ready for coral??

[melonheadorion]

What exactly are the 5 fish in this tank? Is it an AIO? Sump? If not, is there any type of filtration on this tank. IMO the first piece of equipment you need to purchase is an ATO.

2 clowns, diamond goby, and 2 blennies. the current filtration on this is a cannister, which i change the water from weekly most times, or at the most, bi weekly. once i build a new stand, and complete my sump, i will be running a skimmer/sump setup

 

[melonheadorion]

and to be clear, when im asking this, without prepping for anything, i wanted to see how well the parameters were, just on a normal random day. i am quite aware of the nitrate being an issue for the mostpart already. i expect that to change once i change up my filtration, so i am not too worried about nitrate currently. i am more concerned with parameters that are more specific to corals. i fear that the ammonia thing will never get cleared up, since its always at the level it is, regardless of what has been done. i would hope that i could get away with that if the toxic ammonia is technically at .02, but if i cant, then i cant, and will ultimately be the factor that stops me. the skimmer setup should ultimately help me with the nitrates, but obviously cannot tell yet because i havent completed the build yet.

this has gotten me a good start with everything though, and i thank you all for any input

 

[MNFish]

im more curious of how much dosing or other work i will need to get in to, to get the parameters to where they need to be when that time comes.

Honestly you need to get your salinity up first and then test CA ALK..... as you increase you salinity they should increase as well. Then with regular water changes you should not need to dose anything until you start to have decent growth. Most of the times the natural cycle I see is parameters kept in check by water changes then when they are not .... Kalk added to ATO or dosed.... than 2 Part although many people just choose Kalk or 2 part based on their own experience preferences. I am guessing once you get you salinity to where it needs to be than your CA ALK and MAG will be where they need to be as well.

 

[Jekyl]

and to be clear, when im asking this, without prepping for anything, i wanted to see how well the parameters were, just on a normal random day. i am quite aware of the nitrate being an issue for the mostpart already. i expect that to change once i change up my filtration, so i am not too worried about nitrate currently. i am more concerned with parameters that are more specific to corals. i fear that the ammonia thing will never get cleared up, since its always at the level it is, regardless of what has been done. i would hope that i could get away with that if the toxic ammonia is technically at .02, but if i cant, then i cant, and will ultimately be the factor that stops me. the skimmer setup should ultimately help me with the nitrates, but obviously cannot tell yet because i havent completed the build yet.

this has gotten me a good start with everything though, and i thank you all for any input

I run my nitrate between 10 and 20 on purpose

 

[dedragon]

I think the others are more concerned with your salinity fluctuations. Its shouldnt fluctuate at all. Once its stable and you get the phosphate down a bit and also a new light, then maybe look into getting corals

 

[melonheadorion]

Honestly you need to get your salinity up first and then test CA ALK..... as you increase you salinity they should increase as well. Then with regular water changes you should not need to dose anything until you start to have decent growth. Most of the times the natural cycle I see is parameters kept in check by water changes then when they are not .... Kalk added to ATO or dosed.... than 2 Part although many people just choose Kalk or 2 part based on their own experience preferences. I am guessing once you get you salinity to where it needs to be than your CA ALK and MAG will be where they need to be as well.

im glad you mentioned that, i didnt even take into consideration that the elements would increase with salinity, so that helps as well. i do weekly water changes as it is anyway, so the changes arent a big thing, but i will start increasing salinity over the next few weeks and test again