Getting ready for my first corals

[FlyingPotato]

I have a 10 gallon nano tank with a very small pair of clownfish. It has been up and running for about three months and is so far stable and healthy. I know it is a very young setup but I was offered some frags by a friend who is taking down his tank for just the cost of shipping. They will be here Friday so I have only a few days to make sure everything is stable enough to support corals. The corals include:
Venus flytrap zoas
Blastomussa
Rhodactis mushroom
two Ricordea
Milky Way zoas
toxic mayan sun favia
Watermelon Zoas
Dragon Eye Zoas

I use salifert to test Mg, CA, and KH and Red Sea to test Ph, Nitrate, Nitrite, and Ammonia. My parameters are as follows:

PH Is 7.8
kH is 7.3
Ammonia 0
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 5
Calcium 290
Magnesium 1230
salinity 1.026

I had a recent temperature problem where my thermometer read 76 degrees but the tank felt very warm. I checked the temperature with a different thermometer and it was actually at 90 degrees and has been so for a couple days. Coralline algae has lost a bit of color but is still alive. The clownfish are still active, eating like pigs, and from what I can see, unaffected. I have taken the lid off and turned the heater down so the tank has cooled to 85 degrees over the past couple hours and I plan on cooling it down to 80 in the morning. Will this have affected the cycle in any way? I am also changing the salt from instant ocean sea salt to instant ocean reef crystals and would like to have the tank fully changed to the new salt by tomorrow evening so I have time to make sure Ph, Calcium, Magnesium, and KH are not changing after the corals have been acclimated. I also want a few days for the water to build up some nutrients for the corals. Will a 100% water change affect the clownfish with the new salt if I keep salinity an temperature the exact same or should I acclimate them to the new salt for awhile before adding them back into the tank? Overall do I have a good shot at keeping the corals alive and well or is it going to be very difficult in a new system? Thank you for any help in advance!

 

[DC Reefer]

I would do 2 gallons a day for a couple of days rather than 100% water change. 100% may eliminate too much or your Bactria. Is should start bringing your parameters up a bit. After the corals arrive I would strive for stable KH, Ca, and Mg. Of the three KH is the one that will move the most. Once you can keep the KH stable you can start raising it again (recommend not more than .2Dkh/day). Water changes may be all that is needed or you may need to dose. Good luck

 

[FlyingPotato]

I would do 2 gallons a day for a couple of days rather than 100% water change. 100% may eliminate too much or your Bactria. Is should start bringing your parameters up a bit. After the corals arrive I would strive for stable KH, Ca, and Mg. Of the three KH is the one that will move the most. Once you can keep the KH stable you can start raising it again (recommend not more than .2Dkh/day). Water changes may be all that is needed or you may need to dose. Good luck

Ill definitely take your advice and do smaller water changes until I get stable KH, Ca, and Mg. I have done some research and, if I am correct, the depletion of calcium by the new corals will change the KH so if I keep KH and calcium in balance as I change over the water I could avoid unstable KH? Is there a product you could recommend that I could dose? Is there anything else that could cause shifting KH? I’m sorry I did as much research as I could but this is very confusing.

 

[homer1475]

No reason to change salts to be honest. Many, many beautiful reefs run on regular purple box IO. Mine included.

Plain old baking soda can be used to supplement alkalinity. Google Randy's DIY 2 part.

 

[homer1475]

Also with our hobby grade test kits, you'll see a drop in alkalinity(KH) before you notice a drop in calcium.

 

[stylolvr]

On a system that size, small, regular water changes (e.g. 2 gal per week) should keep levels relatively stable. Your zoas and mushrooms won't be a large calcium/KH sink, but the LPS will pull some out of the water. I would start with the water changes and keep tabs on your levels. If the changes aren't able to maintain stability, THEN start thinking about dosing. No sense spending $$ on supplements that aren't needed and could be used for more coral!

Welcome to R2R!!!

 

[FlyingPotato]

Okay, I will do that. I’ve already bought the salt and love the consistency much more anyways. It’s a fine power and the sea salt doesn’t dissolve all the way like the reef crystals do. I don’t know if I just got a bad bag of the cheaper stuff but it’s chunky and I have to break it apart.

 

[FlyingPotato]

On a system that size, small, regular water changes (e.g. 2 gal per week) should keep levels relatively stable. Your zoas and mushrooms won't be a large calcium/KH sink, but the LPS will pull some out of the water. I would start with the water changes and keep tabs on your levels. If the changes aren't able to maintain stability, THEN start thinking about dosing. No sense spending $$ on supplements that aren't needed and could be used for more coral!

Welcome to R2R!!!

It would be a million times easier to not worry about dosing so I will see how things go with just water changes.

 

[Uncle99]

Those numbers look in order to me, the list contains some relatively easy care corals.
Keep those numbers (especially temp and Alk, 7.3 bit on the low side, increase to 8-8.5) and good to go
Auto dosing not required, water change only, you only have two corals which need calcification...

 

[Super Fly]

On a system that size, small, regular water changes (e.g. 2 gal per week) should keep levels relatively stable. No sense spending $$ on supplements that aren't needed and could be used for more coral!

This, esp since corals are just frags. Once they start growing and testing reveals WC is not keeping up desired alk & calc levels, then I'd start considering dosing. GL