New 20gal long reef tank

[Jimbhoy13]

Welcome to R2R and the salty world. Lots of good advice has been given. Have you taken a sample of water to your LFS to have the basic parameters checked? Will confirm,or not, the readings you are getting.

 

[Jaden9933]

Welcome to R2R and the salty world. Lots of good advice has been given. Have you taken a sample of water to your LFS to have the basic parameters checked? Will confirm,or not, the readings you are getting.

No I haven’t been able to take a sample yet. I was in a really bad car accident in December that totaled my car so I can‘t drive anywhere and I broke a lot of stuff so walking isn’t an option either sadly. That’s why I rely on Amazon for most of my needs and have to make my own water. I ordered some new Red Sea test kits for PH, Alk, and Calc that should be here in about two weeks so until then, API tests will have to do.

 

[Jimbhoy13]

No I haven’t been able to take a sample yet. I was in a really bad car accident in December that totaled my car so I can‘t drive anywhere and I broke a lot of stuff so walking isn’t an option either sadly. That’s why I rely on Amazon for most of my needs and have to make my own water. I ordered some new Red Sea test kits for PH, Alk, and Calc that should be here in about two weeks so until then, API tests will have to do.

Sorry to hear about your accident. Hope you are soon mobile again. Red Sea are much better than API. I use them for calcium magnesium and nitrate. I use Hannah for Ali and phosphate. Might be worth putting a request out for a local reefer or a friend to take a sample to lfs for you.

 

[Jaden9933]

Sorry to hear about your accident. Hope you are soon mobile again. Red Sea are much better than API. I use them for calcium magnesium and nitrate. I use Hannah for Ali and phosphate. Might be worth putting a request out for a local reefer or a friend to take a sample to lfs for you.

Thank you I hope so too. I haven’t heard much on Red Sea for alk so I’m hoping its still accurate. Either way it’s better than API though

 

[ChaosAquaculture]

I did a 5 gal water change but it’s still testing at 17 dKH. Was that not enough water? I thought that should’ve made some kind of difference

The change will be gradual, it could take up to a month to see a drop. Consistent testing is important to see its pattern in rising and dropping levels. - kali

 

[ThePurple12]

Any advice on care for the coral (mostly the ricordea and anemone) or even pairing the clownfish with the anemone would be awesome!

That nem looks like a rock flower anemone. If it is, your clownfish won't live in it. If you want something that will host clowns, try a bubble tip anemone once you have everything sorted out and the tank is stable. Good luck!

 

[Jaden9933]

The change will be gradual, it could take up to a month to see a drop. Consistent testing is important to see its pattern in rising and dropping levels. - kali

I ended up doing two 5gal water changes yesterday which brought it down to around 14dKH. I know it’s still high, but I’m a lot more comfortable with that than 17! I also brought calcium up to about 420-440ppm and Magnesium down a bit to 1500. I dose trace elements and Seachem Iodide very lightly every once in a blue moon. Any idea how much of these I should dose considering they aren’t something you test for? I also give about 2.5-3mL of reef energy AB+ daily but feel like this also may be too much. The majority of the GSP opened back up this morning so I know the water changes helped! However, PH is testing at around 8, so I’ve thought about investing in a CO2 scrubber because it seems it’s not going to reach 8 without alk buffers as I used before