Hello.. I’m Brand new to the hobby and completely lost and starting to become over whelmed with everything

[stewy14]

use ro or rodi water, thats what people mean by fresh water(I think)
wait around 3 months for coral
hoped u cycled your tank with nitrifying bacteria...
wait some time for fish

 

[newhere]

You’re doing just fine.
Beginners anxiety.
I suffered the same with my first BioCube tank. It’s sounds your fish are doing ok. They eating?
Don’t worry about the torch. This might have been an overzealous sale from your LFS.
Focus on the survival of your clowns. They will love your for it.
Watch ammonia and do check Nitrite. If it’s zero you do not need to continue to check it. Then your your tank is cycled.
Please continue to check the rest of the parameters. There is no need for daily checks unless something is out of check. One back here and ask if values are out of whack.
Most of us will ask for the basic parameters.
The BRS videos helped me ton.
One piece of advice. PATIENCE. Nothing happens over night.
seachem prime is good. Doesn’t hurt.

Not keep adding other chemicals until your tank is way more mature and you have good handle on the basic parameters.
Salinity
PH
Nitrate
Calcium
Magnesium
Phosphate
I would stick a small ammonium sticker from seachem in my tank. It gives you a visual alert if things go wrong. Works for me for years.
You’re running your tank a bit hot in y opinion
Try to stay around 79 F. That’s more what the clowns are used to.

As far as test kits goes you can see the 1001 opinions in this forum. Nobody’s is wrong, and we all have options based on what worked for us.
I have been using a set of Hanna checkers for all of the parameters.
If your budget allows it, I would have a look at them.
They take the guess work out of reading color compares.
These little machines a pretty accurate and tell you the numbers. No color guessing.
I started with the Hanna salinity probe, ph and the nitrate checker and whenever i had money left over(lol) I added another checker.
Keep in mind that all testers need reagent refills $$
Your lights are on definitely to long.
Try to stay below between 8 - 10 hours a day. Keep a low blue nightlight on if you want.

Good luck

Ok I purchased the Hanna checkers

My alk is 7.5
Ph 7.8
Nitrate .9
Ammonia .80
Am I screwed?? Everything seems to look fine and the fish are eating perfectly fine

 

[newhere]

Sounds like OP is in good hands.

How's the torch coral doing?
Is it possible to gently place it in a hole of one of the rocks?
Why?
1) they don't like being in the sand.
2) closer to the light, they need light.
3) keeping it alive will help eat any ammonia from the fish.

Carry on, happy reefing!

Should I glue It to a rock

 

[GatorGreg]

Ok I purchased the Hanna checkers

My alk is 7.5
Ph 7.8
Nitrate .9
Ammonia .80
Am I screwed?? Everything seems to look fine and the fish are eating perfectly fine

You’re not screwed. Your tank is just cycling. Remember you’re essentially doing a fish in cycle. If it were my tank I’d probably do a small water change in an effort to bump that ammonia down a little bit. There will probably be people who disagree. Let’s see if someone else chimes in. Good buy on the Hannas that’s what I use and you won’t regret it. I hate that you had to drop that much cash though. Some salifert would’ve been ok and much cheaper. But I promise you won’t regret the Hanna’s

Clownfish are pretty tough fish.

 

[rpkneumann]

You’ re doing ok.. your ammonia will come down and when it’s zero celebrate. It’s not to harmful at this point. Your clowns will survive this.
Be patient.
Keep measuring.
What are you feeding your clowns ?