More saltwater questions

[dragonet123]

Hello everybody!
I just have a couple more saltwater questions. For now.

1. How do you check for ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite? How many times a week do I have to check those? What are appropriate levels?
2. I know if you put about a teaspoon of baking soda in the water per ten gallons it will raise the ph of the water to 8.1-8.4. Is this safe for the fish?
3.Can I use regular sand in my saltwater aquarium?
4. What is the difference between a reef tank, coral reef, and FOWLR tanks? If in my tank I have fake coral is sand on the bottom and fish, what does that make my tank?
5. What is the difference between dKH and calcium hardness?
Thanks!!

 

[clownster]

#1 - Most people after the tank is cycled they will check the levels at water change time or less, Ammonia should be 0, Nitrites ) as well and Nitrate as close to 0 as you can keep them.
#2 - The salt mix should buffer your water to the correct PH level.
#3, No need to get reef safe sand.

I'll let someone else take the last 2.

 

[BL1]

1. As a person new to the hobby, you'll most likely want to test your water more often then Say someone who's had their tank up and running for a few years and knows what a normal maintenance schedule for it is. I would say start out testing at least every other day during your cycle. After the cycle test once or twice a week, and the. Adjust your testing schedule as you feel more comfortable.

2. It would be fine for your fish but unless there is a dire need to dose it's better to leave it alone, as pH swings will be more detrimental to your tank then getting a higher pH.

3. If by regular sand, you mean play sand from a hardware store then no you can't. It'll cause nasty algae outbreaks since that sand contains more silicates then normal aquarium sand. Plus, I've heard conflicting stories about argonite sand being a natural marine buffer.

4. A reef tank is a tank with everything, fish corals and invertebrates. A coral reef is the place in the ocean where the corals come from. And a FOWLR tank stands for Fish Only With Live Rock, basically just a tank with fish and ocean rocks. Since you don't have any real corals your tank would be considered a FOWLR.

5. dKH is also known as alkalinity or carbonate hardness, which are the measure of alkalinity in the water. Calcium hardness is the measure of calcium content in the water.

 

[ErinCahir]

+1 bl1