125g what to test?

[jonathanmuth]

I recently set up a 125g tank. It has been running about a week. The tank had been set up before but I put new water and sand in. I have about 165 pounds of live rock from the previous set up that is already cured. I am just curious at this point what are the most important things to test for. Ammonia? Nitrates? PH? The tank has two fish and a couple of small coral.

 

[Danny_B]

If its fully cured rock, you SHOULDNT have any issues. But never say never. There are things that can happen, ie.- rock got too dry/cold/hot during move and had die off of nitrifying bacteria. That could cause a mini-cycle. You could test ammonia and nitrite a couple times a week, and nitrate once a week. Be vigilant of fish breathing, labored breathing indicates ammonia or some other issue. Salinity always needs a to be checked. What coral do you have? Are you new to aquariums/ reefs?

 

[jonathanmuth]

So far i only have one small mushroom and a couple of small colonies of polyps. The rock was always kept in water and circulating. I checked ammonia, phosphates, nitrates, alkalinity, and salinity today and everything looked good. I am starting to get some brown algae in the tank though.

 

[Henchman24]

with a new tank at least to you that has been recently moved you want test more than normal for a few weeks to make sure there isn't any die off or spikes in levels. Ammonia, Nitrites, Nitrates, Salinity, Temperature, Phosphates, Alkalinity, & PH are good to monitor. Usually once a tank is doing well for awhile you can skip testing the ammonia & nitrites as long as the nitrates are low. Having a clean up crew with snails & hermit crabs is a part of keeping algae growth down. Do you have a protein skimmer & are you doing regular water changes with rodi saltwater? The corals you have are good beginner soft coral which are easier to take care of. With other corals the calcium & magnesium levels should be tested as well. It is best to list the actual test results instead of saying "everything looked good" so people can help more. What kind of fish do you have & can you post some pictures of the tank / equipment.

 

[zrogst]

Kits you can't live without: Refractometer (Salinity), Nitrate, Phosphate, Alkalinity

Kits if you have stony corals: Calcium

Kits that are nice to have if you have the money, but most LFS will test for free for you: Magnesium, pH, Ammonia, Nitrite

Kits nobody uses: All of the trace elements


Best tip for a new reefer: You are overfeeding. Everyone does. Calm down the fish wont die.

 

[Down]

Best tip for a new reefer: You are overfeeding. Everyone does. Calm down the fish wont die.

My Porky puffer would likely pull a knife on you for that comment. I believe he's convinced that I'm starving him, lol.

OP: I bought a running setup with live rock and never really had any kind of a mini cycle but stay vigilant. Also, enjoy that brown algae phase.

 

[jonathanmuth]

Currently my results were: ammonia-0, nitrates- .25, alkalinity-2.85, salinity-1.024, phosphate-.03. I have two black clownfish, one foxface, and a watchman goby. I do have sump from reef life and a protein skimmer also from reeflife. I will post some pictures as soon as I can. I appreciate all the help. I am thinking about adding some zoanthids.

 

[jonathanmuth]

 

[jonathanmuth]

Down what did you do for the brown algae?

 

[jonathanmuth]

Here is Pics of the tank