so far so good?

[swisswiss]

Hey, Hello and Greetings to all from Switzerland.
Right so I'm new to the world of saltwater Aquariums and very eager to learn, I have always had a passion and love for animals and this seemed like a good idea to add some new elements to my house. so here is the deal I have a 180 L (sorry guys i only work in liters) tank with a Vskim 200 compact protein skimmer (who naturally at this stage does not collect much, being the very start of the adventure) and a Tecatlantis bio box filtration system.
after having set it all up i unfortunately had no choice but to create the salt water mix with Red Sea's Corla pro salt and tap water (yea i know in my face) , this is where i fear most of my problems are coming from. the Specific gravity of the tank is perfect, at 25°C its about 1.025-27. however using JBL Mag. and Calcium test (according to the test you are suppose to subtract your calcium results with your magnesium one to obtain and average per liter) got the following results Mag. 2600 mg/l (26 drops x 100) - Cal. 840 mg/l (42 drops x 20) = 1760 mg/l.
now iv been reading around and it would seem that both these elements are the founding stones for coral construction however i have no idea if:
A) these level are extremely high for a 180l tank (i would think so) and
B) what would be the actual consequences of these levels on the live rock I'm preparing to install soon.
Thank you in advance for your help and tips
Annex Pics!!!

Too much sunlight??

The top i made myself to allow more air flow, and perhaps add some more lights. good or bad idea?

undissolved salt normal?

Koralia Nano Movement and circulation pump

 

[spanko]

I would suspect some inaccurate readings on both the calcium and magnesium as using a standard salt mix with your Sg at 1.027 would in no way give you the readings you are getting.
Also the size of the tank does not determine the readings for these components. A standard salt mix when mixed to the correct Sg will not vary them with the amount of water you use.
The natural sunlight may give you more growth of the green algae that comes on the glass surface. Really depends on the amount of light coming in through that window. If is say a north facing window the amount of light would be less and would be of less concern.
Welcome to the hobby and to SWF.

 

[swisswiss]

Thank you.
Turns out you were right (did the test wrong the first time) now I get a result of;
Mag.1800 mg/l - 500 mg/l cal. and I get a nice round result of 1300 mg / L

 

[spanko]

Ah, this is more reasonable. I like the grid in front of your light. Will allow heat transfer and also better gas exchange. Is the grid metal? If so what type as I would worry over time about rusting. Also is that still some salt mix on the bottom glass? If so you need to get the salt mixed thoroughly before addin any rock or substare as it may throw off you Sg reading if not completely mixed.

 

[swisswiss]

yea the grid is metal I put it together roughly as test run, will def. build something more solid later, that does appear to be salt, gonna have to mix the water up a bit or simply lower the circulation pump so as to pushes water on the bottom and clean it up.
having used tap water for the mix there are 100 other elements i cant test for at the moment and will probably harm my live rock right?
I'm going to take a sample of my water to the fish shop and ask them to fully test it before buying any rock.
also its really early to ask this but iv been reading about cleaner animals, that supposedly are the best thing to get first since they will clean up the tank after the ecosystem is launched so the question is: can 2 skunk cleaner shrimps live well in a 180l tank?
seems they enjoy the company of their siblings but also need a lot of living space (read 114 L) if anyone has any experience with these interesting shrimps please let me know

 

[spanko]

2 cleaner shrimp in a 180l (47 gallon) tank should not be a problem.
The only real harm from the tank water would be chlorine and that has probably evaporated off already. Whay you may have that could cause algae blooms are phosphates and nitrates depending on your local water quality. Get that salt all mixed up so you don't see any laying around anymore, check the Sg again to ensure that it is correct then go ahead and get your rock. Remember, rock in first then backfil with the substrate around them. This is to limit the access under the rock to creatures that could undermine it and cause a landslide.

 

[swisswiss]

Will do, i was thinking of making a 5cm layer of coral sand half thin and half medium grind this should allow the sand to quickly become living and act as a further filter, 5cm enough?

 

[spanko]

About 2 inches. Good for shallow sandbed.