Reef Ready

Tank up and running for 4 months. I have all the right lighting. Wat do i need to test for to see if i can start putting corals in? Just mag and calccium?

 

Calcium, Alk and magnesium. Just get a base line, try not to jump into dosing until you get a decent amount of stony corals, a lot of coralline algae growth or larger clams. Routine water changes with a decent salt mix is really all you need initially, yep it's just that simple.

 

I agree with teh first answer! If you aren't keeping that many corals yet you don't need to dose. Just whats in regular water changes is more than enough for just a few corals. Eventually once you get more and more then you will need to start testing and dosing Calcium, Alk and magnesium. Soft corals you don't really need to worry about. LPS and SPS is when you get a lot of these they will suck the Calcium, Alk and magnesium from the water and you will need to dose. Good Luck.

 

I want to get a hammer and a torch. Can I put those in now??

 

As long as your parameters are good then yes you can add a hammer and torch... Even a frogspawn. Most lps and softies you can add right away. Sps you may want to wait until a little more experince. Good luck.

 

I have all softies and I don't test for calcium of magnesium at all. They are thriving in my tank.

 

Alk and Ca is all you really need to test. I test alk twice a week and ca once a month. Mag should be maintained by water changes

 

Alright sounds good thanks. My water has bern loudy tho. Any recommendations as to why/how to clear it up

 

Carbon might clear it up. You need to find the source though.

 

Most common cause to couldy water is an ammonia spike. Did you test ammonia? Nitrite? What exactly is in the tank at the moment?