First water change on 10g saltwater tank...

[Skifflexie]

Hey guys, my 10g saltwater tank has been up for almost a month now.
It's just an urchin and bristleworm hitch hikers. I have yet to do a water change, just top offs.

I bought all live sand
Live rock from an established tank
And salt water from an established tank.

I've been keeping an eye on the parameters,
pH is normally 7.9-8.0
Ammonia 0
Nitrate 0
Nitrite 0
Salinity 32.5-33
Specific gravity 1.024-1.025
(The first 3 weeks)

Today I tested the water

pH 8.0
Ammonia 0.25
Nitrate somewhere between 0-5.0
Nitrite 0
Salinity 30
Specific gravity 1.022




My question is how much water should I change, just a couple gallons?



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[54seaweed]

salinity is a little high , ammonia should be 0ppm but a water change will fix that,
since your salinity is high I would drain a gallon and just add ro/di water no salt let it run over night check salinity and do one 1/2 gal water change with ro/di no salt and repeat until you reach in the range 1.021 ppm to 1.026 ppm any where in that range is good just don't try to do it all to fast , I keep mine at 1.025,
the salted ro/di water you add on a normal water change should match the salinity in your tank .
I mix 5g at a time X 6 buckets with covers and store it at room temp , I use a 2 cup measuring cup when mixing and always maintain a steady 1.025 , when I need one it's ready to use just shake covered bucket a minute or so and its ready to go, in your case you could do 1one five gallon bucket and take out a gal as you need it , mixing in 5g bucket seems to be easier for measuring purposes ,