What do you test for and how often do you test?

[mistergray]

I test salinity before every water change. My 32 gallon tank is 2+ years old and I never tested for much else, unless I saw a problem. I answered some questions on the Red Sea website today and it advised what’s in the following screenshots. Do you all really test all this? I’ll be honest, I despise testing. I wish I could put a drop on a piece of paper and 20 results come out with all my parameters. Any who… What (nitrate, pH, etc….) do you test for and how often (daily, weekly, monthly, never)?

Heck, if you don’t test (outside of salinity) at all, feel free to tell me your logic.

 

[fish farmer]

Ca, alk, mag weekly or daily if I up dosing.
Nitrates maybe once a week since I'm getting readings now, phos maybe every two weeks. pH rarely. Salinity weekly and at water changes.

Some of my nutrient numbers really don't change and may just finish out my tests and stop.

I test some things just to see if there are trends, but I'm getting to the point where things are dialed in.

 

[fishywishy]

I test salinity before every water change. My 32 gallon tank is 2+ years old and I never tested for much else, unless I saw a problem. I answered some questions on the Red Sea website today and it advised what’s in the following screenshots. Do you all really test all this? I’ll be honest, I despise testing. I wish I could put a drop on a piece of paper and 20 results come out with all my parameters. Any who… What (nitrate, pH, etc….) do you test for and how often (daily, weekly, monthly, never)?

Heck, if you don’t test (outside of salinity) at all, feel free to tell me your logic.

View attachment 3049123 View attachment 3049124

As long as you maintain your tank properly I don’t think you would need to test anything, I haven’t tested anything in a long time except things for corals because I dose stuff for them.

 

[exnisstech]

At this point I test alk, nitrates, and phos. These I have been testing daily as my nutients keep bottoming out. I think I finally have the amounts I dose dialed in and am going to start every other day or maybe 3. I test calcium occasionally but do not dose as it's over 500 for some unknown reason in 2 tanks. My systems are just getting over a troubled period. I used to not test much at all when things were looking good. And hopefully I can an return to that regimen soon.

 

[mistergray]

Ca, alk, mag weekly or daily if I up dosing.
Nitrates maybe once a week since I'm getting readings now, phos maybe every two weeks. pH rarely. Salinity weekly and at water changes.

Some of my nutrient numbers really don't change and may just finish out my tests and stop.

I test some things just to see if there are trends, but I'm getting to the point where things are dialed in.

What brand of tests do you use?

 

[mistergray]

As long as you maintain your tank properly I don’t think you would need to test anything, I haven’t tested anything in a long time except things for corals because I dose stuff for them.

What do you dose and brand used?

 

[KyRo]

Salinity is all I have ever tested. I always felt that if something was wrong, I would see it. I guess the flipside is, sometimes it is too late at that point, but I have been going very strong without testing.

 

[fish farmer]

Salifert for everything except phos, which I use the old Hanna LR.

What brand of tests do you use?

 

[MinnieMouse2]

I test for Nitrate, alk, calcium, phos, and always make sure my salt is where it should be.

 

[Dbichler]

Nitrates and phosphates once a week and alk monthly. Everything else is almost always in line so rarely test the others. Salinity checked when my brute trash can ato. Empties. Salifert for all but nitrates which I use nyos. Tropic Marin hydrometer and Hannah for quick test of salinity.

 

[Spare time]

Alk every few days
calcium once a month
magnesium once a month
Potassium twice a month or so
Phosphate and Nitrate Weekly

 

[rtparty]

Trident tests the Big 3 daily. Alkalinity twice.

ICP test every 3 months to make sure my balling method is dialed in.

I manually test Alk, cal, mag, nitrate, phosphate, salinity, and temperature whenever I feel the itch to.

 

[Daenion]

I do test everything weekly during the water change. However my system is new at 7 months.

I am also interested on how to dose the red sea trace colors. Do you just go with the recommended or do you do a monthly icp test for it?

 

[nkyreef]

2-3x per week = Alk
1x per week = Cal, Mag, PO3, PO4
ICP test once per year

 

[Spare time]

I do test everything weekly during the water change. However my system is new at 7 months.

I am also interested on how to dose the red sea trace colors. Do you just go with the recommended or do you do a monthly icp test for it?

I think there are better alternatives to red seas trace line. They include a lot of elements not known to have any benefit and require 4 bottles

 

[Daenion]

I think there are better alternatives to red seas trace line. They include a lot of elements not known to have any benefit and require 4 bottles

Self improvement is a passion of mine. Which line is good and easy to dose?

 

[vetteguy53081]

I test salinity before every water change. My 32 gallon tank is 2+ years old and I never tested for much else, unless I saw a problem. I answered some questions on the Red Sea website today and it advised what’s in the following screenshots. Do you all really test all this? I’ll be honest, I despise testing. I wish I could put a drop on a piece of paper and 20 results come out with all my parameters. Any who… What (nitrate, pH, etc….) do you test for and how often (daily, weekly, monthly, never)?

Heck, if you don’t test (outside of salinity) at all, feel free to tell me your logic.

View attachment 3049123 View attachment 3049124

It will depend if you are fish only or Reef with coral. This is a chemistry lab pictured and main with coral are Alk-CA-Mag-Phosphate-Nitrate.
Add ammonia for fish and I too check salinity before water change

 

[Spare time]

Self improvement is a passion of mine. Which line is good and easy to dose?

I use all for reef but I wish they included potassium. Oddly enough chaetogro is a nice trace element mixture in terms of contents known to be used.

 

[Nemo&Friends]

I do not test, occasionally I take a sample to my LFS, but I have not done so for a while. However, I do not have corals, so I do not think I need to test too much for fish, nor macro.

 

[fishywishy]

What do you dose and brand used?

Cal, alk, and mag. I use Red Sea.