frequency of perimeter checkings
 

for all you primitive, back to basics, keep things simple folks out there, i'm wondering how often you check your tank perimeters. my tank is fairly well established and so i check basics like ph, alk, cal once every 3 weeks and if i see something out of wack i check for phosphate, nitrate, mag levels. those test kits are not cheap and so i try to stretch them out as much as possible. i'm not offended if you call me a cheap, cost saving reef addict.

Lately I've had to check my alk every 3 days or so because my calcium demand is increasing rapidly, the only other thing I check periodically is sg. and that is every 6 weeks.

Every 2 weeks for me.

used to be once a week. i dosed a wee bit to much this week and shot my calcium to 460ppm. time to start checking every odd day

but ya i think everything should be checked a few times a week if your dosing

I test once a week for cal, alk, and mag. I test nitrate once a month. Nitrite and ammonia if something's amiss. My phosphate kit just collects dust. My tank is 2 1/2 years old. I have yet to use up an entire test kit before the expiration date. :lol:

Perimeter? You had me thinking there for a second! I looked all around the bottom of the outside of my tank for possible leaks or salt creep. Of course after reading a few responses I realized you mean parameters. I no longer have a real set regimen, check salinity, pH, nitrates, phosphates, calcium whenever I'm about to do a water change, which is roughly every 18-21 days.

Once a week for me, Sunday is my tank regiment day

I check mine weekly, mostly because I'm bored and well, there they are :biggrin: