What''s next - more questions?

[steelermags]

First and foremost, I would like to thank everyone for their feedback and suggestions. This site has been great. Here is my story as today:

125 gallon reef tank has been up and running for 6 weeks, sump, refugium with chaeto and lighting, skimmer, and one koralia pump running, approx. 75 lbs of live rock and 10 lbs of dry rock with live sand on bottom of tank. Clean up crew about 125 variations of Mexican turbos, hermit crabs added for 5 days so far. NO fish other than small damsel that I may need to remove. Some of my rock approx. 20 lbs came from GULFLIVE ROCK and appears to have some coraline algae with some cool colors and a few plants growing. I test my ammonia everyday and it has been a zero. Have RO water collecting in two (55) gallon barrels and have done 15% water change each week.

What is next as far as options? I realize the fish selection is important but have a few more questions before I start researching fish and options so I am hoping you all can address these questions. Would like to have fish and corals if I can manage to understand requirements etc.

1) What types of testing on my water should I be doing at this point and how often? What is the best recommended test kits to use?
2) Do I need to consider timers for my lighting? If so, what kind? I currently turn on my T5 Lighting at 7AM and let on until 10PM. Also, keep my refug light on
amount of time?
3) Have automatic top off bucket with fresh RO water with aerator ready to feed into SUMP as tank requires it. Do I need to add any chemicals in this fresh water?
4) Really like the stuff on the GULFLIVE ROCKs and would like to keep it - should I be concerned about certain fish eating this growth and algae?

Sorry for the series of questions but I want to seek more advice. I am addicted as my kids and I sit down and view the tank every night even without fish.

 

[Aquaph8]

1) What types of testing on my water should I be doing at this point and how often? What is the best recommended test kits to use?

My advice on this subject is to get used to and familiar with using test kits cause it will help you out when you get to the point where your ready to start keeping corals but at this point dont get too hung up on them. Before you add fish you want your ammonia and nitrites to be zero. Honestly I never really used these test kits a whole lot and any good fish store will test these for you. Your biggest concern is taking things slowly and not adding too much to fast. Your young tank has to build up bateria over time. Your tank will go through many cycles as it ages, you should expect algae blooms here and there, its part of the process. Just take things slowly and deal with one thing at a time and your patients will be rewarded in the end. After six weeks you should be really close to being able to add your first fish. Ive always found clownfish to be a nice hardy first choice.

2) Do I need to consider timers for my lighting? If so, what kind? I currently turn on my T5 Lighting at 7AM and let on until 10PM. Also, keep my refug light on
amount of time?

Timers for your lighting are a great idea, you can get one at any hardware store for not a lot of $$$ Most people also keep there fuge on a timer set to oposite hours of their main tank. The growth of the macro algae helps to keep PH stable. Consider lowering your light schedule back to between 8-10 hrs.

3) Have automatic top off bucket with fresh RO water with aerator ready to feed into SUMP as tank requires it. Do I need to add any chemicals in this fresh water?

Consider an RODI unit as one of your future projects it will save you so much time and money in the long run. That trip to go get fresh top off water gets old really fast. Another useful tool that most of us use is an Automatic topoff unit, while not needed it really does make your life easier and keeps your salinity nice and stable.

4) Really like the stuff on the GULFLIVE ROCKs and would like to keep it - should I be concerned about certain fish eating this growth and algae?

Certain fish will certainly eat some types of algae but it usually helps to keep your tank from being over run by algae. Im not sure exactly what growth your talking about on your rocks.


Hope this helps a little, please continue to post up your questions and let us know how we can help. Welcome to R2R!!!

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Welcome to R2R!

 

[TheEngineer]

1) Always test the basics, nitrate, nitrate, pH, ammonia. When you start getting more advanced corals, you'll add some other tests.
2) Timers make life a lot easier. Look for a digital one at Home Depot, they're cheap and reliable. That's a really long light cycle. Typical is around 8 hours or you'll promote nuisance algae.
3) Never dose anything you don't test for. Regular water change are often enough for the averag tank.