New to this - Help needed with into. of corals

[fit]

I have had a FOWLR for a good year now and I have just introduced my first coral - a frogspawn frag. Frag seems to be happy so far but it's only been a week. I am planning on adding more slowly as soon as I can be sure the water is safe for these guys.

I have zero nitrates and zero phosphates. Ph=8.2

I have no meters or measurements for anything else (yet).

I have a 55 Ga with a 20G sump with refugium. Return pump is running at about 350 G/hr, and I have two powerheads running at 400G/hr each. Live rock at about 50 pounds and sand substrate also perhaps 50 pounds. And I have 400W of PC lighting.

Livestock:
Two medium sized angels and one small chromis.
A small scooter blenny.
A lawnmower blenny.
Five hermits, three emerald green crabs.
And now one frag of frogspawn.

I am low on budget and have pieced this together on a shoe-string.

I have been using the regular Instant Ocean mix.

What kinds of dosing do I need to start to introduce? Calcium, Magnesium, Strontium, Iodine, Iron? What meters do I absolutely need to get? Please recommend a specific regimen if you can and list specific products - but keep in mind that I want to do this on the cheap if possible. I am very handy and I have a lot of tools.

Considering that this is an under-stocked tank, do I really need to do something right away? I may not do frequent water changes if my nitrates do not increase. When I do changes in the future I'll be using Reef Crystals from Instant ocean.

 

[gig]

I'm not a big dosing fan, especially if you are new to reefing.

I'd switch to IO reef crystals from regular IO, as it's specially formulated for reefs, while regular IO is for FO/FOWLR. You might need to mix the old and new salts for a couple of water changes, versus going cold turkey, but I would get switched over before adding more corals.

I've found that regular 10%-15% water changes twice per month is the best way for me, as long as you make sure the salinity and temp of the new water is on target with your diplay before adding it.

 

[fit]

Thanks gig

What about a skimmer? I don't have one. Can I continue without one for a while - maybe monitor say ammonia and nitrates more closely? Remember I do have a functioning refugium.

Also, Auto Top Off is lacking. I adjust manually daily but is this enough? I want an ATO anyway in case I leave town for a weekend sometime, can anyone suggest a cheap but good system. DIY is fine too.

 

[trackfast]

You can still go skimmerless. PWCs help remove some of the dissolved waste products in the water.