This needs to be said.
It's the water.
No matter what else you do, fancy or plain, water matters. When you test, get NUMBERS wherever possible. And write down those numbers, because they will vary. If they are varying in a bad direction, and haven't got there yet, don't wait: fix them. That's all. Just correct a bad direction before it gets to bad territory. That's why you keep a test logbook. Get tests that give you actual numbers, and use them often at first. After you get experience, you won't have to be quite as often---but early on, call it a learning curve. Tanks differ in how they respond. Learn yours.
The parameters I prefer are salinity 1.024, alk 8.3, cal 420, and magnesium 1250. That will grow stony coral. It also (if you dump 2 tsp kalk powder per gallon of fresh ro/di in your topoff) will feed stony coral and hold that balance rock steady until the mg runs below 1200, one of those neat low-tech tricks.
I have never known fish or softies to complain about the above water parameters, just that neither will absorb kalk (calcium) the way stony does, so if you just maintain your initial balance, you don't need kalk. Unless you're a clam fanatic: clams use it up, too.
Just remember, the core thing, ahead of all the fancy gear, is just a good test kit, a record that shows you your up and down trends, and good water quality, no matter what you're keeping.
It's the water.
No matter what else you do, fancy or plain, water matters. When you test, get NUMBERS wherever possible. And write down those numbers, because they will vary. If they are varying in a bad direction, and haven't got there yet, don't wait: fix them. That's all. Just correct a bad direction before it gets to bad territory. That's why you keep a test logbook. Get tests that give you actual numbers, and use them often at first. After you get experience, you won't have to be quite as often---but early on, call it a learning curve. Tanks differ in how they respond. Learn yours.
The parameters I prefer are salinity 1.024, alk 8.3, cal 420, and magnesium 1250. That will grow stony coral. It also (if you dump 2 tsp kalk powder per gallon of fresh ro/di in your topoff) will feed stony coral and hold that balance rock steady until the mg runs below 1200, one of those neat low-tech tricks.
I have never known fish or softies to complain about the above water parameters, just that neither will absorb kalk (calcium) the way stony does, so if you just maintain your initial balance, you don't need kalk. Unless you're a clam fanatic: clams use it up, too.
Just remember, the core thing, ahead of all the fancy gear, is just a good test kit, a record that shows you your up and down trends, and good water quality, no matter what you're keeping.
