Testing water

[Sharkbait-huhaha]

[acepumping]

Originally Posted by Bblinks

I am lazy too and I don't ever test.....however, my wife does lol suckers.

I think you hit the nail on the head when you define "cheap" corals but I think the proper term is EASY. If you had a tank of crappy softies (I don't like them so they are crappy to me, others might think my sps's are crappy, I don't really care. lol) or even some nice LPS one can argue for lack of testing. Most of them are pretty tough and will not die even if you tried. On the other hand, if you got a tank full of 4-5 hundo cadillac frags then you best be checking your parameters and check them often. Also, if you check your parameter once a month and decided that $hit has hit the fan that you need to make drastic adjustments, please don't! You need to go slow and make minor changes or else you might experience more issues than you set out to correct.

This is why I don't agree with some of the replies here, put your money where your mouth is. You don't do certain thing for your tank then tell the newbies that could be reading your advice why you don't and most importantly POST A PICTURE OF YOUR TANK so they will know what to expect if they neglect certain things.

Agreed fully rich, don't do what I did and change it to the max when all was looking amazing.. Lost alot of nice high end Acros.. but then again, busy lifestyle and no patience kicked in.. you guys all listened while I was venting. I was so close to shutting down again

[acepumping]

Can we change this into tank pic thread now 😂😂

[Bblinks]

My tank is a mess, you don't want to see it.

[hunggi74]

Repost

[hunggi74]

Originally Posted by Bblinks

My tank is a mess, you don't want to see it.

PFFT X1000000000000000000

[tang daddy]

Originally Posted by Ryanerickson

For the people that can't be bothered testing your tank why even have one? Your all one alk swing away from a full wipe out. This thread makes me laugh people bragging about there lazines or inability to figure out a 3 step test kit. That's all for now

Lol, maybe they don't have corals that are worth much...

Let's just say you have invested about 8k in corals I don't think you would risk not testing and letting expensive pieces melt away....

Even with testing I've ran into problems with alk spiking and losing sensitive sps like red dragon overnight.

Alk is the most important thing to test. I test that weekly. Calcium I also test weekly, mg can be tested less as it doesn't deplete fast.

[Galizio]

I think testing is essential as part of the hobby, same like water changes ... I'm surprise when people say they don't test the water, or same with people that say never perform water changes. I'm referring most to hobbyist with a reef tank as probably a FOWLR is easier to maintain IMO...
Can you believe when they say my corals are doing good? Yes, the ones alive, how many did you kill tho?
As hobbyist you have to consider the water testing as part of the routine, even if you do a test a day , don't need to do all 5-6 or 7 or whatever , how long does it takes? Maybe 5 minutes?
I say water testing is essential, if you have a tank is a must.



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[jason604]

My tank is about 80% sps and I do have sensitive corals such as red dragon. But then again I do run dosers and atos and frequent water changes so I know my system doesn't change much. Therefore I don't do tests unless I see my corals acting funny which it's been too long to remember. I have had many crashes since I started this hobby but it was mainly due to me playing around with my tank too much. So if my tank is thriving then why change what I'm doing if it ain't broken? Each person maintains their system differently. But Im also not saying that others should do exactly as I'm doing. What works for me might not work for you and what works for you might not work for me. Oh and yea I might have to blame sharkbait for my bad habits lol jk.

[Sharkbait-huhaha]

Originally Posted by Galizio

I think testing is essential as part of the hobby, same like water changes ... I'm surprise when people say they don't test the water, or same with people that say never perform water changes. I'm referring most to hobbyist with a reef tank as probably a FOWLR is easier to maintain IMO...
Can you believe when they say my corals are doing good? Yes, the ones alive, how many did you kill tho?
As hobbyist you have to consider the water testing as part of the routine, even if you do a test a day , don't need to do all 5-6 or 7 or whatever , how long does it takes? Maybe 5 minutes?
I say water testing is essential, if you have a tank is a must.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Oh com'n Galizio, I have not had one coral die on me, because I didn't check my parameters lol, But I did have corals die on me from stinging one another, BJD, or having a not so reef safe fish.

Like many other said in this thread, it really depends on what you keep in your tank, and how much you're willing to invest in it.

So I continue... day 201... parameters.. still no clue.

As long as my little nieces and nephews can come over each time, and look in awe, I am a happy camper.

For those curious whats lurking in my tank...







It might not be as grand as some of the amazing tanks I have seen in this CanReef community, but its my piece of the pie, They way I like it