A friend of mine set up a very nice 90 gal. reef system, populated it,
then gradually got so busy traveling for business, the system died. He
made an effort to save the live rock by putting it in an
unlit-but-aerated Rubbermaid can. Naturally everything died but the
bacteria in the rock.

After a few months, he put the rock back in the tank, and there
everything sat for more months, growing slime algae, etc...

Two weeks ago, he realized that about 200 of his closest friends were
coming over for his 10th Annual Christmas Caroling Party, and he wanted
the tank behind the bar in the basement to be more, ummm, attractive. So
he called an Aquarium maintenance service and got a quote for getting
the tank ship-shape plus monthly maintenance, then emailed me and said
he'd rather give the money to me, if I were interested.

Since I'm at a point where my living arrangements are subject to change
on short notice and I can't really have a tank of my own, and couldn't
afford the top-notch equipment he's got on his even if I did... well,
for me it's an opportunity to pursure a hobby of mine at a level I
couldn't afford, at someone else's expense!

So I said, "Sure!"

The main problem here was the very short deadline. It had me doing
things I wouldn't ordinarily do. (If there's a drawback to pursuing your
hobby at someone else's expense, it's that you have to keep in mind that
you're not the boss!) But my friend's a very reasonable fellow and he's
allowed me to do pretty much as I please, within certain widely-placed
guidelines. But the damn deadline...

Long story short, The Christmas Party was Saturday night, the tank
looked marvelous - crystal-clear with happy-looking fish and critters,
but now I've got animals in a tank with water chemistry that's not quite
right.

Temp. 79
Salinity 1.019
PH 7.9
Ammonia 0

Haven't tested for Nitrite/Nitrate yet.

The animals:

4 Green Chromis
2 Clarkii Clowns
2 Yellowtail Blue Damsels
1 Coral Beauty (medium)
1 Yellow Tang (small)
2 Cleaner Shrimp
6 Blue Leg Hermits

The tank is devoid of algae at this point, and there is no substrate.
Just the old rock that's nothing more than base rock now, with just the
bacteria living in it. I plan to add more live rock to re-seed the tank
with algaes and other micro-critters, plus about a half-inch of
aragonite toward the front of the tank for those that like to forage on
the bottom.

So, what are your suggestions for getting the water chemistry right?
Bring the PH up first? How best to do that? Add the aragonite *first*,
as a buffer? There's a kalkwasser generator in the cabinet that's yet to
be brought online...

I'll be doing more-frequent-than-usual water changes for a time, maybe
10 percent a week for the next few weeks, and I'll gradually raise the
salinity to 1.021 that way.

But first, I await your wisdom.

My humble thanks,

--Charlie Henderson