When testing your water.

[kopoboi]

HI Reef2Reef,

I have already started the cycle on my new reef tank. And was wondering about on you guys test. I can't seem to find a thread online about my question.

Since I use AIO for all my planted tanks when I take water out for testing, the ATO would just top of what I took. Which is a cup or two. In planted tanks I do not need to worry about this since the ATO is just replenish normal water. However, with saltwater I will be actually taking water out not topping of evaporation. So I would think the ATO would just be topping off, which will make the salinity less.

Since I will be testing every other day that is going to be a lot of water. So my question is if I'm going to take a cup of water out do you guys put a cup of fresh saltwater into the tank so that the normal water levels stay the same? If so, do you guys wait a half hour before testing?

Which test kits are better? I have the API Reef Test kit since it had some of the testing chemicals for my planted tanks. Im finding that API is pretty good for planted tanks but the numbers Im getting with just testing my reef tank are really off (saltwater is ocean water). These are not expired at all. What would you suggest?

 

[Retro Reefer]

in theory for every cup of water you remove from tank you will need to replace with fresh salt water however most reef tank test only take a few ml of water so not something you need to adjust immediately but over time monitor your salinity and adjust as needed. API is fine to start but look into salfert and Hanna

 

[Retro Reefer]

BTW.. welcome to R2R!

 

[Jeff Jarry reef]

Welcome to R2R !!!

 

[piranhaman00]

First, I would ditch API and use Salifert and Hanna test kits. I use Hanna for PO4, dKH and copper, Salifert for everything else. People also like the Red Sea kits for NO3. I personally haven't tried it yet but probably will soon.

Hanna test are awesome, but they use 10mL of water each. Not a lot but I test everyday, sometimes twice when trying to get everything stable in the beginning. I am just now after a few months down to once a week or so.

I also add corals to my tank frequently because it is a lot of fun However, I dip my corals with 3 washes so that uses quite a bit of tank water as well. If I let my ATO fill in back up my salinity would go down rather quickly.

What I do is keep a bucket of mixed salt water by my tank. I unplug ATO while doing the above things and then replace the water with salt water and plug ATO back in. This is very helpful currently as my salinity is sitting at 1.0245. I am trying to bring it up a little over 1.025. By adding saltwater that is 1.027 in very small amount like this, I am raising it to my desired, albeit very slowly, which is good I suppose.

 

[phatduckk]

Like the folks said... I just don’t take out too much out. I’m cycling now too and my Red Sea test needs 5ml for ammonia and 15ml for nitrite.

I scoop out a bit of water using a plastic cup and after a few tests you get pretty good at eyeballing how much to scoop out.

 

[Mr Fishface]

It doesn't take much for a test. 5 ml or 10 ml at the most really. Every now and then I add salt to my ATO to compensate for how much water my skimmer pulls out but that's about it.

 

[piranhaman00]

It doesn't take much for a test. 5 ml or 10 ml at the most really. Every now and then I add salt to my ATO to compensate for how much water my skimmer pulls out but that's about it.

That seems risky!

 

[BeejReef]

piranhaman00 had a good suggestion. During water changes, I try to remember to keep 1/2g of saltwater in a bottle somewhere. As others have said, most salt tests use fractional amounts of water. It won't really register so long as you're looking at your salinity weekly or bi-weekly.

It sounds like you're removing a cup and doing your testing at the table. Unless you're getting reagents all mixed in with your testing water, you can just pour the untested remainder back in.

I try to run my sump a bit low bc I'll often make that mistake when acclimating or testing. If I forget and hear the ATO running for 90 seconds, I'll just overfill with an estimated equivalent of saltwater. It preserves the salinity and the ATO simply won't be likely to kick back on for a day or so.

 

[kopoboi]

Thank you all for your comments. I will be looking at those test kits. this weekend. I really want to make sure I do things right. I do not know why the Saltwater side of the hobby makes me so scared to take out water.

 

[Jon Fishman]

The margin of error on your salinity probe/refractometer will be greater than the change made by removing a couple syringes of water for testing. Your shifts from water-changes will also be much more variable

 

[BayouReefer]

Welcome to the R2R Family!

 

[kopoboi]

First, I would ditch API and use Salifert and Hanna test kits. I use Hanna for PO4, dKH and copper, Salifert for everything else. People also like the Red Sea kits for NO3. I personally haven't tried it yet but probably will soon.

Hanna test are awesome, but they use 10mL of water each. Not a lot but I test everyday, sometimes twice when trying to get everything stable in the beginning. I am just now after a few months down to once a week or so.

I also add corals to my tank frequently because it is a lot of fun However, I dip my corals with 3 washes so that uses quite a bit of tank water as well. If I let my ATO fill in back up my salinity would go down rather quickly.

What I do is keep a bucket of mixed salt water by my tank. I unplug ATO while doing the above things and then replace the water with salt water and plug ATO back in. This is very helpful currently as my salinity is sitting at 1.0245. I am trying to bring it up a little over 1.025. By adding saltwater that is 1.027 in very small amount like this, I am raising it to my desired, albeit very slowly, which is good I suppose.

Hi piranhaman00 I bought the Phosphate URL and I love it will be buying the one with out Marine logo on it. Im also looking at the Hanna Checker site since Amazon seems to not sell most of them. Im noticing a lot of different types for each test. Medium, Low, URL etc. I dont want to buy all only the ones that would be good for a newbe and also might be able to use in planted tank. Im thinking about buying most of them. What would be the best for the following: (Im also going to use some of them for my planted tank)

NH = Low / Med / High Range
NO2 = Ultra Low / Low / High Range
Alkalinity = dKH / ppm
Calcium = ppm / Hardness
Iron = ppm / LR

 

[ruskimax]

Hi piranhaman00 I bought the Phosphate URL and I love it will be buying the one with out Marine logo on it. Im also looking at the Hanna Checker site since Amazon seems to not sell most of them. Im noticing a lot of different types for each test. Medium, Low, URL etc. I dont want to buy all only the ones that would be good for a newbe and also might be able to use in planted tank. Im thinking about buying most of them. What would be the best for the following: (Im also going to use some of them for my planted tank)

NH = Low / Med / High Range
NO2 = Ultra Low / Low / High Range
Alkalinity = dKH / ppm
Calcium = ppm / Hardness
Iron = ppm / LR

Phos ULR version will be invaluable to your reefing, highly recommend getting one. And as for the ATO, I usually pour a small amount of fresh saltwater in the tank so when I take out to test it returns right about to where it had been just prior. I hate having to worry abt that but you have to deal w some headaches if you want to avoid a sump.

 

[kopoboi]

Phos ULR version will be invaluable to your reefing, highly recommend getting one. And as for the ATO, I usually pour a small amount of fresh saltwater in the tank so when I take out to test it returns right about to where it had been just prior. I hate having to worry abt that but you have to deal w some headaches if you want to avoid a sump.

I dint want to avoid an external sump I really wanted to get a red sea tank but didnt know where i was going to put it. I have almost all of the Fusion/Nuvo line tanks. I had the stand for the lagon 25 and since the 40 also use the same stand that's why I got the AIO 40. I tore down my freshwater lagoon 25 so I can use the stand. I thought starting with the 40 instead of the lagoon 25 as my 1st salt water would be better. So many people say the URL for Phoursr is better than the normal one

 

[homer1475]

Only Hanna meters worth buying for a reef is the ULR phosphorus, and the ALK in DKH kits. The rest you'll never use. The calcium kit uses such a small samp0le of water that it is very unreliable. Look into salifert or Red Sea for that kit.

The other kits you mentioned you'll more then likely never use again once the tank has fully cycled so the API kit you have is fine for that.

I personally like and use Hanna for ALK and phosphate, salifert for CAL and MAG, and red sea pro for nitrate. I have no need to test anything else. I still have my API kit if I ever need to check ammonia, or nitrite.

As far as taking out the SW and replacing, all I do is just mix my water change water a bit salty(1.027 - 1.028) and when doing a WC it makes up for it(I do do weekly WC's religiously). Honestly though your way overthinking it, the small amount of water you take out even if it is every day or multiple times a day, will have very little effect on the salinity.

 

[ruskimax]

I dint want to avoid an external sump I really wanted to get a red sea tank but didnt know where i was going to put it. I have almost all of the Fusion/Nuvo line tanks. I had the stand for the lagon 25 and since the 40 also use the same stand that's why I got the AIO 40. I tore down my freshwater lagoon 25 so I can use the stand. I thought starting with the 40 instead of the lagoon 25 as my 1st salt water would be better. So many people say the URL for Phoursr is better than the normal one

Yea make sure its ULR, the low range one is useless.

 

[kopoboi]

Thanks everyone. So Im guessing from everyone's comments, The URL is what we need to look for than in majority of tests. I know I'm over thinking but I want to make sure.

I was think about the others because we all know this 1st saltwater tank is not going to be the last. I started with one Planted tank to 6 other planted tanks and a pond. I usually check all parameters every quarter because I clean all the pumps and cadys just to be on the safe side.