Wow! I must say- that was quite the welcome! This community seems incredibly supportive- thanks so much for all the advice and replies!
Based on all that was said, I'll sit tight, keep testing, and be patient. One important thing that I forgot to mention was that the guy at my lfs cured my filtration media in one of his established tanks for 2 weeks before giving it to me for my sump, so i think that might make a big difference!
Tested parameters today and noticed that my ammonia has gone back down to 0 (tested twice to make sure it was correct). So i did some phantom feeding to see if there's a spike over the next couple of days and how quickly the spike is taken care of. Will grab a nitrite test kit tomorrow and check what's happening on that front too.
I'll keep you all posted! Thanks again and happy reefing!
Update:
- Ammonia up to 0.5 after phantom feeding.
- Managed to get my temp down from 31 degrees C to 27 degrees C by using 4 fans.
- pH fluctuating between 8, 8.5, and 9 with the median being 8.5.
- salinity at 1.026
- Lights are staying off.
- No evidence of the uglies yet.
Continuing my hunt of where to buy live copepods in Vietnam... I'd prefer finding a needle in a haystack if I'm honest.
Also can't find Chaeto for my fuge! Can find a number of other macroalgaes, but chaeto doesn't seem to be a thing here. Any of you have other macros in your fuges? Any success or more trouble than it's worth?