Hey all, I have been testing my newer reef's water pretty frequently to get a solid view on the alkalinity, calcium and magnesium consumption before I start kalk dosing. I usually test alkalinity daily with my red sea kit and every other day with my hanna checker. Mag and Calcium I test 2-3x per week alternating between my red sea and salifert kits I have for each. Way more than most people test but I feel its a great way to truly understand what your tank consumes and how certain changes can affect that.
Along with all that testing comes test kit cleaning and I always rinse everything in tap and give it a final shot of RO/DI. The red sea vials need scrubbed with a brush because either the calcium or magnesium kit leaves a tough precipitate at the bottom and its pretty difficult to clean with a tooth brush. Test kit clean up takes a lot of time and it would be nice to eliminate cleaning the vials- specifically for salifert and red sea tests. I found these small 1oz food service condiment cups at sams club for only a penny a piece which isnt much considering the cheapest test is ~18 cents. https://www.samsclub.com/sams/bakers-chefs-plastic-portion-cups-1-oz-2-500-ct/201033.ip
Good idea? Dumb idea?
Along with all that testing comes test kit cleaning and I always rinse everything in tap and give it a final shot of RO/DI. The red sea vials need scrubbed with a brush because either the calcium or magnesium kit leaves a tough precipitate at the bottom and its pretty difficult to clean with a tooth brush. Test kit clean up takes a lot of time and it would be nice to eliminate cleaning the vials- specifically for salifert and red sea tests. I found these small 1oz food service condiment cups at sams club for only a penny a piece which isnt much considering the cheapest test is ~18 cents. https://www.samsclub.com/sams/bakers-chefs-plastic-portion-cups-1-oz-2-500-ct/201033.ip
Good idea? Dumb idea?
