walter quality
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saltwaterfarm
Well-Known Member
I test weekly... for Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, Calcium, Phosphates, pH, and alkalinity. I check Salinity anytime I top-off.
Craig Lambert
Member
I test weekly for ALK, Calcium, Salinity. Monthly for Magnesium. Anh have a pH probe.
As an aside, I am always surprized by the number of people who run reef tanks and don't own an alkalinity test kit. If I could only check one parameter it would be Alkalinity. I think it is the most important parameter of all. There are so many threads about people experincing various tank problems and I believe a great number of them are tanks with low Alkalinity. It opens the door for a large number of problems.
As an aside, I am always surprized by the number of people who run reef tanks and don't own an alkalinity test kit. If I could only check one parameter it would be Alkalinity. I think it is the most important parameter of all. There are so many threads about people experincing various tank problems and I believe a great number of them are tanks with low Alkalinity. It opens the door for a large number of problems.
Cougra
Well-Known Member
Well, I must admit that I've gotten lazy over the years amd tend not to test water parameters nearly as often as I probably should. Regularily I test salinity during water changes and if I have to make a larger top-up then normal, and TDS on the water that I'm making for the water changes.
I tend not to test anything else unless I notice something doesn't look right, like corals not opening (when I had them) or fish missing for a couple days etc. The only time I do regular testing is when I get a new batch of salt and test for everything for the first couple water changes just to see if there is any adverse reactions or if I have to change my Kalk drip rate because the salt batch wasn't the same as the previous ones.
I also test the water about a week before I get any new live stock and weekly for about a month after adding something new to the tank just to see how the new livestock affects water parameters and to see if I need to change my maintenance in any way.
I have all the test kits at hand but like I said, I've gotten lazy over the years and rely mostly on my livestock and regular maintenance. I would never recommend this sort of approach to anyone just entering the hobby. When I started I tested for everything all the time and took notes on how things changed over time, how my animals reacted differently when things went wrong and paid close attention to how all the chemicals, water changes, live stock additions and everything else interacts together visually as well as watching the test results. If I suspect something is off, all the test kits come out immediately.
I tend not to test anything else unless I notice something doesn't look right, like corals not opening (when I had them) or fish missing for a couple days etc. The only time I do regular testing is when I get a new batch of salt and test for everything for the first couple water changes just to see if there is any adverse reactions or if I have to change my Kalk drip rate because the salt batch wasn't the same as the previous ones.
I also test the water about a week before I get any new live stock and weekly for about a month after adding something new to the tank just to see how the new livestock affects water parameters and to see if I need to change my maintenance in any way.
I have all the test kits at hand but like I said, I've gotten lazy over the years and rely mostly on my livestock and regular maintenance. I would never recommend this sort of approach to anyone just entering the hobby. When I started I tested for everything all the time and took notes on how things changed over time, how my animals reacted differently when things went wrong and paid close attention to how all the chemicals, water changes, live stock additions and everything else interacts together visually as well as watching the test results. If I suspect something is off, all the test kits come out immediately.
i can tel by my corals to if the Water has changed to i use to test weekly . i will start testing again why wait till their is some thing wrong i supose
In a new tank it's good to test for ammonia/nitrite but in a well established tank testing for ammonia and nitrite is unnecessary IMHO unless there's a major catastrophy. I test nitrate monthly, cal/alk weekly, ph daily {ph monitor}, and salinity weekly with my W/C's.
Warnberg
Well-Known Member
I'm with you cheeks69, not real sure why someone with an established system would test ammonia or nitrite, I did at first but once they hit zero they have never changed so I stopped and once my nitrate levels went undetectable I cut back to about once a month on that too just to make sure they stayed that way. I do religiously test ALK, Calc, mag, salinity is checked on more of a water change day time as I have an auto top-off system, the pH is on a meter on the wall so I could check that 20 times a day if I wanted with a simple glance.
32Bit_Fish
Member
I think the ammonia spikes could happen in an established tank when there are too many fish in the tank. The nitrification bacteria couldn't keep up with the bioload.. agree?
Warnberg
Well-Known Member
I would think an indication that a tank is overloaded is a consistant presants of nitrates and possibly nitrites. The reason I say that is if you remember when your tank cycled the first time, typically ammonia comes and goes so fast most people never even detect it, however nitrites take a bit longer to go away and nitrates in some tanks take forever. I personally would be supprised to see an ammonia spike in an established system and if you did it would probably be too late, 2 ppm ammonia in a tank will just about wipe it out if not caught, that is why we do not cycle tanks any longer with live animals. But nitrates and nitrites, yes possibly.
Actually you are correct to a degree, an established system could have an ammonia spike IF one added several fish to a small system all at once.
Just my opinion.
Actually you are correct to a degree, an established system could have an ammonia spike IF one added several fish to a small system all at once.
Just my opinion.
Once a tank has become established with bacteria ammonia shouldn't be a problem unless there's a sudden drastic increase in bio-load or a sudden major die-off. Since my tank is well established and I haven't added any fish it's something I don't worry about or test for. AFA as nitrite it isn't toxic in SW tanks like it is in FW so I never really bother with nitrite.
lcstorc
Well-Known Member
Well my plan is to test before and after each water change but I admit it doesn't always get done. I have a gorgonian that is a really good indicator coral and if the polyps do not come out with the lights I test immediately. I also have a ph probe right by my sump so I do look at that at least daily since I don't have an auto topoff and it is right there to look at.
I test about once bi-monthly for calcium and alk, but thats about it. Once in a great while I may dig out the other tests (like nitrate and phosphate) but since I have a mature 180G and there is rarely any reason for anything out of the normal to happen. I also check for salinity often, but I have pretty much made an art out of mixing the water change water in a 32G Brute trashcan that I can get it perfect everytime and I have the sump marked for the daily top off water so I know right what level it needs to be to maintain the correct safe operating range and salinity. Once a tank is mature (and if you can leave things alone and let them be), there is really no reason besides your own personal satisfaction to test for things like ammonia, nitrite, etc. The tank will pretty much keep itself balanced.