print this off and tape it inside your sump door.

[Sk8r]

THE GOOD PARAMETERS
---------------------------
temperature 80 +/-2 degrees. Total 2 degree swing optimal.
salinity 1.024-6 [don't forget there's a zero in that number!]
ph 7.9-8.3
alkalinity DKH scale 8.3-9.3 [Can go to 11 without catastrophe, but try not to let it. If it will not rise, test your magnesium and calcium readings.]
calcium 400-450 [If it gets too high, just don't dose anything and it will fall. If it won't stay up, check your magnesium: magnesium should be 3x the calcium reading you want to have]
magnesium: 1200-1400. Should be 3x the calcium reading you desire to have.
Nitrate, nitrite, ammonia [ideally] 0
Phosphate cannot be read accurately: if you have algae, you have phosphate. Ideally, very, very low in main tank.
FOR CA, ALK, and MG there are supplements you may add.
---------------------------
DO 10% WATER CHANGES ONCE A WEEK, OR 20% IF YOU MISSED A COUPLE. This replaces all trace elements, which exist in very, very tiny, difficult-to-measure amounts in your salt mix. YOU DO NOT NEED TO DOSE THEM because the trace elements are in the mix.
-------------
FOR FISH-ONLY or FOWLR: do everything but calcium and magnesium, and change your filters weekly. Fish can tolerate some nitrate. Ammonia is BAD.
---------------
FOR SOFTIES OR ANEMONES: all corals understood to be kept with fish.
consider running carbon if you have softie-wars going on.
Do everything but the calcium and magnesium.
Softies tolerate some debris, even enjoy it. Mechanical filtration: no, imho.
Anemones may require very strong light. Many softies do not like it. COVER INTAKES if you have Anemones.
-------------
FOR LPS STONY OR CLAMS
do everything to optimum. Filtration not, imho, a good idea. LPS STONY does not *like* nitrate, nitrite, or phosphate. Does not *tolerate* ammonia.
CLAMS need abundant to strong light, depending on species: consult. Also: clams have a strong calcium demand.
---------------
For SPS STONY
everything to optimum. Minimize floaty things. SPS thrive mostly on strong light and a dependable presence of chemicals in the water. Strong current recommended: blasting, no. SPS does not like much variance in its environment, does not *tolerate* ammonia, phosphate, nitrate or nitrite well at all. If you have ghosty problems in otherwise 'perfect' water, check those readings.
That's my list: I'm sure others will have some amendments or corrections, so stand by to cut and paste this to file---but having these items available to remind you what to look at for what steps, and what to look at if something seems 'off' I hoped would be helpful to you.

[05TurboS2K]

nice!!!!!

[jubjub]

aye aye el captain.....memorize it then tape it up ha

[Mavrk]

Very nice. Then one thing I would change for my cabinet is:

Salinity 35 ppt - calibrate refractometer monthly with calibration fluid (not distilled water).

I might add:

Remember to turn off return pump during water changes.

Check auto top-off tank every 3-5 days.

[scrmbld33]

nice work!!!!! did you do a thread for dosing kalk and calcium reactors yet?? thanks for all the great threads

[Sk8r]

OOHHHH---yeahhh....and "Remember to turn off topoff pump during water changes." And "Remember to turn it back on AFTER water change."

[Sk8r]

The kalk dosing thread:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...readid=1291731

[scrmbld33]

Originally posted by Sk8r
The kalk dosing thread:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...readid=1291731

thanks!!!!!! you should do a what eats what thread for corals

[Mavrk]

Originally posted by Sk8r
OOHHHH---yeahhh....and "Remember to turn off topoff pump during water changes." And "Remember to turn it back on AFTER water change."

Oh yeah, I forgot about the turning it back on part. I personally don't need to turn off the top-off pump as long as I turn off the return pump. If I don't turn off the return pump, then the water level in my sump gets too low and the return pump starts sucking air.

[atvdave]

OK.. I taped it to my forehead, but I can't read it when looking in my mirror?

Whats up?

[snorvich]

Excellent list. Remember, stability is great.

[reefworm]

Great post and info Sk8tr! I do a similar thing with a weekly log book for water tests and animal observations. You learn from watching trends and connections.

[Ziggy953]

Great info thanks!

[Zoophile]

I like the log book idea as well. I copied a spread sheet out of a book and modified it for personal use. At first I felt like a nerd (which I am) filling in all the little boxes, but it forces me to do water tests because I hate seeing no data recorded in the blanks. It's also nice to be able to jot down how everything is doing and what you need to change-up to fix your parameters.

[reefnetworth]

oh! we forgot patience...

[Sk8r]

Log books are also great for tank sitters. I'm fortunate enough to have a medical person tank-sit. She's capable of running the tests without my even showing her how. Getting back home and not only seeing yesterday's tests but two weeks of history lets me know whether this is the downswing or the upswing of a situation.

I find, too, that the tank sitter being that aware of those water parameters makes them aware how delicate the balances are.

Sure beats Aunt Bessie pity-feeding your fish from a can, with no clue that it's a delicate chemistry. Aunt Bessie, granted her eyesight is up to it, can become really a very good tank-sitter, figuring Aunt Bessie is a good cook, because people enlisted in the chemistry end of things understand that there's a lot more than food that sustains the tank, and that all this gear is how spare food gets 'taken care of'.
If Aunt Bessie sees for herself a long record of what the numbers are supposed to look like, the likelihood she'll pity-feed goes way down, imho, and the likelihood you'll get a phone call if those numbers start going off goes way up.