Ready for fish?

[cellofish]

Just wondering if I can add my clowns now. The Live rock has been in for 2 weeks. The ammonia and nitrites have gone up and now the ammonia is at 0 and nitrites are at .1.

The ph is 8.2, I think that is a bit high though. The salinity is 1.021. I was thinking of getting a pair of clowns. Or should I add a clean up crew first? I thought clowns would be good first since there is nothing for the clean up crew to clean up. ha ha ha

Any suggestions?

Also what type of clownfish, my pet store only has percula clowns not the occelaris. They also have the tomato clowns but I wanted the "nemo" look. Would the percula ones be ok for a beginner?

 

[Chris L]

how long has the system been running? not just the rocks but water and filtration

 

[agent6473]

Is this going to be a reef tank? You'll need to raise your salinity if it is.

 

[fanaglethebagle]

8.2 is not high ph, I think the desirable is 8.4 (thats what I heard)

 

[rjdudek]

1.021 is in what is normally considered an acceptable range. 8.2 on pH is normally where I get worried about it being too low. My alarm is set at 8.17

 

[jovreef]

I think if your gonna add clowns now I'd do false percs (occelaris) that are tank bred.
True percs are less hardy & 99 % of them are wild caught & alot come with internal parasites & easly catch brook. A long QT is reccomended for WC true percs.

 

[OceanGuy]

The Ocellaris clowns are great and very hearty and personable. They will find a spot and are very curious. Mine stay near the front corner. They are always together.

Good luck.

 

[smcnally]

1.021 is in what is normally considered an acceptable range. 8.2 on pH is normally where I get worried about it being too low. My alarm is set at 8.17

1.021 IMO is pretty low for a reef tank. 1.026 is where it really should be. I also disagree with you on the pH. I've always read that in a reef tank 8.1-8.3 is perfect 7.9 is on the low side and 8.5 is on the high side. FWIW, when I had issues dialing in my Ca Reactor my PH was 7.8-8.1 for over a month and everything still did good.

 

[this is me]

Bump up your salinity to 1.025-1.026.
A PH of 8.20 is not low at all! I'm running 7.92 at night and a high of only 8.26.
I dont worry about the PH until it dropps all the way down to 7.77
Perc clowns are fine for beginner. Thats what I started with and pretty much everyone in the hobby.

 

[dz6t]

Also what type of clownfish, my pet store only has percula clowns not the occelaris.

A lot of stores sell occelaris as percula. If it looks like Nemo, it is an occelaris.

 

[Mikeaveli21]

1.021 IMO is pretty low for a reef tank. 1.026 is where it really should be. I also disagree with you on the pH. I've always read that in a reef tank 8.1-8.3 is perfect 7.9 is on the low side and 8.5 is on the high side. FWIW, when I had issues dialing in my Ca Reactor my PH was 7.8-8.1 for over a month and everything still did good.

I agree, I think for a FO/FOWLR you could be around 1.021. But for a reef I would bump it up.