New to SPS, need dosing advice!

[kim7]

Hello Reefers~!
I have finally entered the world of sps and would like some advice from you guys!
First of all my setup:
-20G long
-Orbit marine PRO
-2 Hydor pumps ~465gph
-I use red sea coral pro salt
-no sump, no skimmer, only live rock for filteration

I bought the Reef Foundation Pro test kit for Ca KH and Mg along with the supplements from LFS
I also got a few acros, a birds nest, and a monti
My Goal for this tank is to become a SPS dominant tank, mostly with Acroporas.
I've done my research about the amount of supplements they need.

From your experiences with nano reef tanks, how often would you estimate that I would have to keep dosing? How often should I test? should I focus mostly on testing calcium?
My total water volume is about 14 gallons and I do 3 gallon water changes weekly.
Any other advice will be appreciated!

 

[cjd]

SPS tanks require stability . Water changes wont be enough to keep with the demand . Calcium and alkalinity will require daily dosing to keep things stable. You will have to determine where you want to keep your levels . Slowly adjust as necessary , once the levels are where you want to run the system you have to find out what your tank "consumes" daily and that will be what you dose. In the beginning you will test almost daily to find what amount you need .adjusting up and down until you find that sweet spot where the levels remain the same day to day.(adding more coral will increase the uptake and dosing will need to increase) Typically you dose the same ratio of cal and alk to maintain stable parameters . A good quality salt mix will probably be enough in the beginning to replace magnesium and trace elements , but as things grow and progress they may be needed also.
I question whether that will be enough lighting and filtration though especially if you are going full SPS.