Acceptable Parameter Swings?

[reeferehab]

Hey all,

 

I just finished the cycle of my first EVER reef tank which is an innovative marine nuvo fusion 10 pro. (10gallons)  I cycled with dry marco rocks, caribsea live sand, and am using the ESV salt mix where you separately mix the 4 different components. 
 

Planning on getting a small clean up crew and my first fish (clownfish) in a few days and my parameters seem to be spot on for now using the Salifert Test Kits. 

 

pH -8.0

salinity - 1.026 or 35ppm

temp - 79 F

Ammonia - 0

Nitrite - 0

Nitrate - 20ppm (is this too high? Planning on adding some softies and lps coral in a week or two)

Calcium - 430ppm

Alk - 8.0 dKH

Mag - 1320

 

Now as a newbie, I am aware that nano reefs are harder to maintain stable parameters especially when corals are introduced. I’m planning on keeping zoas, a couple euphyllias, and some lps, but mostly a mix of softies and lps. Maybe an anemone for the clownfish once my tank is fully established. 
 

with this in mind... I was wondering how big of a swing in these parameters is acceptable when keeping a reef tank? Dosing is out of the question, as I do not want to purchase more equipment until I absolutely need it (for example if I start keeping more LPS or SPS). I tend to have a busy schedule and would prefer not to be testing each batch of newly mixed saltwater before my water change then testing again. It seems a bit excessive testing each week... yet again, I am a newbie and it appears that every other forum I read or video i watch has a million different answers. What are your thoughts on this?

[DreC80]

I would do a 50% water change to cut your nitrates in half.  Most folks do a water change after the cycle is complete.

 

I think you'll be ok replenishing your calc/alk, etc by just doing a water change every couple of weeks.  Would also recommend testing when you do your water changes.

 

Softies and LPS are traditionally more forgiving in regards to swings.  Once you get into SPS you'll more than likely need to start dosing and at that point stability is key.  Alk being the most important, but corals can react negatively to po4 swings, etc.

[jservedio]

The biggest thing to keep stable in the beginning is your salinity and routine. You can top up with RODI by hand daily without issue - but you will definitely want to get an Automatic Top off (ATO) unit to do it for you since missing a day isn't great and missing two is generally enough of a swing to start affecting things. By th three you'll probably having pumps running dry or heaters exposed.

 

What's awesome about an ATO is that of water changes can't keep up with your alk/ca usage, you can dose Kalk or an all in one ca/Alk supplement through it if your evaporation is relatively consistent. If your tank is packed with SPS, it won't work forever, but in a mixed tank it works long term. My tank has been doing it for almost 10 years now!