New Tank, Parameter Help

[brclark82]

This is a long post so I appreciate you taking the time to look over it for me.

My tank is just over 2 months old.

It is a no sump, 55 gallon with 2x AC 110 HOB’s, 60 lbs of sand (CaribSea “live” sand, not real live sand) and 60 lbs of LifeRock

Livestock
2x clownfish (small)
1x Yellow Watchman (small)
1x Melanarus Wrasse (medium)
1x Pistol Shrimp
1x Cleaner Shrimp
1x Scarlet Hermit
1x Halloween Hermit
4x Bigger Mexican Turbo Snail
1x Tiger Conch
4x Small Margarita Snails
I have put 2 separate large doses of mixed copepods in the tank.

I do 5 gallon water change every Sunday

About a month ago things started reading pretty stable from week to week. Nitrates we’re always between 5-10, Phosphates were 0.03-0.05 and alkalinity was around 7.8-8.2

Last week my alkalinity dropped to 7.1 but the nitrates and phosphates stayed about the same.

Today my alkalinity has dropped to 6.7 but my nitrates have dropped to 0.5 and my phosphate to 0.01. I use a Hanna checker for all 3 but I also verified with Salifert tests tonight as well.

I feed at least twice a day and usually 3. Pellets in the morning and afternoon and frozen mysis in the evening. I also feel like I overfeed each time.

My water change water alkalinity tests at 9.6

I have attached a couple pics. First is some brown algae (I assume diatoms) I get everyday on the sand and also in the glass. I clean the front glass everyday but have been leaving the sides and back as I have recently seen my copepods feeding on it. At one point it changed to a more green film like but recently it has gone back to brown. It’s easy to clean and comes off like a powder.

I also turkey baste the rocks and hand mix the sand about twice a week as well. Tank always looks great after I do this.

Second pic is of one small patch of “hairy” algae but it is only in that one small spot and has been there for a week or more and hasn’t spread.

Last is just a full tank pic.

My questions are
Should I be worried about the low nutrients and if so what should I do?
Should I up my water change frequency or more gallons at a time?
Is there anything else I should be doing to keep the alkalinity up?

Thanks for reading

 

[dedragon]

I wouldnt worry, the alkalinity consumption is probably due to coralline algae and the nitrate and phosphate are probably bbeing absorbed by algae as well. There are no corals so nothing too worry about with those levels. If you are starting to add corals I would probably opt for all for reef dosing as you are not going to need to dose much and 2 part or kalk are slightly more complicated.

 

[brclark82]

So should I do something to keep the alkalinity up if my standard 5 gal water changes aren't getting the job done? Or should I just keep an eye on it and see how it progresses over the next few weeks. I assume nothing I currently have in the tank is going to be too concerned about alkalinity in the 6's or even lower but I am trying to get everything stable and ready to add some coral in the next few months.