Starting with a Hex tank!!

Hey World!!
New to the site (obviously) just saying howdie! Just started my first saltwater tank in October, so far so good..kinda. I bought a 35-40gallon(Not sure exactly) hex tank off a friend. Each side is 11.5" , 20" from front to back, roughly 24" deep. I had a quick cycle as i started with 10 gallons of his water, as well as his established live sand. I have about 40 lbs of live rock in the tank currently, with a few critters and corals to go along:
Fish:
Gold stripe maroon clown, scooter blenny, and a checkerboard wrasse(WHOOOPS!!!:-X)
Coral:
kenya tree
small frogspawn frag
star polyps(few zoas attached)
Sun coral (about 15 heads)

I also have a emerald crab and 4 turbos(peppermind shrimp died :-/)

I only have the reef master test kid so i havent been able to test for PH, ammonia (and whatever else the marine test kid tests for) on a regular basis. However I have been having a problem with my PH dropping to about 7.8 for whatever reason, so i have been using aquavitro balance to raise my PH levels.

My corals have had rough stretches when i let my salinity get too high due to water evaporation, but they seem to recover after a couple of days after i drop it back down to around 1.025.

Sorry for the long winded intro and the absense of any questions (And i do have questions!!), but i look forward to learning more about this kick ass hobby

Cheers~!!8)

 

Welcome!

Just a heads up though, think about what time of the day you test your PH. It swings during the day. Also, what is your magnesium testing at? If Ca, Alk and Mag test out properly, pH will typically stabilize itself. I don't really think we should get in to it here but maybe ask about it in another thread or do a search. Typically 4 things affect your PH. Time of day, Ca levels, Alk levels, and Mag levels. At night your PH swings and when your lights come on in the morning it swings again. I've read that refugiums can help with this but I haven't tested this first hand. Just some info to help you. Again welcome!

 

Well my calcium and alkalinity are both good, have not tested for magnesium yet...No room for a refugium unfortunately...im getting the marine test kit this weekend so i will test for mag once i get it