2 dumb beginner questions..

[jay knows]

Hey all
I have 2 beginner questions....
1. How long should I leave my lights on in my fish only and LR tank?
2. After setting up my SWT, and adding my fish, my PH went down, should I add anything to the water to balance it out or wait it out?

 

[reefnut]

1... 8-12 hours
2... did you cycle the tank before adding the fish??

 

[jimmy g]

8-12 for the first qustion and I think you are still in the cycle or you started a new one because you added too much, too fast. This hobby is all about patience so no matter what happens with your tank, stick in there and take it s-l-o-w.

 

[ophiura]

Definitely need to know more about your system: age, filtration, livestock, water parameters. Don't add anything, IMO, until those are investigated!

 

[jay knows]

ok system was just set up last weekend... before you blow up, please read on....
1. 55 gal tank
2. 50 lbs cc
3. didnt cycle the water myself, as it was purchsed from a popular and large fish store, it is the same water that is filtered in their tanks. was told it is alright and to run the filter over night and to get the temp up to 78 degrees, wait another day if the levels hold then i should be good to add fish, so then i did.
4. added approx 30 lbs of live rock cured, a clown and a yellow tang, per the store recommendation, in addition a bacteria packet.
5. Flitration, running a Fluval 404.
6. Ordered a Aqua C protein skimmer (per the recommendations of the site)
Tested the water again and the PH today is alittle better, but still is lower the the first day or two, it dropped on day 4 now it appears to be coming back up...
Hope this is enough information to help me fix this before I loose a fish..
I will also post a pic as soon as my digital camera charges...
Thanks Jay

 

[scubadoo]

You COULD have a time bomb ticking in my opinion. Filter media, aquarium sides, substrate, live rock is where the good bacteria lives. Adding the water will not introduce what is needed in the quantity that is required in my opinion.
As long as the live rock is in fact cured...and the bacteria is in fact alive in the additive ...you MIGHT get lucky.
As for your PH...you need to test the same time each day. It fluctuates duing the day..lower readings are usually after the light goes out at night with higher readings during the day.
Also, in the near future you will need to vacuum that crused coral continually to keep your nitrates down. Crushed coral traps waste and needs to be vaccumed continually.
In my opinion..the lfs gave you really poor advice...which is not uncommon. Monitor your nitrites and ammonia closely as this is toxic to most fish. Do you have test kits for this? More importnat to test for this right now. Personally, I would return the fish to the lfs.and wait to make sure your tank does not start a cycle over the next several weeks.
You may get by without a spike. Also, I hope the yellow tang is a small one. ...they require a larger tank as an adult. Just my opinion

 

[snipe]

Sounds like scubadoo has been doing alot of reading :yes:

 

[jay knows]

thanks scuba