Testing water

[Myka]

Ok, I can't resist. I found this pic awhile back. i think Ryan Erickson will particularly enjoy it.

[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.

[MitchM]

It's too bad that this forum doesn't allow for "likes" because there have been a number of good points brought up.
Healthy corals will give you a grace period of living in less than ideal conditions until their own health starts to decline and then they are susceptible to disease and infection.
Healthy corals can last for many months in poor conditions.

Flaunting "no water tests" is typically done by people new to the hobby and certainly does not help newcomers trying to have long term success.

Tests have shown that varying water parameters - salinity, temperature, lighting conditions will lead to having stronger corals, but the varying parameters must be present from the beginning while the coral is young and the person controlling the conditions must be aware what those varying conditions are.

Negligence is not a recipe for success.

.

[Sharkbait-huhaha]

Ok, not going to lie. I had that "What if" pondering all yesterday and this morning. So after 202 days of not checking my Alk, I borrowed a friends to check it out.

This is what I got:
reading in ml 0.52, KH value in dKH 7.3
I did a 10% WC yesterday morning, and about 2 weeks off from a 30% WC.



And you guys are all right, it all took but 2 minutes to achieve this test.

[Potatohead]

I think someone mentioned earlier, this is basically asking if you keep SPS ( mainly acros) or not. If you have a softie or even LPS tank you can likely get away with water changes and likely never having to dose, unless you have a bunch of coralline or something. With a bunch of SPS though you can quite literally lose everything by having your doser stop working and you discover it 24 hours (or even less) later.

[tang daddy]

Originally Posted by Sharkbait-huhaha

Ok, not going to lie. I had that "What if" pondering all yesterday and this morning. So after 202 days of not checking my Alk, I borrowed a friends to check it out.

This is what I got:
reading in ml 0.52, KH value in dKH 7.3
I did a 10% WC yesterday morning, and about 2 weeks off from a 30% WC.



And you guys are all right, it all took but 2 minutes to achieve this test.

Lol good for you buddy, now go and buy an alk tester and at bare minimum test ever week.
If you're using IO salt the alk is usually higher like 9-9.5 so this helps raise your alk abit in smaller WC.

With the salifert I can do test in under 30 seconds. And I usually try and test every Friday morning at 11am when the lights are out.

[DKoKoMan]

Awesome to hear that you tested and everything is good'

[Myka]

Originally Posted by Sharkbait-huhaha

Ok, not going to lie. I had that "What if" pondering all yesterday and this morning. So after 202 days of not checking my Alk, I borrowed a friends to check it out.

This is what I got:
reading in ml 0.52, KH value in dKH 7.3
I did a 10% WC yesterday morning, and about 2 weeks off from a 30% WC.

And you guys are all right, it all took but 2 minutes to achieve this test.

Awesome!

Honestly though, with your tank full of LPS you're walking a fine line at 7.3 dKH. That's approaching the danger zone IME.

As mentioned, softie and LPS tanks can often be maintained through waterchanges provided you're using a salt mix with elevated parameters such as Reef Crystals. If you're using IO you will usually end up being quite low in Ca since alk is elevated, but Ca is not. This is why choosing a salt mix can be quite important!

For your tank Shark bait, you can probably maintain your tank simply by adding a small dose of alk between waterchanges and then (possibly) adding some calcium to the freshly mixed saltwater to help boost Ca (if it is indeed low).

As mentioned, coralline algae can suck up a significant amount of Ca and alk to the point where it needs to be replenished to keep the corals happy. The corals aren't using up much themselves, but they will suffer when the coralline sucks it all out and they're left with peanuts!

[mike31154]

I don't test much. Mostly LPS in my tank, only SPS are monti caps in green & tan. They grow like the dickens (the montis) so I know there's calcium. I don't dose anything either, use standard IO salt. Fish are healthy, my Maroon clownfish pair have been spawning forever, I have some hair algae, not that concerned, it filters the water... I get the refractometer out to check salinity when I do water changes, that's about it these days. When I did test alk regularly, it was chronically low, according to the test kit. My theory is, if there's even a trace of calcium in the water, the coral will find it & use it. It's a hobby to me, not a fanatic, I'm not doing the fish, coral, rock, clean up crew, inverts any favours by keeping them if a 4 foot enclosure.

[Bblinks]

Originally Posted by Sharkbait-huhaha

Ok, not going to lie. I had that "What if" pondering all yesterday and this morning. So after 202 days of not checking my Alk, I borrowed a friends to check it out.

This is what I got:
reading in ml 0.52, KH value in dKH 7.3
I did a 10% WC yesterday morning, and about 2 weeks off from a 30% WC.



And you guys are all right, it all took but 2 minutes to achieve this test.

Do you moisturize? Your hand looks very soft and manicured....just saying...