Water Tests

[damo666]

This may open up a can of worms lol.
I've been testing religiously weekly. Never see much of a variation in anything to be honest, so, at the moment at least, I have stability. So, how often do you guys test? Other than magnesium, I'm considering pulling back on the testing to monthly, as a monitoring process, unless I see a problem. Any thoughts welcome

 

[doug_amanda]

Nitrate, calcium, alk and phos weekly, occasionally mag, haven't tested for ammonia or nitrite for ages

 

[Realist]

Me never.

I just do water changes and of things just look out of place I then test but only if I need to.

 

[372xp]

Weekly, then adjust dosing pump to correct take up. I do 10% change weekly as well.
Testing is pretty crucial for the success of a reef tank. Good test kits are also important. Reef keeping is 90% about water quality and unless you are going to test it you lay yourself open to impending doom!
TEST YOUR WATER

 

[damo666]

Just as I expected.....difference of opinion on the 2-1 shot

 

[372xp]

Just out of interest,why are you testing for Mg more often?
I ask because if your not testing for Ca and Kh there is little point in testing Mg. Higher levels of magnesium allow for higher levels of calcium and carbonate. The magnesium prevents the calcium and carbonate from bonding and precipitating out of the water. If you get my point why bother testing Mg, just go like @Realist and use Coral and Fish stress to let you know it's going ti*s up.

 

[Realist]

I do water changed at 10 to 15% a week or there abouts dependent on time and work etc.

But for testing with kits I only do when needed.

I change water, change carbon, clean skimmer and normal housekeeping.

That's it.

 

[damo666]

guys, put them handbags away haha. Seriously tho,I came into the salty side at Xmas, so little experience. The forum has helped immensely in giving me an understanding of what is needed. Right, Mg. I'm colour blind to a degree so have problems with accuracy when checking results against colour charts. That's why I love the salifert ones with syringe, colour change and chart to read off. One of my lfs does a broad spectrum test for £10. I opted for this before introducing my first coral, just in case my interpretation of my results was out. As it goes he reported everything as fine except magnesium which was low at 1100. Since then I've been testing/dosing to try and raise it but the best I've managed is 1350ish. My kh runs around 7.5, which in my understanding from what I've read is fine, tho in one post I saw numbers mentioned as high as 10 as a good level.
Oh yes, there's alot to water chemistry but I'm trying to gain a good understanding as I go along. Also tho, instead of looking for the " perfect environment" with constant adjustment / dosing I'm striving for a happy environment that is stable, so it's enjoyable for my fish, corals and just as importantly, Me.

 

[steve861uk]

I used to test, but have now given up and go by how things are looking after my weekly water change and by how often I have to scrape/vac.

 

[372xp]

Ok. I will concede that testing is not so important for soft coral tanks and fowlr. This does not mean it's entirely unnecessary. With these sort of tanks it's only really testing for nutrients. This can be done visually, excess glass cleaning nuisance algae and bacterial blooms etc, but actual testing will need to be done for no3 and Po4 from time to time.
Sps and LPS will need constant regular testing at least weekly for the health of the corals.

 

[shady]

I used to religiously test weekly ( every sunday morning at the same time ) this lasted about 7 years and then you get to that point when you know your corals and now I only test monthly - unless the corals tell me something is wrong - which is probably wrong because if the corals are telling me something is wrong then its too late. But I don't do water changes either ( except a 25 ltr freshwater one every 3 months ish )

 

[372xp]

When a Seriatopora tells you something is wrong it's goodbye.
For me there are far to many things that could go wrong not to test. My dosing pump is very reliable but it may not be tomorrow. It also can't adjust itself for the growth of my corals.
It's up to you. Test or don't. What's the worst that could happen?

 

[zoney]

Thhis is one of those subjects that everyone will have there own methods Ive seen tanks that have had no water changes since they were first set up with massive sps colonys doing well tests are done when somet doesnt look right . The other hand theres those that test and change water weekly i use to be that way but after the tank goto over 3 years (about the time a marine tank fully matures) old the water changes started to geto fortnightly then slowly towards monthly and in the end to when i could be bothered . The same with testing if the corals dint look right then it was a full sweep with the test kits often to find all water perams were fine and somet else like a bulb had started to give out the wrong colour spectrum :O

But what works for 1 will often not work for another find your own way and what keeps your tank healthy is the best advice i think can be given

 

[steve861uk]

I very nearly did a test last night, but being indecisive, I changed my mind


I've done so many water changes recently that I thought things must surely be ok - the water is crystal clear and the inhabitants seem happy.

 

[jim_fitz]

i knew something wasnt quite right with my tank but normal tests seemed ok
so i went for an ICP test and did my RO at the same time
so glad i did
my tds was 0
came back i had elevated copper in my RO
tub of Cuprisorb later corals are starting to grow