How often and what do you test

[Luno]

I was originally gonna start this as a poll but then I realized it would require way too many fields.

I noticed recently on a few posts particularly, something went wrong in the tank from the OP and when asked about the tank parameters. I was amazed at the low level of testing, for example i don't test this or that.

So I'm curious to ask a broader spectrum what you test for and how often?

To start
Salinity - once weekly with water change
Alk,calc, mag - weekly with water change or unless consumption has changed
Nitrate, phosphate - weekly with water change or unless reduction means has changed
Ammonia and nitrate - never after initial cycle unless something is very wrong
Full triton test - every 3 months

 

[mahindra.dev]

APEX and calibrate probes once in 3 months for Sal, pH

Sal and pH during w/c biweekly
Nitrates, Phosphates, Magnesium & Calcium : weekly
Alkalinity: every 3 days

 

[sp0di]

I was originally gonna start this as a poll but then I realized it would require way too many fields.

I noticed recently on a few posts particularly, something went wrong in the tank from the OP and when asked about the tank parameters. I was amazed at the low level of testing, for example i don't test this or that.

So I'm curious to ask a broader spectrum what you test for and how often?

To start
Salinity - once weekly with water change
Alk,calc, mag - weekly with water change or unless consumption has changed
Nitrate, phosphate - weekly with water change or unless reduction means has changed
Ammonia and nitrate - never after initial cycle unless something is very wrong
Full triton test - every 3 months

Do you do them pre- or post- water change? Just wondering.

 

[Coronus]

Alkalinity Daily
Calcium 2 weeks
Mag 2 weeks
K 2 weeks
No3 almost never always 0
Po4 almost never always 0
Salinity almost never usually never changes, new water

 

[Luno]

Do you do them pre- or post- water change? Just wondering.

Alk and salinity I do pre water change. I know the parameters of my water change water so it's mostly to make sure they are stable and I'm not gonna cause swing. Calc, mag, nitrate and phos I do after

 

[Bpb]

Calibrate PH probes for main system and calcium reactor once every 6 months or so. They never seem to drift, calibrate correctly, and show the same readings before and after, despite being several years old. I do a visual check of my PH levels 3-4 times a day.

Alk: Hanna every other day

PO4: daily right now. I didn’t test it often for a while or use any PO4 reduction method and it started to get out of control. I’m using phosphate RX right now and it’s kind of yo-yo’ing as the rocks and substrate release newly bound PO4 back into the water. Once i start seeing it stay the same from day to day I’ll back off to weekly or monthly testing

NO3, once or twice a month to adjust my vodka dosing. Try and keep them between 4-10 ppm

Ca, Mg: once a month or so

Salinity: First couple water changes with a new batch of salt to get the exact scoop sized for that batch dialed in. Then I don’t really test it unless I see a problem. It’s never been a culprit. 1.025-1.026 without wavering for 5 years now

Potassium, iodine, all other minor and trace elements, triton or any other ICP testing service: never done it. Never saw the need. It’s a rabbit hole I don’t care to venture down. Just seems unnecessary. I know I say it a lot and some people will disagree, but I really feel like it’s all just a new economic arm or cog in the reef business machine and people have been convinced it’s something they “need” when they really don’t.

 

[cilyjr]

Salinity...weekly
Alk....daily (maybe every other when lazy)
Calcium... weekly
NO3... weekly
Po4... every 2 weeks
Iodine... monthly
Potassium.... monthly
Mag...almost never
Icp test done annually

I used to rarely test but have gotten into the habit of doing it regularly. I think those testing regularly tend to have better tanks. Not because of the testing per say, but because those who take the time to test regularly probably do not neglect regular maintenance. I found this to be true in my case anyway.

 

[Fourstars]

Luno, I have the exact same testing schedule except for the full triton testing. Have you found the Triton test useful, and if so what kind of adjustments did you make from the information?

 

[Luno]

Luno, I have the exact testing schedule except for the full triton testing. Have you found the Triton test useful, and if so what kind of adjustments did you make from the information?

To be fair I have literally just started doing it because I am starting to dose trace elements. And I couldn't be bothered testing every little thing. I think it's a double edged sword tbh. It came back with a couple things slightly out of wack that left me scratching my head going where would I even start to correct that. But they were technically trace elements in such minute proportions that chasing that number would mess with your head in and of it self. But I do think it's amazing because it's good to get a very broad grasp of every parameter and what your covering with water changes and dosing.

At the least it's broadened my knowledge in how different parameters play a part because it's not one of the main chemistry that we usually look at. I am making the small changes from the results but I can't yet answer how effective my changes because of the results are. Not for another few months

 

[happyhourhero]

SG with weekly water change
Alk Daily
Cal and Mag every couple of weeks
Nitrates and Phosphates: never

 

[Fourstars]

To be fair I have literally just started doing it because I am starting to dose trace elements. And I couldn't be bothered testing every little thing. I think it's a double edged sword tbh. It came back with a couple things slightly out of wack that left me scratching my head going where would I even start to correct that. But they were technically trace elements in such minute proportions that chasing that number would mess with your head in and of it self. But I do think it's amazing because it's good to get a very broad grasp of every parameter and what your covering with water changes and dosing.

At the least it's broadened my knowledge in how different parameters play a part because it's not one of the main chemistry that we usually look at. I am making the small changes from the results but I can't yet answer how effective my changes because of the results are. Not for another few months

Thanks for the reply, I want to test for trace elements but I'm afraid I'll just start chasing numbers. I do weekly water changes and I'm thinking this will take care of the trace elements, maybe I'll start doing a full triton test every six months or so. One test is a full box of salt.

 

[vetteguy53081]

 

[Holy_makerel]

Ca, Mg, no3, po4 tested weekly.

Alk is tested every 2-3 days

 

[tangtime]

Salinity on wc day every few weeks.

Ph: never
Ca: once per week
Alk: once per week
Mg: once a month or so
Po4: once per week
No3: once a month or so

 

[Brian Treadwell]

ALK and Ca every couple of days
Nitrates , Po4 , and Mag weekly
Potassium every month

 

[nkyreef]

After weekly water change:
-Salinity
-Alk
-Cal
-NO3
-PO4

Every 4 weeks:
-Mag

 

[StingrayNYC]

Once a week Saturday mornings-

 

[islandguy85]

I have only had tank for a year but only test basic parameters every few weeks and have done 30% water changes every few months. I also only have some fish and a few pieces of live rock (and a lot of used dead rock that I cleaned prior to starting) so it is pretty basic. Not a huge fan of spending a ton of money on the salt etc and the fish seem fine thus far. It was a free to me broken down 150gal tank w 20-30? Gallon sump/refugium.

 

[maroun.c]

Alk Ca every other week usually. Every 3 days when making corrections. Mag nitrates phosphates monthly. I send a Triton test every 3 months.
Tried a lot to calibrate my apex salinity probe but still doesn't work so don't anymore
PH probe every 4-5 months

 

[melev]

I test these weekly:

Salinity
Temperature
pH
Calcium
Magnesium
Alkalinity
Phosphate

Nitrate less often (it's always high, no reason to make myself upset about it)

I calibrate probes when I'm in the mood or get a really wonky reading.