Whats next? 3 weeks old tank ...

[DJ_drew]

The test kit that you have is good enough for now for sure
you need to raise your Ph to 8.1-8.2 for starters you can pick up a buffer at any LFS.
then i would see about setting up a Quarantine tank and taking a few of the fish out of your tank for a few weeks
make sure to USE YOUR TANK WATER not new water because there will not be any bacteria in it.
and add new water to your tank.
leave them out for about 4 weeks
a rule of thumb that i use is pretty simple when adding fish or any type of life to your tank
buy yourself one or two every payday
(makes it feel like its worth going to work for
your amonnia and nitrates and nitrites should all be 0
how big is your skimmer?
it should be rated for more then the capacity of your tank
if its too small it will only slow down your tank
and water flow is a major thing you need a couple power heads to aerrate the surface of the water.
hope that helps any other questions please keep em coming

[Myka]

Originally Posted by Reefcan

I tested phosphate(0), nitrate(0), PH(7.8-8.0), KH, calcium weekly, shows nothing wrong there. Is my test kit not accurate enough? Its a "Reef Master Test Kit" from API.

Oops, sorry I missed your listing earlier in the thread. That test kit isn't a particularly accurate test kit, but we don't need particularly accurate test kits for everything. the ones that we should spend the extra few bucks on and get good quality would be Calcium, alkalinity, magnesium, and nitrate. Don't worry about your pH. Read the section on pH in Myka's Guide to Calcium, Alkalinity, etc..... What are the actual readings for Calcium and Alkalinity? Low magnesium could also be a contributing factor.

[Zoaelite]

Originally Posted by DJ_drew

The test kit that you have is good enough for now for sure
you need to raise your Ph to 8.1-8.2 for starters you can pick up a buffer at any LFS.
then i would see about setting up a Quarantine tank and taking a few of the fish out of your tank for a few weeks
make sure to USE YOUR TANK WATER not new water because there will not be any bacteria in it.
and add new water to your tank.
leave them out for about 4 weeks
a rule of thumb that i use is pretty simple when adding fish or any type of life to your tank
buy yourself one or two every payday
(makes it feel like its worth going to work for
your amonnia and nitrates and nitrites should all be 0
how big is your skimmer?
it should be rated for more then the capacity of your tank
if its too small it will only slow down your tank
and water flow is a major thing you need a couple power heads to aerrate the surface of the water.
hope that helps any other questions please keep em coming

I agree 100% with the Quarantine tank but the PH comment isn't something I would recommend. pH is a parameter that I personally believe you should NEVER TRY TO CHANGE! Your PH is affected by so many things and if you have liverock/sand, do water changes and run a stable tank then it will correct itself. Trying to change it with chemicals is like taking aspirin to stop your self from having a heart attack. It could possibly fix the symptoms but you need to fix the underlying problem (aka STOP EATING BIG MACS)... or in the case of your fish tank just take it slow. Before you can rush and get all of those amazing corals you see in the TOTM shots you need to have a system that can accommodate them! Good luck with the tank, sounds like its going to be a great system but also know that we all get nuisance algae of the bat.
Levi