my fish wish list is this ok???

hi yeah its the ammonia im confused about as its a creamy yellow colour.so im gonna test the ammonia tommorow

my ph is 7.8 i dont have the lights on as its only cycling.
i will only be keeping fish no corals
i will test it again and leave the lights on
but if my ph stays at 7.8 with the lights off and its around 8.3 when the lights are on should i get a buffer??
ill see what my test results say

 

the black box it the corner was a internal filter as i have a juwel rio 180 and they all have them fixed in there and i cannot take it out so i have my external filter canister tubes in there and my heater.

 

your ph is a bit low... since you just set it up, it could take a day or two to stabilize... but I would keep an eye on it and slowly add some buffer to get it up to 8.2. Have you tested alkalinity?

 

no coz i was told i dont need to. i keep getting told diffrent things so i dont know where im coming or going.some people tell me i do some people tell me i dont.but more people have told me i dont need to so thats why i havent

 

Chadley, you need to be checking the following things for a reef tank.

ammonia
nitrite
nitrate
ph
magnesium
alk/dkh
calcium
phosphate

I agree your sg is low and should prob be around 1.025 or so if you are shooting for a reef. Also If someone is telling you that you should'nt be checking the above items for a reef they are miss informed. You should prob be more worried atm about ammonia nitrite nitrate and ph since you are just now cycling and the others before you start adding fish or coral. Your params like ph are prob outta wack from the new sand and the cloudiness esp if you didn't rinse the sand.

 

i dont want a reef tank only a fowlr tank.

 

In that case I may be wrong and someone step in and help if I am, I have a reef. But for a FOWLR I would think you would only need to test for the following.

ammonia
nitrite
nitrate
ph
phosphate

 

yeah thats what ive already been told

 

Creamy color for ammonia is on my API test kit and that normally means somewhere between 0-.25 ppm.

Since this will be a fish only tank, you should try and keep the PH around 8, and more importantly than the actual number is it's stability.

Let your tank cycle for the next month without putting any fish in it, you'll need to build up a good base. If you wanted to, after your levels hit 0, add some hermits and snails i'd say go for it.

Your list looks pretty decent, but just don't add all of those fish all at once. I would say let at least 1 month go by before adding each fish. You'll need to give the bacteria contained within your live rocks time to adjust to the bio-load.

Other than that, patience. Everything in due time.

 

thank you i will test it tommorow and see what i get.

yeah once it has cycled im going to add the inverts 2 at a time 1-3 months inbetween each so i can save the money for them and its also better for the fish so they can get used to there new home before i add more company.then i will add the fish 1 at a time the same way.