New JBJ 28 Nano Reef

[seeker88]

Hello all, I started up my first sw tank and decided I could share/track my progress and get thoughts, recommendations or any advice. Tank has been set up for 1 month. I bought everything already live, but still went through a small ammonia/nitrite spike, followed by a nitrate spike (20ppm). After the second week the nitrates went back to 0 (.25 phosphates) so I added the clowns. Nitrates went up a TINY bit (color was fell on chart between 0-5) and phos stayed at .25. Last week I got the nitrates to 0 and phosphates to 0 as well. After a week of stable params I went and got the frogspawn last night.

Tank Set-up:
28 JBJ Nano w/ intermediate light kit
Media Kit includes - sponge, chaeto w/ light, chemipure, carbon and ceramic tubes (have purigen but it was leaking through my bags so its out till i get "the bag")
18 lbs LR
28 live sand
AM HOB-1 skimmer
Koralia Nano 425 circ pump
4" fan that blows on refuge when lights are on
API master sw kit and reef kit

Hitchhikers:
Too many brittle stars (trying to get rid of)
Some type of zoo's
Kenya tree (growing 2"'s a week...)
Sponges
Bunches of bristle worms
Aptasia (slowly getting rid of)


What I've added:
Mated Pair of False-Percula Clowns
Peppermint shrimp
Bumblebee shrimp (attacks the snails more than the stars...)
Branching Frogspawn (added yesterday)
CUC (8 hermits, 4 ceriths, 2 nassarius)


Current Water Parameters (last wc 10/8):
Ammonia - 0
Nitrates - 0
Nitrites - 0
Phosphates - 0
Calcium - 320-340 want this higher... (was 400 right after wc 4 days ago)
Carbonate Hardness - 9dKH
PH - 7.9-8.0
Salinity - 1.027-1.028, 39 ppt (I've been trying to get this down because my first 3 weeks I was topping off with SW! Oooppss...)
Temp - 81-84 F

Some questions I have:
For euphyllia, how important is magnesium levels (haven't tested for this)?
Besides WCs, how should I increase my calcium levels, or do I even need to? (I currently have been doing weekly 10% WC)
Is my PH too low? Being in AZ, I heard it's harder to keep higher levels
Based on this info, is there anything I should or shouldn't be doing?

http://s1316.photobucket.com/user/seeker_jeff88/library/?view=recent

 

[seeker88]

Any ideas to what this guy is? Grey-ish sponge like substance that has filter splits throughout...

 

[Reefmedic79]

Magnesium is important for maintaining calcium and Alk levels, if your having trouble keeping calcium up, it may be because of low Mag. As for the euphylia, it is important for growth, but low levels shouldn't effect the coral detrimentally.

What brand of salt mix are you using? You will get better growth if you can keep your calcium between 400-450, so besides WC, dosing would be the only way to bring this up. It can be done by adding kalk in your top or utilizing a 2-part. Again if your Mag levels are low, you may have a hard time keeping the calcium up. http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-06/rhf/

If your pH is 8.0 at the end of your light cycle in the evening it should be fine there. The reasoning behind having your pH that low in AZ is because of the chronic use of air conditioners in our homes, and not opening the window to allow fresh air into the house. This in turn increases the amount of ambient CO2. A simple way to fix this is to open a window, or running the airline from your skimmer outside to pull in fresh air.

Overall, I'd say you seem to be doing everything right.