Decide overall stocking plans. You don't need exact details, but broad categories, like softies or mixed reef (since you are beginner I am assuming you wont aim for sps only now), rockscape, dry or live rock, sand bed or without sand bed etc,.Go as slow as possible. start with some entry level corals. Like zoas, ricordia, etc.. keep the number of fish to three or less. I'll recommend having a wrasse within them, for pest control. Once you have some tentative ideas and constraints (budget and labor), then you have a plan and execute it. These are very broad guidelines, I am also giving a very specific all in one (no refugium) mixed reef example for first one year.
- bare bottom preferably, or very little coarse sand
- Live rock, and may be 1/3rd dry rock
- Instant Ocean reef crystal for salt, ro buddie (or any good RO/DI unit) for water
- A couple of Sicce syncra (one for the tank, one for salt water mixing station), a couple of jaeger eheim heaters
- Kessil A360 (ai prime, radion all are kosher).. controller and mounting bracket etc
- Smart ATO micro + 2G water reservoir
- Titanium ground probe
- Trip lite 6 outlet independently switchable power strip
- in tank media basket
- Chemipure blue, Filter floss
- weekly 10% water change. After cycle large (60%) water change. Chemipure blue change after every 1 or 1.5 months. Skip water change while changing chemipure. Filter floss change weekly.
- 1st month just cycle , add a clown at the end
- 2nd month add cuc as and when algae's start to grow, ramp up cuc till they stabilize the alage growth over the course of three months
- Add first coral, go for beginner friendly softies, like sps, cloves, duncan, leather , palys etc. Be aware of fast and evasive growers, and always isolate them. Don't give them prime spots (high light, high flow)
- Add second fish, maybe shrimp of other snail/hermit crabs.
- 4 months, start with lps. Euphylia are good candidates. Acans are good as well. Add third and last fish, preferably a wrasse. Always add the most territorial fish at the end.
- By this time you should be dealing with one or many common issues (cyano, dino, alage., pest, bad livestock etc)
- 5-8 slowly ramp up to other lps (lepto, cyphastrea ) and end with entry level sps (monti cap, purple stylophora, green pociliopora etc)
- Your chemistry is stable now. You can understand tank is healthy by observing livestock. and have some ideas about
- add mp10. Begin measuring
- Add entry level acro. like strawberry shortcake, green slimer, tricolor valida etc
- begin two part dosing and observe sps growth,
- 10-12 months .. shoot for hard to keep sps corals. Give aways your overgrown corals to your local community
