about chemical testing in the water and anemones

Question
hi jennifer, im a newbie in marine aquarium, im still in the midst of learning new things... can you guide me in testing ammonia, nitrites and nitrates in the water? what should i use to do this? and i want to know more about anemones like how to care for them, how to feed them... thank you...

Answer
Hello Rocky. Welcome to the world of saltwater. When you first set up your tank and add either your live rock or whatever other creature you first add, your tank will go through what is called a cycling period. During this time your ammonia(product of waste) will start to rise. You should be testing your ammonia every day for the first month and weekly there after. As your aerobic bacteria start to colonize your tank you will notice your ammonia start to drop and your nitrites start to go up. You should be testing for nitrite every day in the first month and once a month there after. Eventually your nitrite will start to come down as a second set of aerobic bacteria forms and you will be left with nitrates, the end product of this cycle. You should test for nitrates everyday in the first month and weekly there after. You are going to want to get a good saltwater test kit. These usually contain all the tests you need for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH, alkalinity,and some come with a few others. Make sure you get the kind that uses either drops or tablets to test your water. These are more accurate than the dip strips kinds. As for anemones their care is mostly going to depend on what kind of anemone you get. Some need lots of feedings of small frozen meaty foods and others live entirely off of the lighting. They all do however reguire a well lit tank and without the proper lighting will shrink up and die. Some anemones' sting are highly irritating to your skin while others will not effect you at all. If you are at all allergic to bee stings you may not want to choose certain types. What kind of anemone did you have in mind? Did you want to establish a clownfish/anemone relationship? If you want you can get back to me with a specific anemone that you are intersted in and I can go a little more into detail!