Remember that your system is still immature. It can't yet process large increases in ammonia input. The ammonia source is not the fish, it is supplied by the food you feed them. You asked how much. I would suggest just a few brine shrimp per fish for the first week. I'd stop using the algae strips. Slowly increase feeding after about a week. The Tang will be fine without the algae strips for a couple weeks.
OK thanks also another question. Should I use the skimmer?
important to find someone local that you have and can build a relationship with and sorry the other 3 don't recognize that new reefer blood is the future of the pastime
the skimmer will tell you if you should use the skimmer when the tank is that young - try it, and see.
I'd avoid the skimmer for now. Bottoming out your nutrients at this stage will be a good way to get dinos and they're not fun to deal with
I would. New systems can get overloaded by dissolved organic compounds. Your tank with 5 fish, one of which is a Tang, is a good candidate for getting overloaded. Water changes and a skimmer can help with that. As your system matures, the skimmer may me less important. Think of it this way... When nutrient producers (fish) outnumber nutrient users (corals, bacteria, sponges, algae, clams, etc.) a skimmer can be useful. Later, when the tank matures, users usually outnumber or be in balance with producers. Less skimming may be required.
There was most likely a reason if 3 different shops were the same. I don’t think your off to a bad start but as others have mentioned 5 fish produce a lot of ammonia for a brand new tank that’s really the only worry. Are you testing daily for ammonia? I have never seen a brs video , or anyone else for that matter, recommend 3-5 fish in one go in a new tank. Maybe in a multi hundred gallon tank setup it wouldn’t be a bad idea but 90 gallons isn’t a lot of water. I think you need to slow down, do a lot more research and really take the time to learn it. You are in the right place for that though and there is an endless list of people on here to help you so you are definitely on the right track. I think someone else mentioned taking this feedback from r2r to your lfs and seeing what their thoughts are and that’s probably the best plan. For all we know he could have dosed a ton of ammonia and built up an appropriate level bio filter for that many fish and there isn’t anything to worry about.
Which test kit and how high?
Api saltwater. Look between 0.25 and 0.50. I’ll check the levels again in about an hour.
API is a terrible, unreliable, and innacurate test kit especially for ammonia.
I would trust them a bit but not entirely. They are known to not be the best. I liked the Red Sea marine care kit I got so I just use their stuff but I like the salifert ones to and lots of people here prefer them or Hanna to Red Sea. Those levels are starting to get high and sadly 10% won’t do much. If you had 0.5 ammonia and did a 10% water change at best you eliminated 0.05 which isn’t anything really. You will need to do a bigger one than that. Seachem prime would also help in the short term but research it before you make a decision. Are any fish looking distressed?
Ill be honest none of the fish looked distressed until I started messing with the tank. Like the Tang was all out in about. Took me 20 minutes to find him hes under a rock and don’t even know how he got in it.
I already had a Tunze Coline 9012dc. Put it in and it just fills up with water and starts spitting all over my wall. Wife is not happy right now.
I am not familiar with them. Cant you adjust the air intake? Will look it up mine has a tube you spin to adjust takes a while to settle in but once it is set I found to just leave it alone when cleaning the cup. Cant you get advice from the person that sold it to you?
