sunny
Member
My husband and I started in this hobby about 3 years ago. It was a natural for us since we loved going to aquariums, snorkeling and our other hobby, scuba diving. We started out right around the time of the movie “Finding Nemo”. We were at out local movie theater in Boca Raton, FL where there was a large display of saltwater fish tanks. They were extraordinary. We purchased the “Finding Nemo Special” which consisted of a 12 gallon Eclipse Tank, and three fish, Nemo (clown), Blue Hippo Tang, and a Yellow Tang, live sand and an artificial reef. I won’t even tell you what we paid for it, we were totally suckered. We were told to do a 1/3 water change every month. We purchased the water from the same place we bought our fish. Never had any problems, never tested our water, two years went by and our Blue Hippo Tang grew to almost 5 inches and we did the responsible thing, we upgraded our tank to 72 gallons.
Our 72-gallon tank has been running for a year. When we upgraded we started testing the water with the “Saltwater Master Liquid Test Kit” by Aquarium Pharmaceuticals. Out readings were consistently pH 7.8-8.0, A 0, NO2 0, NO3 0. This tank contained only fish, inverts, and live rock.
Only recently we decided to add some coral/anemone. So, we made the big plunge and purchased metal halide lights, which are supplemented with power compacts, and moon lights. Yesterday, my husband and I went ridding around town to every saltwater fish store we could find to see what new types of coral we could add to our tank. This one place in Fort Lauderdale had some really nice stuff. So we decided to purchase some Zoo Polyps and a Trumpet Coral. Before we checked out we went to look at the chemical section. Someone immediately came over and helped up. Before I new it I had five bottles of chemicals in my arms and I was feeling a bit overwhelmed. I asked if there was one bottle of everything all mixed together, then I was given two bottles of trace elements but told I really should go with the five other bottles. Somehow, I left with three bottles and one jar of the following:
·Kent Tech CB Part A
·Kent Tech CB Part B
·Kent Tech M
·Kent Superbuffer dKH
Considering that I never tested for Salinity, Calcium and Alkalinity I also bought Test Kits: Red Sea Ca Test Lab and fastest for Alkalinity. Both of them are very confusing tests which involve counting drops and multiply it in some formula. The calcium was very high and so was the salinity. The alkalinity was at 4.5. So we added some RO water to bring the salinity down.
Please help. We do not know what to do with all of these chemicals. Can someone please write chemicals for dummies?
Our 72-gallon tank has been running for a year. When we upgraded we started testing the water with the “Saltwater Master Liquid Test Kit” by Aquarium Pharmaceuticals. Out readings were consistently pH 7.8-8.0, A 0, NO2 0, NO3 0. This tank contained only fish, inverts, and live rock.
Only recently we decided to add some coral/anemone. So, we made the big plunge and purchased metal halide lights, which are supplemented with power compacts, and moon lights. Yesterday, my husband and I went ridding around town to every saltwater fish store we could find to see what new types of coral we could add to our tank. This one place in Fort Lauderdale had some really nice stuff. So we decided to purchase some Zoo Polyps and a Trumpet Coral. Before we checked out we went to look at the chemical section. Someone immediately came over and helped up. Before I new it I had five bottles of chemicals in my arms and I was feeling a bit overwhelmed. I asked if there was one bottle of everything all mixed together, then I was given two bottles of trace elements but told I really should go with the five other bottles. Somehow, I left with three bottles and one jar of the following:
·Kent Tech CB Part A
·Kent Tech CB Part B
·Kent Tech M
·Kent Superbuffer dKH
Considering that I never tested for Salinity, Calcium and Alkalinity I also bought Test Kits: Red Sea Ca Test Lab and fastest for Alkalinity. Both of them are very confusing tests which involve counting drops and multiply it in some formula. The calcium was very high and so was the salinity. The alkalinity was at 4.5. So we added some RO water to bring the salinity down.
Please help. We do not know what to do with all of these chemicals. Can someone please write chemicals for dummies?
