Newbie Help

Grey1111 · Mar 15, 2020

Hey Guys,

I am new here and new to the saltwater hobby. I just purchased my first 32 Gallon Fluval Flex tank (https://fluvalaquatics.com/us/flex-32/). My mind is spinning from all of the info there is to learn on every aspect of this hobby (lighting, water parameters, corals, etc...) so i was hoping to get some questions answered by people who have experience. Here are my specs & questions:

Specs:
-Stocked with 1 Clown, 1 PJ Cardinal & 2 super small hermit crabs (I am at week 2 of having these fish in tank)
-1 Hydor Koralia 425 gph pump (positioned a few inches from the bottom front of tank shooting straight across)
-Fluval PS1 skimmer
-Temp at about 78
-Salinity & PH (see below)

Questions:
1) My tank came with an LED pre-installed light (link above to the tank). I have read a lot about spending money on the proper lighting. I do not plan to go overboard with corals/fish for this tank, but do plan to add some corals like (GSP and a Duncan). Is the included light sufficient? If not, any suggestions?
2) When do I know its ok to add those corals?
3) My water parameters all seem great and stable with exception to PH which has dropped twice now from 8.4 to around 7.4-7.6. I purchased PH Buffer to get it back up both times which worked great. No idea why it keeps dropping though and I would like to figure that out before placing any corals in.
4) I have a cheapy plastic salinity gauge that mounts in that tank and that reads 1.025/26. I purchased a Hytomato Refractometer () and my readings are 1.017/18. I even purchased Distilled water to make sure it was calibrated properly but no change in reading? Any idea of what is going on here? My water was purchased pre-mixed and I have not done any water changes at this point (my first change is coming up).

Billldg · Mar 15, 2020

Welcome to R2R and the crazy hobby of saltwater tanks, LOL!!!

First things, don't let all the info overwhelm you. It is a lot of info, but you don't have to digest it all at once. The biggest piece of advice everyone will give and its the best advice givin is to have patience. As far as you questions, lets see if I can help you with these.

1. Lighting is always a hot topic and often debated. All you can do is see how the corals react to the light. If you are going with softies, or maybe LPS then the stock light will probably do to start. If you want to upgrade down the road to a better light with more options then a great light that will not break the back is a AI Prime.

2. This is also a hotly debated question as some people can add corals immediately and others have issues doing the same. The biggest difference with some that can and others that can add corals immediately is experience in the hobby. I always start with a tester frag or two to see how the tank is doing and if I loose them I am not loosing a ton of money. With GSP and LPS, you can put it in a newer tank, 3 or so months, but they will not often flourish for a while. You will see them all of a sudden open up fully and start to grow, then you see what we mean when tank maturity has been achieved.

3. Tank PH changes throughout the day. C02 is the main driving force behind the rise and fall of PH throughout the day. As the lights come on the then tank any algae that is present will start to eat thru photosynthesis, this consumes C02 in the tank and thus raises PH. When the lights go off at night photosynthesis stops and the consumption of C02 stops also causing the PHJ to drop. Also, the C02 in your house can cause the C02 to drop as well. It is harder to maintain high PH in the winter as most houses have their windows shut to keep heat in, but this also doesn't allow the C02 to escape the house and thus it is absorbed into the tank and lower your PH. I would stay away from buffers as they can also cause harm to a tank, just my opinion.

4. When you received the refractometer did it come with a calibration solution? They often need to be calibrated. They are great tools, but the do need to be calibrated.

I know this is a lot of info, but like I said, don't left in overwhelm you. After a couple more months you will be like, this is no big deal.

JoshO · Mar 15, 2020

Welcome to R2R! From what I know about the Fluval all in ones the flex is designed for freshwater and therefore the light won't support coral growth unfortunately! The Evo versions of the Fluval ranges do support them. I'd personally spend some time getting used to the maintenance routine of just the fish side of things first, but that's just me!
Making sure you have good surface agitation to assist gas exchange may help with the pH issue, maybe try moving the powerhead to 2/3 of the way up and have it directed slightly upward. Along with this have a window open in the same room if you can to allow for more oxygen to enter!

reef lover · Mar 15, 2020

Welcome to r2r and the salt life!

Grey1111 · Mar 16, 2020

Billldg said:
Welcome to R2R and the crazy hobby of saltwater tanks, LOL!!!

First things, don't let all the info overwhelm you. It is a lot of info, but you don't have to digest it all at once. The biggest piece of advice everyone will give and its the best advice givin is to have patience. As far as you questions, lets see if I can help you with these.

1. Lighting is always a hot topic and often debated. All you can do is see how the corals react to the light. If you are going with softies, or maybe LPS then the stock light will probably do to start. If you want to upgrade down the road to a better light with more options then a great light that will not break the back is a AI Prime.

2. This is also a hotly debated question as some people can add corals immediately and others have issues doing the same. The biggest difference with some that can and others that can add corals immediately is experience in the hobby. I always start with a tester frag or two to see how the tank is doing and if I loose them I am not loosing a ton of money. With GSP and LPS, you can put it in a newer tank, 3 or so months, but they will not often flourish for a while. You will see them all of a sudden open up fully and start to grow, then you see what we mean when tank maturity has been achieved.

3. Tank PH changes throughout the day. C02 is the main driving force behind the rise and fall of PH throughout the day. As the lights come on the then tank any algae that is present will start to eat thru photosynthesis, this consumes C02 in the tank and thus raises PH. When the lights go off at night photosynthesis stops and the consumption of C02 stops also causing the PHJ to drop. Also, the C02 in your house can cause the C02 to drop as well. It is harder to maintain high PH in the winter as most houses have their windows shut to keep heat in, but this also doesn't allow the C02 to escape the house and thus it is absorbed into the tank and lower your PH. I would stay away from buffers as they can also cause harm to a tank, just my opinion.

4. When you received the refractometer did it come with a calibration solution? They often need to be calibrated. They are great tools, but the do need to be calibrated.

I know this is a lot of info, but like I said, don't left in overwhelm you. After a couple more months you will be like, this is no big deal.

I really appreciate the thorough reply and information! It sounds like i will wait a couple more months before adding any corals.

As for the PH that is good to know. I dont like intervening with chemicals unless i have to and i felt that i needed to in this case as i was afraid the low ph would kill the fish. I guess with being at the early stages i can push the envelope a little to see how the fish react and try other methods of raising the ph slowly.

No solution came with the refractometer but i did purchase Distilled Water which was recommended in the instructions for calibrating. I did zero it out and make sure it was calibrated properly but for some reason it is still giving me these low readings. it makes no sense to me and may be either a bad unit or i am missing something. It was cheap enough so i may just purchase a different brand and see what kind of results i get.

Thanks again for your time and help! Looking forward to the coming months!