Testing water

[F.H]

I've tried to be lazy and not test for a while (we all have) but now the one thing that forces me to do it is the fact that newly mixed saltwater can have varying parameters from your tank. In essence, you can do damage to your tank with a water change because the batch of newly mixed saltwater can have low alk or very high alk, which can cause a sudden swing in your tank. It wasn't until much later into the hobby that I realized this. I've heard stories of people getting a tank crash due to something assumably good like a water change, and therefore if I try to stay on schedule of a water change every 2 weeks, then I'm forced to check my parameters.

I've even noticed, that when I was using salinity salt, the alk would be different from a fresh mix (around 8.5) vs letting it sit overnight, where it would drop down to about 6.

I feel like keeping an eye on alk is the most important, even with lps. Sometimes when I'm being lazy I might skip a ca check, but alk is something I've told myself not to skip. Even mag I don't test as often because it depletes slower. Although lately I've noticed that if my mag drops too low then my lps, chalices especially, don't like it so I try to avoid letting it get that low.

The "looking at my tank" method works for me with phosphate checks, which I don't do as often, as I can tell (somewhat) depending on the colours and how often I have to clean the glass etc where it might be... so I can be slightly lazier with phosphate checks. Although I must note that if I had an sps only system, then I would probably keep a much closer eye on nutrient levels.