3 90gal tank-specific questions

I could use a sanity check on a few items. I have a 90gal with 90lbs of rock, a dozen snails, a dozen hermits and a few damsels. My tank has been up since the middle of January.

I have a 6k and actinic in one ballast and a 10k in a separate ballast. I leave the 6k and blue on for 8 hrs and the 10k for 6 (in the middle). Does this sound about right?

I add 1 capfull (50gal dose) of Kent Marine Essentials and 1 capfull of Kent Coral-Vite each week. Does this sound like an acceptable dose? Do I still need to suppliment Kalkwasser if I intend to keep corals?

I have a Fluval 404 as a mechanical filter and a Prism Pro protein skimmer. Aside from pros/cons, would I see additional benefit (water clarity/purity) by adding a UV sterilizer or is it just a "nice to have"?

 

I would ramp up lighting as follows. atinic o3 on 1st, 6500k on next, then 10,000k on next. (K is for kelvin not kilo). photo period of 12 to 14 hrs total if corals, as you please for fish only, and 10 hrs for soft corals only. throughly clean the mechanical filter at least every 10 days, do not run carbon except to clarify water say one week out of 4, only put chemical additions into the system as the system dictates a need (your water change maitenance schedule should supply all the minerals and vitamins etc needed. if your corals demand an additonal need, you will be able to tell by doing the requried testing. only add when water testing indicates a need. never add to just be adding, as it is a formula for eventual tank problems.). UV is used for two purposes and both will help clarify the water collum. one is for clarification and the other is for sterilization. the difference is the dwell time of the water in the uv chamber, the longer the more effective the uv will be. floating algae sprores will be nutralized/sterilized with a certain flow, and parasites, ick, viruses, bacteria will requrie more time. (simply put). manufacture flow rates must be followed for the uv equipment to be effective. welcome to the site and hope this helps. visit the helpful articles there is a lot of information there for this and all types of subjects. happy fishin.

 

if your thinking of keeping corals Hard corals sps and lps corals I would recommend you upgrade your lighting. and contrary to bielef corals in the ocean get all of the nutrients they need from the sunlight in the first 6 hours the rest is basically for viewing pleasure.
and a lot of reefers follow the rule "if you dont test for it dont add it" but I would go off your supplements from what your water tests show (calcium, alk)
If your looking for good clarity in the water I would recommend ozone, that will super oxygenate the water and make yoru skimmer alot more efficient.

hope this helped

Greg

 

Careful if you decide to use ozone. it is injected into the protien skimmer and any excess needs to be blown off through carbon. also it should be completely mixed before entering the main tank and not be too strong. Now having said that I will be using ozone in my system as well as uv. So read up on both processes and make sure you understand them before selecting or using one or both. happy fishin.

 

Thanks for the info guys. Much appreciated. I'll start by investing in a more comprehensive test kit and save the money until I know that I need something.