It's time to say Goodbye...

[marie]

Originally Posted by naesco

I just want to post some general comments based on my experience.
The difference between fresh and marine is that marine is less forgiving. You have to go slow, have patience or problems develope early.

There is no problem with sand. IME a sand bed of 3inches provides various life forms that your future fish and coral relish.

Plan the additions of your fish adding one per month rather than four at the same time.

Add the mandarin 9 months after cycling to give your tank a chance to mature and the critters it needs to survive to flourish.

Start SPS and clams after one year.

Sorry if I posted basic info that you already know.
Good Luck eh and welcome.

All good info except the start sps after 1 yr comment. If the tank is started with the intention of being an sps tank, it is better to start with pioneer sps corals (montipora ect.) then to start with softies and later move to sps. Softies leave little bits of themselves behind which can plague the tank for years after, they also can release toxins that make it difficult for sps to thrive.
There is no reason why you can't start adding some hardy sps at the 2-3 month mark