Testing

[Balz3352]

How often do you guys test your water. I have heard anywhere from 2 times a week to once every two months.. I just want to see what most of you guys do

 

[jda123]

Depends how stable your stuff is, what the load in the tank is and how good of a hobbyist that you are. I test about once a month for calcium and alk, unless the media in my calcium reactor is getting low, then every week, or so. I don't test for phosphate or nitrate except for when I might see some algae... but it always tests out at zero. I never test ammonia, nitrite or PH. Maybe once a quarter I will test magnesium.

I imagine that the answers you will get will vary a lot depending on the hobbyist and the type of test.

 

[Haddonisreef]

I the bad hobbies on my big tank i test when I top off dosing pump resivor! So once a month or so, and on my anemone tank don't test at all just consistent water changes. So like 30 gal every two weeks religiously on a 120 gall system.

 

[Bajamike]

I test on average once every other week alk - calcium.

I test every day ( sometimes twice) if I make a change or something messes up.

If something looks wrong I'll test too.

I never test ammonia nitrite or ph. Don't test mag or phosphate much.

In short I think it depends on two things.

Your experience level
And how comfortable you are with your tank. Test test test to get comfortable and determine your base line.

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk

 

[aztecdreams]

I hate to admit this but I don't test. I do my 50 gallon water changes every 3 weeks and if something doesn't look right I test I used to test then try to adjust and would just get too many fluctuations.

 

[MuralReef]

Testing

Only time I test lately is when I make changes or something doesn't look right. Tested today but the last time I ran any tests was the week before Thanksgiving.

 

[Blindrage]

I run all the basic tests once a week.

That is because I am still new to all this, and I want to make sure I keep things in line.

 

[djkms]

I test all the parameters listed in my signature every week (except for potassium which I test every 3 months) when I do my tank maintenance. I prefer to know where all my parameters are at so I can adjust accordingly if something starts getting out of line before my inhabitants react.