Marine Tank Parameters

Everyone starting out in this hobby wants to know what the optimal parameters for maintaining the reef are. I am going to just be talking right now about the basics and what they should be.

Temperature: 79 deg.F - I find that this is a good temperature to maintain. It is neither too hot or too cold.

Salinity: 1.026 - This could probably be lower for a fish only tank but my yellow pollyps coral exploded once I raised this up from 1.023.

Ammonia: 0 - This has to be 0 or you have serious water quality issues.

Nitrite: 0 - This also has to be 0 or you have serious water quality issues.

PH: 8.4 is a good number to strive for. Note that PH alters over the course of a day so make sure you take your reading at the same time each day.

Nitrate: 0 - Is the number to strive for. While not necessarily as toxic as ammonia/nitrite try to keep this as close to 0 as possible.