hopefully get it to proliferate and cover the aquascape.

Pictures:
Front shot

Side shot

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Tank looks like it is doing well so far!!!

 

[waterwedunehair]

Three new additions to the tank today!
Torch coral:

Favia:

Hammer:

 

[waterwedunehair]

Updates: I missed my weekly 10% water change last week, so I did a 20% water change this week. But the important update is that I've ditched the lid and the wimpy stock light on the Fluval! I added 2 AI primes and a Tunze auto-topoff pump. The tank looks way cleaner without the lid.

 

[waterwedunehair]

Update: I added 3 torches in the last week, and an Alveopora a couple weeks ago. Almost everything is looking healthy… 2 of my Zoas aren’t doing well. I’ve been getting my saltwater from my LFS; I tested it for salinity and it came back as ~29.5 PPT. I recently got an RODI and will be making my own saltwater from now on.

 

[brettory]

How do you find your sand doing in that tank? Does it stay pretty well settled, or are you wishing you went with a larger grain size?

 

[Nano_Man]

Your tank is looking very good . I also have fluval flex but the baby one 34 L . Your correct with the lights and the lids are a pain to remove having to disconnect the lights.

 

[waterwedunehair]

How do you find your sand doing in that tank? Does it stay pretty well settled, or are you wishing you went with a larger grain size?

Hi there, I think the sand settled well. Although the bits of rubble that settle into the sand end up looking like fish turds.

 

[waterwedunehair]

Added this goniopora to the tank. It opened up after a few hours and is swaying nicely in the current. I'm hoping I can keep it alive as it's the most expensive animal in my tank!