Is testing worth it?

[ArowanaLover1902]

I personally never test, my personal experience has led me to believe that testing shouldn't be done with chemicals and test strips but just by looking at the tank. I own a testing kit and used it a lot when I started, but now I kinda just work out problems (I had a problem with a cyano/bubble outbreak) with basic cures that make sense (ex: water changes, decreased daylight, better filter media, etc). I don't do it out of laziness, I think I can do just as well with guesswork and basic solutions with most problems, plus I can get help here like I did with my cyano (which is totally gone now). I'd just like to get some opinions on not testing with this poll.

 

[JCM]

I think it depends on what you're testing. Alk for example is important to test for if you have corals that utilize it to build skeletal structures. I agree that nitrates and phosphates don't need frequent testing and are easier to eyeball when there is a problem.

 

[ArowanaLover1902]

I have a bottle of some Instant Ocean chemical, I just add a capful every other week or so and have no problems. My softies are amazing and my frogspawn is getting too big for his area. He's taken over a huge chunk of the tank.

 

[ArowanaLover1902]

And feel free to post what you think about non-testers, testers, or specifally my non testing. I won’t get offended and am open to change too, I’m hoping for this to give a reason to or not to test

 

[cmcoker]

I think experience can lead to not needing to test as much.. but an inexperienced hobbiest is not going to know by looking what's wrong, that why everyone asks for parameters to help trouble shoot.

I like having data beyond what I may infer from looking at the tank. The tanks appearance may lead me to check something I normally wouldn't though.

I also test newer setups more frequently until I get a maintenance/dosing routine down that keeps everything happy.

I also think what corals you keep will dictate the amount of testing you do. An SPS tank would generally get more testing than a softie tank, at least it would at my house.

 

[zachxlutz]

This thread is only going to embolden those who don't test. It's one thing when your system is stable and you know the ins and outs of your water chemistry, through experience with your tank, it's another thing to discourage testing and suggest that "visually" you should be able to understand your water chemistry.

I don't have to test calcium very often, because I know my calcium rises and falls in a direct relation to my alkalinity. I'd never go more than a day or so without testing my alkalinity. It can rise/fall rapidly due to a growth spurt, a dosing pump error, etc.

Nitrate and phosphate can go a week or so without testing, at this point, because I'm fighting and unwanted ULNS system and I occasionally have to dose up either NO3 or PO4.

OP - you've stated that you dose "some chemical" once a week. What are you adding to your water? Can you test for it? If so, you should be. If it's an inorganic product (alk/cal supplement), you could easily overdose or underdose. If it's an organic (aminos, phyto, etc), you could easily be making your nutrient levels skyrocket.

It's a slippery slope, not testing, especially in new-ish tanks.

 

[ArowanaLover1902]

My tank is a year and a half old, my key point is the basic solutions work and maintenance work. I'm not trying to encourage anyone not understand their aquarium, I'm trying to say that most problems can be diagnosed by eye if you know your tank, for example; when my tube worm (or LPS) corals are behaving strangely, water change or moving the coral closer to the light fixes it, or, when I can't see any of my hermits: a snail has lodged itself somewhere and died, nitrates and etc are going to go up, I'll do a water change in a day and fix it, algae problems, turn on my UV and remove it with my hand. Every problem I've encountered has a symptom, these symptoms are easily noticed and can be fixed with basic solutions.
P.S. - My tank has a feather dust, various fish (all happy), some zoas, a leather coral, a lavender acan, a montipora, a duncan coral, tons of mushrooms, and a huge frogspawn, all my corals are happy, healthy, and growing (except one of my ricordeas, he was doing great, but I think I have a midnight nipping fish that is aggravating him, plus I removed a ball anemone from under his disk last week, I'm sure he will get better and bigger).
P.P.S - Its instant ocean reef accelerator (calcium and "trace elements") - I could test for the calcium, but don't have the testing kits for any of the "trace elements" mentioned in the ingredients, I dose one capful about every other week and have never had a problem

 

[Robink]

I test everything once a week on wc day. I test alk every day.
And I do agree that you can usually tell if something is wrong just by looking at the tank's inhabitants. I still test weekly because I'm ocd and I enjoy it.

 

[Kamden Uelton]

I've never tested in my LIFE, I'm just lazy ;Dead

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

I don't test as often as I should...

 

[Porpoise Hork]

Since the tank stabilized I test salinity, PH and ALK every 3-5 days, everything else gets tested every two weeks. Prior to that I was testing daily, to every other day.

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

This thread is only going to embolden those who don't test. It's one thing when your system is stable and you know the ins and outs of your water chemistry, through experience with your tank, it's another thing to discourage testing and suggest that "visually" you should be able to understand your water chemistry.

+1. In some tanks, you can tell how well everything is doing by just looking at them. With many, that's not the case. Every tank is different and has different tolerances in terms of parameter swings, and some may show varying degrees of response. Advocating the use of observation instead of testing is advocating ignorance. I can't get on board with that, especially when test kits are so cheap and readily available.

We have a very odd conceptualization of "cost" and something being "worth it," both in the hobby and in general (at least in the US). Many of us will gladly pay $700 for 3/4" of very sensitive Acropora coral. Even tanks that don't contain a Homewrecker or Walt Disney frag likely have at least a few hundred dollars of livestock, if not more. When you include the cost of the equipment, I'd be willing to bet most reefers have a least a thousand dollars sunk into their reef tank, and that's at the low end. That's not even counting the amount of time it takes to research everything, cycle a tank, perform regular maintenance (including water changes) and so on. Nor does that factor in the ongoing cost of water, power, salt mix, and other additives.

Yet, when you ask most reefers why they don't buy a $15 test kit and spend 5 minutes a week testing, they say that it's not "worth" it, or they don't "need" to test. Even if you can get a relative idea of your water quality by looking at your tank, why not spend the twenty cents worth of reagent and a few minutes of your time to know for sure?

Also, I feel like you're setting yourself up for a fight by making one of the voting answers "not testing is lazy and wrong." Calling something "right" or "wrong" is a value judgement. There's no need to call someone good, bad, right or wrong. The conversation should be focused on the merits of regular testing, not in calling names.

 

[landlubber]

show us a thriving acropora tank that has been running for 10+ years without ever testing as proof that it's a good practice.
they say it over and over again and I can see why now... there are hundreds if not thousands of ways to do things in this hobby but very few of them will bring true success which is why we don't all have magazine worthy systems.

 

[Ento-Reefer]

I think a lot depends on the age of the tank, the animals being kept in it, and the experience of the owner. Once my dosing is dialed in I may test all every 3-4 days and calcium 2-3 times a month. Right now with a new tank I am testing alk daily.

 

[Cory]

I love aquarium hints for example:

Massive algae growth probably means you got po4 and no3 in excess. This would indicate testing.

Low corraline growth probably means low magnesium.

Low coral growth with little algae means not enough po4 and no3.

Bleached corals usually means 0po4 and 0no3. Or too warm water.

Necrosis is usually high or low alk and or heavy metals. Or bugs.