My first reef tank was/is a 46 bow. It's a nice tank, with good viewing/ aquascaping options. I have 2 96w pc lights (3') on the tank ahd they do a nice job on almost all Soft and LPS corals. I had just about every kind you can have by now.
On my 46 I have a hang-on overflow with a 20 gal sump underneath. The sump cantains my protien skimmer and a heater. I also keep a heater in the tank which provide redundancy in case one fails. They are set 2 degrees apart.
I agree with the majority of response. Live sand is a much better choice than Crushed Coral. I consider my original selection of CC one of my bigger mistakes. You definitely do not need UV sterilizer. It is a nice to have, definitely not necessary. I do not own one and have never used on in any of my several tanks (all of which are doing just fine).
The 46 bow does present a couple of challenges:
The first is getting good strong, random current to prevent detritus build up on the botton and tp provide nutrition to your corals. The shape of the tank makes it a challenge getting enough flow without disturbing your sand. Definitely do-able though. I know several folks who solved this by not using a substrate with excellent result... it's just not for me, I like sand.
The second challenge is lighting. This is a relatively deep tank and you'll want to aquascape your live rock so your lights can do their best to feed and highlight your corals. The other lighting concern is related to bulb life. Keep an eye on your corals. My experience with PCs dictates bulb changes around 7 months. Because of the depth of your tank your bulbs effectiveness at depth will weaken before the published 'life end' of your bulbs.
You should put the live rock, sand and water in your tank (with powerheads, heaters, etc) and let it cycle completely. Make sure the nitrogen cycle is 100% complete, do some water changes and then slowly start adding livestock. One small fish, then another. Each addition will touch off a minnie cycle at first. After you've have a couple fish and the tanks has completeted a couple of minnie cycles get a cleaning crew in there (crabs, snails, etc) and enjoy. After the initial bouts with algae and other 'new tank' issues are over you can start thinking about your first coral.
Hope you have just as much luck with your 46 as I've had with mine. If you do you'll soon be wanting the 92g corner bow, which just happens to be my other reef tank.
