What to check for in my water

[WIReefer]

Hi I'm new to this group and just signed up this morning but I would like to tell you what I have and my questions well I have a freshwater planted aquarium and have had it for years I decided to tank the jump to Saltwater so I bought the fluval m90 reef tank. Got it all built Monday night and my cousin has a 300 gallon tank at his home and has had it for years he gave me enough water to fill my tank and then some and it is already cycled because it came out if his tank but my question really is what do I need to test for in my water? I have a Saltwater Master Test kit and a master reef kit, also I have everything I need upgraded the protein Skimmer also to a tunze, have calcium, trace elements, iodine, magnesium, alkalinity but was just wonder how often I need to test andvto test what for plan on putting live rock in this weekend. Thank you and sorry if it's in the wrong thread.

 

[Atxreefer32]

Is the live rock you are putting in from the tank you got the water from or different and nitrates nitrites ammonia ph and temp and salinity are basic common things to test for until you see problems arising or algae growth but just test a few days after you install the live rock because of die off and after that stabalizes test again and if it's good you can add

 

[WIReefer]

Is the live rock you are putting in from the tank you got the water from or different and nitrates nitrites ammonia ph and temp and salinity are basic common things to test for until you see problems arising or algae growth but just test a few days after you install the live rock because of die off and after that stabalizes test again and if it's good you can add

No it's actually coming from a buddy's of mines tank do I need to test for other things since it's from a different tank?

 

[Atxreefer32]

No that's actually good because you get more diverse beneficial bacteria for coral growth

 

[WIReefer]

No that's actually good because you get more diverse beneficial bacteria for coral growth

Okay what should all my levels be around? I'm keeping my Saltwater mixture at around 1.265.

 

[Atxreefer32]

Okay what should all my levels be around? I'm keeping my Saltwater mixture at around 1.265.

Depends on what you want in your tank

 

[Atxreefer32]

Also liveaquaria.com is a good tool I use to select your livestock and it has the water parameters and all kinds of good info for helping select what you want and what will thrive in your tank

 

[WIReefer]

Also liveaquaria.com is a good tool I use to select your livestock and it has the water parameters and all kinds of good info for helping select what you want and what will thrive in your tank

Okay thank you will check it out and was just planning on Mostly plan on a pair of snowflake clowns, purple firefish, royal gramma, and just some snails and crabs to start it out and just some beginner corals.

 

[Zack K]

1.265! Normal reefs are 1.025. I am giving you the benefit of the doubt and you forgot the zero.... I hope. As for what to test for, if you ever post a question along the lines of "What's wrong...." or "why is this happening" the first thing people are going to ask what your parameters are. To get the best solution for the problem have these numbers ready:
PH
Temperature
Ammonia
Nitrite
Nitrate
Phosphate
Calcium
Alkalinity (DKH)
Magnesium

As for what you check regularly. Some do Nitrates and Phosphates, others do all, some do none. It really comes down to, do you want corals?

As for your water situation, the water itself holds VERY little bacteria. 95% of your bacteria comes from your rocks and substrate. Your tank will still cycle like a new tank. Although it may be short because you are adding established rock, it can still pose a threat to livestock. I would treat this tank as any other new tank and let it run a week with no livestock. At the end of the week you want to check for Ammonia and Nitrite to make sure they read 0. Both are very deadly to fishes.

Also welcome to R2R. Most questions you have will probably have a thread about them already. If you can't find it post a thread and we can either answer your question or help you find a helpful post. The best advice I can give is to read, read, read. I am sure most will agree with me. The more you read, the better understanding of your tank you will have. Hope this helps[emoji1360]

 

[WIReefer]

1.265! Normal reefs are 1.025. I am giving you the benefit of the doubt and you forgot the zero.... I hope. As for what to test for, if you ever post a question along the lines of "What's wrong...." or "why is this happening" the first thing people are going to ask what your parameters are. To get the best solution for the problem have these numbers ready:
PH
Temperature
Ammonia
Nitrite
Nitrate
Phosphate
Calcium
Alkalinity (DKH)
Magnesium

As for what you check regularly. Some do Nitrates and Phosphates, others do all, some do none. It really comes down to, do you want corals?

As for your water situation, the water itself holds VERY little bacteria. 95% of your bacteria comes from your rocks and substrate. Your tank will still cycle like a new tank. Although it may be short because you are adding established rock, it can still pose a threat to livestock. I would treat this tank as any other new tank and let it run a week with no livestock. At the end of the week you want to check for Ammonia and Nitrite to make sure they read 0. Both are very deadly to fishes.

Also welcome to R2R. Most questions you have will probably have a thread about them already. If you can't find it post a thread and we can either answer your question or help you find a helpful post. The best advice I can give is to read, read, read. I am sure most will agree with me. The more you read, the better understanding of your tank you will have. Hope this helps[emoji1360]

Thank you and that helped a lot and yes that was a error I just checked it and it's reading 1.024 sorry about that and thanks again I've already learned so much in the 3 days I've had the tank!