This would be a real good time to start your alkalinity tests. Salifert is the brand I use, dirt simple, numerical (which you need) and fast.
During cycle, you learned to test for nitrate and ammonia. Nitrate is a good thing to do from now on, even if you're a reef. It can really creep up on you to disastrous levels and give you failure-to-thrive with corals.
But alkalinity now becomes top of your list. If it's off you have unhappy fish, unhappy everything. So set up a testing schedule, a day and a time you won't forget to do it, such as right BEFORE your weekly water change. A fish-only should test alk, nitrate, and ammonia every week, and more often and more kinds of tests if things aren't right. Write down your result in numbers, so you can tell if it's .001th upward or .001th down this week.
For those headed for reefs, you can test nitrate once a month under most circumstances, unless it's high (over 20) and if you're doing fussy corals, make that (2). But alkalinity---matters a lot.
Where should it ride for either kind of tank? Between 7.9 and 8.3 for most purposes. It'll be ok to have it higher---up to, say, 9. But not lower.
What is alkalinity? It's kind of related to ph---measuring the capacity of your water to neutralize acid. It measures sensitivity of the liquid to acid inputs. [Wikipedia]. What this means for your tank is, one surmises, it measures your water's ability not to dive for a really bad ph. This is WHY alkalinity, not ph, is the thing to track. Having something to measure ph is useful. Having a test to measure alkalinity is critical.
What do you do if your alkalinity is too high? Water changes and patience. It will tend to fall over time.
What do you do if your alkalinity is too low? Real easy. Add DKH Buffer, according to the instructions on the container. Kent is my brand of choice, but there are a number of good brands.
Go ye forth and just remember---once you've cycled, you've got a brand new test to do weekly. IF every newbie would do it faithfully and ride that 8.3 as closely as possible, it would help keep tank water much more stable, fish far happier and healthier, and it would mean far fewer 'agony posts' in the NTTH forum.
If you have trouble HOLDING that 8.3, there is a fix for that: raise your magnesium to 1300 and your calcium to 420 and by a miracle of what keeps the oceans steady-on, it will balance the alkalinity at a steady level: ask in the chemistry forum if you need the why. Just take it that it works. And it's often the difference between a tank that flourishes and a tank that just has constant ghosty trouble.
During cycle, you learned to test for nitrate and ammonia. Nitrate is a good thing to do from now on, even if you're a reef. It can really creep up on you to disastrous levels and give you failure-to-thrive with corals.
But alkalinity now becomes top of your list. If it's off you have unhappy fish, unhappy everything. So set up a testing schedule, a day and a time you won't forget to do it, such as right BEFORE your weekly water change. A fish-only should test alk, nitrate, and ammonia every week, and more often and more kinds of tests if things aren't right. Write down your result in numbers, so you can tell if it's .001th upward or .001th down this week.
For those headed for reefs, you can test nitrate once a month under most circumstances, unless it's high (over 20) and if you're doing fussy corals, make that (2). But alkalinity---matters a lot.
Where should it ride for either kind of tank? Between 7.9 and 8.3 for most purposes. It'll be ok to have it higher---up to, say, 9. But not lower.
What is alkalinity? It's kind of related to ph---measuring the capacity of your water to neutralize acid. It measures sensitivity of the liquid to acid inputs. [Wikipedia]. What this means for your tank is, one surmises, it measures your water's ability not to dive for a really bad ph. This is WHY alkalinity, not ph, is the thing to track. Having something to measure ph is useful. Having a test to measure alkalinity is critical.
What do you do if your alkalinity is too high? Water changes and patience. It will tend to fall over time.
What do you do if your alkalinity is too low? Real easy. Add DKH Buffer, according to the instructions on the container. Kent is my brand of choice, but there are a number of good brands.
Go ye forth and just remember---once you've cycled, you've got a brand new test to do weekly. IF every newbie would do it faithfully and ride that 8.3 as closely as possible, it would help keep tank water much more stable, fish far happier and healthier, and it would mean far fewer 'agony posts' in the NTTH forum.
If you have trouble HOLDING that 8.3, there is a fix for that: raise your magnesium to 1300 and your calcium to 420 and by a miracle of what keeps the oceans steady-on, it will balance the alkalinity at a steady level: ask in the chemistry forum if you need the why. Just take it that it works. And it's often the difference between a tank that flourishes and a tank that just has constant ghosty trouble.
