1. Don't push it, after you've cycled. Your next step should be hermits and snails, while your first fish IS (not are!) in carefully-watched quarantine. 4 weeks of hermits and snails pooing into that sandbed will get the bacteria going full bore. Keep testing your water. THIS is how your water should test, and you need a good test (I use Salifert) for each one of these.
The ideal parameters. There's wiggle room. But not much. "Salinity 1.024-6; alkalinity 8.3-9.3 on KH scale, not meq/l; calcium 420; magnesium 1300, temp abt 80, never under 75, never over 85; nitrate/ammonia 0. Alk and cal will not rise if mg is low. Alk reading far more imp't than PH;
If you're fish only: use the cheaper salt, but test your alkalinity obsessively and do weekly water changes.
If you're intending a reef, use the Reef Salt, and test alkalinity, calcium, and magnesium, plus have supplements to adjust these. This is called dosing, and these are the principle things you will ever dose.
2. after 4 weeks, introduce one quarantined small fish. Loneliness won't trouble him much: his idea of bliss is world domination and territory as far as he can see. Don't try to inject human psych here and buy him a 'friend.' He can do without until 'friend' is quarantined and clear.
3. have a logbook for those tests. They should be run daily at first, then less frequently---you'll learn how much window you will have based on when you see things change.
4. You can also have a coral that's appropriate for your lighting, at this point. Never let those readings vary. Be sure to dip your coral. Read the instructions.
Your tank will likely be quite stable, and you very likely will never see ich in your display tank in your entire fishkeeping career.
The ideal parameters. There's wiggle room. But not much. "Salinity 1.024-6; alkalinity 8.3-9.3 on KH scale, not meq/l; calcium 420; magnesium 1300, temp abt 80, never under 75, never over 85; nitrate/ammonia 0. Alk and cal will not rise if mg is low. Alk reading far more imp't than PH;
If you're fish only: use the cheaper salt, but test your alkalinity obsessively and do weekly water changes.
If you're intending a reef, use the Reef Salt, and test alkalinity, calcium, and magnesium, plus have supplements to adjust these. This is called dosing, and these are the principle things you will ever dose.
2. after 4 weeks, introduce one quarantined small fish. Loneliness won't trouble him much: his idea of bliss is world domination and territory as far as he can see. Don't try to inject human psych here and buy him a 'friend.' He can do without until 'friend' is quarantined and clear.
3. have a logbook for those tests. They should be run daily at first, then less frequently---you'll learn how much window you will have based on when you see things change.
4. You can also have a coral that's appropriate for your lighting, at this point. Never let those readings vary. Be sure to dip your coral. Read the instructions.
Your tank will likely be quite stable, and you very likely will never see ich in your display tank in your entire fishkeeping career.
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Remember too: you can't raise your basic alk-cal-mg balance with it: you have to set that properly BEFORE you use Mrs Wages. It will, however, HOLD that balance until the magnesium depletes. So if you just test the magnesium level once a week, and keep adding water to the ATO reservoir, you'll be golden until the Mrs. Wages is all used up. In my 32 gallon ATO reservoir, I don't even measure: I just drop in a couple of pounds of Mrs. Wages (a bargain, under 5.00) and keep refilling the water. You stir it only once right when you put it in, let it kick up well, then let it settle at least overnight before you plug the ATO pump back in (plugging it in right away is how you shoot nasty white water into your tank: don't do that! always turn your topoff pump OFF while refilling kalk, and remember to turn it ON in the morning, eh?)
