Eye ball method

[Tankkeepers]

Actually you can see a .1 dkh drop over several day becouse once it gets to a certain point calcifyed macros will stop growing and you can observe this long before it becomes a problem by seeing the growth rate drop over several days which is a sign it needs to be brought back up

 

[Tankkeepers]

I would say I will test once a year just to make sure every thing is where I think it is only test once so far just to make sure I was correct and the cycle had ended and all the parameters were where they should be after the first month of the tank running and I'll test again around December to make sure everything is where it should be in not saying you should never test I'm only stating you can tell whats going on without testing and that for myself testing weekly or bi weekly or monthly is not nessisary

 

[Tankkeepers]

I will also state when I first started out I tested every single day and noted what was happening in tje tank with what the tests are showing me which is the reason I can now look at my tank and tell exactly whats off

 

[RC Corals]

Granted I watch my tank for hours a day and I know exactly what each and everything is and how it reacts

Except for those times when a coral changes for unknown mystical reasons and yet things remain fine chemistry wise.
Sometimes things just change whether testing, watching, or obsessing.

 

[Tankkeepers]

This went on for 8 years testing daily and taking notes of what it was and in that time I learned exactly what was what but I had to test that tank as it was a closed loop ecosystem with no actual food going into the system or waterchanges lps and sps mixed reef while this tank is setup alot diffrent using everything I learned from that system and apply that knowledge to this new system that I do a 25 percent water change weekly on and actually feed and if hand selected everything in the tank to make it a tank I don't need to test and I can use the eye ball method on

 

[Tankkeepers]

Except for those times when a coral changes for unknown mystical reasons and yet things remain fine chemistry wise.
Sometimes things just change whether testing, watching, or obsessing.

Yep leathers are bad about that

 

[Tankkeepers]

I also want to add this disclaimer for any new commers to the hobbie DO NOT DO AS I DO AS YOU WILL FAIL AND KILL EVERYTHING I have hand selected everything that went into this tank very carfully so I know that what lives in the tank does not use to much calcium etc like a heavy sps tank would etc if your just comming into the hobbie or if your dosing anything at all please do test requaly everything my tank uses is replaced via a 25 percent water change once a week

 

[Tankkeepers]

And durring the cycling prosses with a half stocked tank again do not do this as I had a drip system setup durring this time with an overflow so that the water was constainly being changed this went on for a month before I switched over to weekly water changes as at that point the tank was cycled

 

[Tankkeepers]

I have also intentinally added certain thing I know to throw up early warning signs when a specific thing js off

 

[Tankkeepers]

So I guess I should say I do test but I test using natural means and their reaction

 

[Vette67]

Actually you can see a .1 dkh drop over several day becouse once it gets to a certain point calcifyed macros will stop growing and you can observe this long before it becomes a problem by seeing the growth rate drop over several days which is a sign it needs to be brought back up

Maybe if you have small nubs, you can look at their growth rate over several days, but when your acros are the size of basketballs, you will never notice if it stops growing. My "canary in the coal mine" is my derasa. If the mantle pulls in, I know to go check what's going on. It's usually alk or pH, but those 2 are closely linked. And since I run a calcium reactor, I don't really check calcium much anymore. Maybe a few times a year. Alk and magnesium are the 2 I test for most frequently. The rest are just occasionally for curiosity sake. I have a Milwaukee pH controller, so I technically test for that continuously, because all I have to do is look at the reading on the monitor.

 

[Tankkeepers]

Maybe if you have small nubs, you can look at their growth rate over several days, but when your acros are the size of basketballs, you will never notice if it stops growing. My "canary in the coal mine" is my derasa. If the mantle pulls in, I know to go check what's going on. It's usually alk or pH, but those 2 are closely linked. And since I run a calcium reactor, I don't really check calcium much anymore. Maybe a few times a year. Alk and magnesium are the 2 I test for most frequently. The rest are just occasionally for curiosity sake. I have a Milwaukee pH controller, so I technically test for that continuously, because all I have to do is look at the reading on the monitor.

Nice tank and see thats the thing I do notice the daily growth of everything heck I watch things grow over the course of a dag may not be noticeable to most but I can see the new growth on everything and weather or not it was the same more or less then the Previos day I probly spend to much time looks at my tank honestly but I love it and get mesmerized

 

[Tankkeepers]

Im retired with nothing better to do other then take care of my kids and watch my tank

 

[terraincognita]

I’d agree with this but just to say I can eyeball when I need to test to find out what’s wrong because I know somethings up.

after I dial in dosing I don’t honestly and personally test that much until I “eyeball” slowed growth, reduced coloration, polyps not extending the same etc

But I don’t think anyone can eyeball exactly which parameter needs to be fixed when something starts being off the norm.


———

I guess an exception could be something like your case where you’ve had the same stock for YEARS and certain phenomenon always resulted in test showing low X, Y or Z and you could pinpoint it.

I could see eventually knowing my tank and everything so well I know if they reacting because of X, Y or Z but that’d also include having the lnowledge of which corals react and to what parameter exactly consistently over years and years.

So yeah I guess I could see it. But even then I’m sure knowing myself being 1/4 German I’d still test.

 

[Tankkeepers]

I guess the proff will be in the pudding and I'll rehash this topic in a few years just to show everyone it can be done if you know what to look for and setup everything correctly

 

[boacvh]

I would agree entirely with you, but only because of your years of experience, you already know what to look for. I am more on the newbie side, I frankly wouldn't be able to recognize some of the telltale signs yet or what to even look for. I have been minimizing my P and N testing because I can now recognize some of the consequences with some "canaries in the coal mine", but I wouldn't recommend a newbie to not test. Test and test until you learn

 

[Tankkeepers]

I’d agree with this but just to say I can eyeball when I need to test to find out what’s wrong because I know somethings up.

after I dial in dosing I don’t honestly and personally test that much until I “eyeball” slowed growth, reduced coloration, polyps not extending the same etc

But I don’t think anyone can eyeball exactly which parameter needs to be fixed when something starts being off the norm.

I would have to mostly agree as I can tell whats off when its off but you can not tell by how much without testing and as I said before if your plannjng to dose anything you have to test to find out how much needs to be added I'm not saying that you dont need to test I'm only saying you dont need to test as much as some ppl say you do and more often then not the tank will show you somthing is off long before the test will expecially if using cheap testing kits that are unreliable

 

[terraincognita]

I would have to mostly agree as I can tell whats off when its off but you can not tell by how much without testing and as I said before if your plannjng to dose anything you have to test to find out how much needs to be added I'm not saying that you dont need to test I'm only saying you dont need to test as much as some ppl say you do and more often then not the tank will show you somthing is off long before the test will expecially if using cheap testing kits that are unreliable

Oh yeah I 100% agree.

And I can also agree and am willing to call out all the vets from “eyeballing” a symptom and not testing and still just doing a regular standard normal 2 part dose they normally do and just walking away for a day and checking back in tomorrow. And being like “okay well guess that was fine” hahaha

We all hate testing! It’s a fact. But yeah it takes a lot of trial and error to get to that point.

 

[Tankkeepers]

And again any newcome to the hobbie should absolutely test untill they can see the reaction between whats happening in the tank and what the test shows

 

[Tankkeepers]

Oh yeah I 100% agree.

And I can also agree and am willing to call out all the vets from “eyeballing” a symptom and not testing and still just doing a regular standard normal 2 part dose they normally do and just walking away for a day and checking back in tomorrow. And being like “okay well guess that was fine” hahaha

We all hate testing! It’s a fact. But yeah it takes a lot of trial and error to get to that point.

100% agree with you right there