JakeTeque

Hey SW enthusiasts...

FINALLY got my live rock in my tank after researching sites trying to get the best deal. Here's whats up:

100 gal
SG: 1.022
pH: 8.0
2 Powerheads
Temp: 76 degrees F
80lbs of LR (will add more later)
skimmer: Prizm Skimmer
Lighting: Coralife Delux Series 50/50 130 watt w/ True Antic 03 Blue (50%) and 10,000K Daylight (50%)

Questions:
Is my live rock set up in an acceptable order?
pH...what's the best way to raise it?
And.... what do you think?

pinkfloydpuffer

Hey, I'm no SW expert, but I like the look of your tank!
The best way I know of to raise ph is with an aragonite or crushed coral substrate. Do you have a sump? If so, that's a great place to put that. I use aragonite in my brackish tank to keep the ph high and stable, and it works very well.

Tumbleweed

I would not worry about the PH just yet. It is a little low but as long is it is stable I would not worry about it. How long ago did you set up your tank? I would however raise your salinity a little. You want to aim for 1.026. Also I would raise your temp as well. A good temp range is 78-81F. For the rock work it looks nice, but on the ease of maintenance I recommend keeping your rock 2-3 inches away from all side of the tank. This will allow you to clean the glass off easier.

Other then that nice start.
Brian

JakeTeque

pink - yeah i have crushed coral but no sump... I can hide it somewhere else later on if I need to...

Brian - Sounds great! The tank is BRAND NEW. A book I read recommended 75 degrees for a SW tank... but I have no problem raising it. And yeah I have just been experimenting with salinity so I will raise that as well. I am going to get everything stable and cured and cycled then add two true perc clowns to start.

Thanks for the tips!

Tumbleweed

Your welcome. Is the Live Rock already Cured? If so your tank will cycle fairly quickly.

Just take your time and you will do just fine. Might I suggest that you maybe start out with a Blue/green chromis as your first fish. They are a nice schooling fish and are very hardy. And another great plus is that they are very inexpensive. A lot of people may tell you to get a damsel first, but most of the time you have to remove the damsels from your tank before you add any other fish, they tend not to get a long with other fish. Just a thought.

Brian

JakeTeque

The live rock is cured, however to save $ I shipped ground shipping and it got here in 4 days... so I am sure it had some die-off that I want to cycle through. As a beginner it's hard to tell what/if there is any decay I need to brush off the rock... But I am paying close attention to anything.

I did want some chromis as well... so maybe after a week or so I'll get a school of them

Tumbleweed

THe easiest way to tell if there is any die-off is to smell the rock. If it smells like ocean it is ok, if there is any kind of rotting or fowl smell there is die-off. You can also test your water for ammonia. I would what on getting any kind of fish until you are sure that there is no ammonia in the tank.

JakeTeque

specific gravity is now in between 1.025 and 1.026, temp raised to 78 degrees, and I added a bit of crushed coral to the substrate. Rock seems to not have much die-off as it smells like seawater. Ammonia and nitrite at 0ppm. Safe to add Chromis at the end of this week? Are you sure SG isn't too high? LiveAquaria says 1.022-1.025 is the range for most of their marine fish as well as Live Rock. I moved the rocks around and away from the sides, as well as created some caves that I'll post later

Also, my Live Rock came with a lot of little "brain" coral. I hope some more stuff sprouts up This is so exciting!

Jake

sgould

I keep mine around 1.024 these days.

Tumbleweed

Natural sea water is around 1.026, and the trick is to for us to try and mimic natural sea water in our tanks. Keep and eye on you ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels and if at the end of the week all levels are good, go a head and add the chromis.

nemo addict

depends on region of the fish .. green chromis are from indo pacific being SG1.020 - 1.025 and temp 72°F - 80°F (22°C - 27°C),, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seawater
1.026 is advised for keeping hard corals