Stop testing water

[SashimiTurtle]

I agree with OP 100%. Stop testing and trying to fix all that other stuff. I test for alk maybe once a month and adjust my pump as needed. Very small increments. I try and aim for 8.5 alk, but if it slowly drops to 7.8, like it was my last check(which was 2 months apart) I don't worry. It was a slow drop, not a sudden dip or spike. I simply bumped my dosing pump up a few mLs and I'll check again eventually.

I also have a 3x2x2 90 gallon, from SCA. Lighting is handled by 3 Kessil A160(looking to replace) in a 36" Aquatic Life hybrid fixture with 4 ATI True Actinic bulbs. Flow is handled by an Icecap 3k gyre, a Jebao PP8 and an SW4.
The sump is a Trigger Sapphire cube 20, with a Bubble Magus curve 5 and a Kessil H80 over the fuge. Return pump is a Jebao DCP6000

I test for alk about once a month, and pretty much nothing else. I feed my fish a quarter sized chunk of LRS about 5-7 times a week. Sometimes I'm either really tired after work, or not home and they miss a feeding.

For maintenance, once a month I clean the sump. Pump water out the back door, shop vac the rest with any detritus and fill with fresh Neomarine salt mix at 1.026.

I have 5 wrasse, 2 clowns, a tomini tang, a damsel and a dwarf moray.

System will be one year old next week.

 

[CheckeredPants]

I listed my entire setup at the beginning of this thread.

Amazing tank! Do you do water changes or just dose?

 

[Guttersnipe]

I only dose two part with a dosing pump. Twice a year I add magnesium. I have plenty of stuff I’m about to get rid of because it’s of no use for my sps tank. When I first got into sps I thought I had to constantly test for this and that. Once I simplified my system that’s when I started noticing my tank taking off.
I used to do a five gallon water change once a week. I haven’t done a water change for a while now. The tank is still doing really well.

 

[SeaDweller]

I only dose two part with a dosing pump. Twice a year I add magnesium. I have plenty of stuff I’m about to get rid of because it’s of no use for my sps tank. When I first got into sps I thought I had to constantly test for this and that. Once I simplified my system that’s when I started noticing my tank taking off.
I used to do a five gallon water change once a week. I haven’t done a water change for a while now. The tank is still doing really well.

Do you feel ESV is maintaining your trace elements as well, since you’re not doing WC?

 

[Iván Olalla]

Here’s my word of advice for reefers who are having trouble with their corals.
You don’t have to add anything other than food, alk, cal, and magnesium.
Don’t even think about dosing nopox, phosphate, nitrate, or anything other than what I mentioned above.
Get a good skimmer, good light, dosing pump, and good flow.
This is the only equipment you need. You don’t need an algae scrubber. Chaeto In your fuge is all you need.
Leave your tank alone. There’s a lot of reefers on here who keep buying things and changing things around when they don’t see their corals growing. Set up a light schedule and profile and leave it alone. Set up powerheads for flow and leave it alone. Only add more or rearrange when corals fill in and start blocking flow. As for test kits just get salifert alk, cal, and mag test kit. They’re cheap and work very well.
Set up your protein skimmer and leave it alone.
Keep your hands out of the tank. The only time I reach my hand in the tank is when I clean my glass with the magnet cleaner
And have to take it out once I’m done. Set tour corals where you want them and leave it there. Move only if it’s getting too much or not enough light or flow.

I agree with you for the most part, but also have some caveats. I do think and practice the "no hands in tank" aproach and let it do it´s own thing, but saying that in general as a rule of thumb may conflict with different systems, let me explain myself as an example:

-i dont chase numbers, but like to aim for a target range, meaning stability

-i dont like to test that often, but in my case is a must, i´ve an 8 gallon pico reef fully packed with coral and way to much fish for the volume (3), i keep SPS, LPS, NPS and softies and in order to keep them all happy i have to play alittle with the chemistry of the tank

-i´m no control freak or have OCD, but in such a small volume bad things happen fast

-i dose alk (consumption is 2.1 dkh daily), kalk as a ph buffer in my ATO, potassium nitrate (my nitrates are almost zero and phospahte is .01) and feed the fish twice a day a mix of frozen food an pellets, also i feed my corals reef roids, reef chili, polyp booster, fish eggs and frozen mollusc mix every other day and my nutrients dont climb

-you have the 3 big ones for an sps tank: lots of flow, lots of light, and a very heavy bioload (coral wise) in order to nitrate and phosphate not to play a big role if the numbers are high, but alas, you´ve a mature reef and the knowledge of how your tank behaves ...a newer reefer could use testing and resins in order to aim for a range between numbers and a more stable tank, also testing helps to understand how changes and adjustments impact on the biotope....


that´s just my two cents, congrats on the tank! it´s a sweet setup!

 

[Guttersnipe]

I’m really digging the colors on these two frags.

 

[Guttersnipe]

I’m a huge fan of esv two part. I have gone without a water change for quite a while now and my corals don’t show any negative signs. I did an icp test on my water over a year ago and everything looked good.
So to answer your question I do think there’s trace elements in esv two part.

 

[Cory]

About the tap water comment try this:

Go shake your water pipes in your house. Turn on the tap. Use for your tank. Let me know if your reef is living a week from that.

Spoiler alert, your reef will probably not survive

 

[Guttersnipe]

I agree with OP 100%. Stop testing and trying to fix all that other stuff. I test for alk maybe once a month and adjust my pump as needed. Very small increments. I try and aim for 8.5 alk, but if it slowly drops to 7.8, like it was my last check(which was 2 months apart) I don't worry. It was a slow drop, not a sudden dip or spike. I simply bumped my dosing pump up a few mLs and I'll check again eventually.

I also have a 3x2x2 90 gallon, from SCA. Lighting is handled by 3 Kessil A160(looking to replace) in a 36" Aquatic Life hybrid fixture with 4 ATI True Actinic bulbs. Flow is handled by an Icecap 3k gyre, a Jebao PP8 and an SW4.
The sump is a Trigger Sapphire cube 20, with a Bubble Magus curve 5 and a Kessil H80 over the fuge. Return pump is a Jebao DCP6000

I test for alk about once a month, and pretty much nothing else. I feed my fish a quarter sized chunk of LRS about 5-7 times a week. Sometimes I'm either really tired after work, or not home and they miss a feeding.

For maintenance, once a month I clean the sump. Pump water out the back door, shop vac the rest with any detritus and fill with fresh Neomarine salt mix at 1.026.

I have 5 wrasse, 2 clowns, a tomini tang, a damsel and a dwarf moray.

System will be one year old next week.

Looking good for a 1 year old tank.

 

[Abdullah Al Faruq]

I see that flame angel and those sps, “my man!”

Back before I could afford all of the fancy test kits and supplements, I just didn’t test a thing. Not even salinity. My sps grew like weeds. I’d do a weekly water change and pour some DI water in to keep up with evaporation.

Once I began testing everything, I started dosing too. That’s when troubles began.

 

[EMeyer]

The keep it simple approach advocated by the OP is very good advice.

The advice to not test water,though, is frankly irresponsible. My position is the opposite. We should be working to improve the accuracy of our tests. You can't eyeball your tank and infer the alkalinity or salinity from your subjective impression of how happy the fish look. But deviations in these values will stress your animals out.

I know a guy who somehow maintains >10 beautiful reef tanks using tapwater. This is absolute gospel truth. But it would be crazy irresponsible to suggest new hobbyists should also "just use tapwater" -- my friend's tapwater comes out of the faucet at 5 ppm; I've measured tapwater in other houses at >350 ppm TDS.

The only way you know this stuff is by testing.

(That said, we should test accurately or not at all, and we should react slowly to correct any deviations)

 

[Abdullah Al Faruq]

The keep it simple approach advocated by the OP is very good advice.

The advice to not test water,though, is frankly irresponsible. My position is the opposite. We should be working to improve the accuracy of our tests. You can't eyeball your tank and infer the alkalinity or salinity from your subjective impression of how happy the fish look. But deviations in these values will stress your animals out.

I know a guy who somehow maintains >10 beautiful reef tanks using tapwater. This is absolute gospel truth. But it would be crazy irresponsible to suggest new hobbyists should also "just use tapwater" -- my friend's tapwater comes out of the faucet at 5 ppm; I've measured tapwater in other houses at >350 ppm TDS.

The only way you know this stuff is by testing.

(That said, we should test accurately or not at all, and we should react slowly to correct any deviations)

That water from his tap may be from the mountains Tap is innocent unless its of copper. Its the source. Best to test it before using. This guy's is the rarest of rare cases. Think of the source, have it lab tested, use or modify with RODI if needed. I got to know what is in my water from the tap. Stop beating each other up for the TAP ;Playful;Playful

 

[Guttersnipe]

The keep it simple approach advocated by the OP is very good advice.

The advice to not test water,though, is frankly irresponsible. My position is the opposite. We should be working to improve the accuracy of our tests. You can't eyeball your tank and infer the alkalinity or salinity from your subjective impression of how happy the fish look. But deviations in these values will stress your animals out.

I know a guy who somehow maintains >10 beautiful reef tanks using tapwater. This is absolute gospel truth. But it would be crazy irresponsible to suggest new hobbyists should also "just use tapwater" -- my friend's tapwater comes out of the faucet at 5 ppm; I've measured tapwater in other houses at >350 ppm TDS.

The only way you know this stuff is by testing.

(That said, we should test accurately or not at all, and we should react slowly to correct any deviations)

Thanks for the input. I would never use tap water for my tank and highly advise against doing that. I could have been more
Clear with the title of this thread. What I’m trying to say is stop testing for anything other than the big three parameters. I only test alk, cal, and mag.
Once you start testing for other than what I mentioned you’re going to start buying this and that to remedy whatever numbers you think shouldn’t be.