- Location
- parsippany nj
+1 on that if i add more coral or fish i defiantly up the testing to once a week or more often depending on how much i add.
imo most experienced reefers will notice something wrong with their tank before they even test.
i am thinking of going reefing on a edge
- Thread starter dubs
- Start date
+1 on that if i add more coral or fish i defiantly up the testing to once a week or more often depending on how much i add.
imo most experienced reefers will notice something wrong with their tank before they even test.
i dont consider myself having lots of corals and i dose cal alk and mag every morning, and my levels stay stable because they are obv being used up everyday, i think testing is really important if you keep sps if your keeping softies and stuff like that, those are the people that get away with no testing
what would u consider by not having lots of corals? so why you dosing? my point exactly about sps. especially the more difficult ones. Caps are pretty hardy
because water changes wasn't enough, a lot of people sit here and say all you need is weekly water changes and i don't find that to be true, i did 15 gallon weekly water changes since i started my tank in october and my calcium fell to 320 when i wasn't dosing. and at that time i maybe had 5 corals so its a broad statement to make when every tank is different. If you run a mainly sps system i don't see how you could get away without dosing and testing your cal,alk,mag regularly. some possibly get away with it but from my experience most do not.
and as far as dubs original post, it seems like he was referring to his API test kit and for that i do agree, i don't test my ammonia or nitrites ever, once your tank is cycled why bother testing them? some people find use for testing nitrates but me personally i have never had anything above 0 nitrates so i don't even test nitrates anymore. but as far as cal,alk,mag i will always test once a week to keep everything running smoothly
i hear you bro what works for me may not work for u. i had a 30g tank with a 20 gal sump/fuge and i was doing 20 gal water changes weekly. maybe more than what i should have been doing cus you will find some people who do the recommended 33% or even less. maybe thats why it worked for me. i never tested for calcium or that other stuff and my tank was very nice and maturing too. heres a shot of what it looked like before i lost it in a fire started by that dang stealth heater lol
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yea man like i said every tank is different some people get away with the weekly water changes unfortunately i did not haha. it was a beautiful tank though btw. check out some pics of mine, its under "New Reef Pics" in the general discussion forum i love feedback!
Testing on a regular bases is not always about what I read here and now its about seeing trends. Like going to see the doctor only when you get sick. then when you go you find you have cancer and it could have been prevented if you would have been tested regularly. It like o well sorry dude if you would have gave a few minutes of your time we could have seen this comming.
Thats what is see if you don't do some testing you wont see it comming then it will be to late.
Thats what is see if you don't do some testing you wont see it comming then it will be to late.
- Location
- Ozone Park, Queens
i use to test around 3-4-5 times a week. i was testing alk/cal/mag and phos like a nut job! lol now i test it once every month. i even sold my hanna. havent checked my phos in months. i think u should be ur tanks test kit. if something is off-u will notice it right away. i have had my tank running for over 6 years. i know when something is wrong as soon as i walk thru my door 
Do u go to doctor every week?
i use to test around 3-4-5 times a week. i was testing alk/cal/mag and phos like a nut job! lol now i test it once every month. i even sold my hanna. havent checked my phos in months. i think u should be ur tanks test kit. if something is off-u will notice it right away. i have had my tank running for over 6 years. i know when something is wrong as soon as i walk thru my door
Lol @ 3-5x a week. It's true tho I must admit that's how I was in very beginning.
rbtwo i was just going to ask that lol and for the record this not about been lazy i spend at least a hour a night doing something to the tank i feel if get ur routeen down pat and u know what ur doing and what ur doing is working and u stick to it y bother been a nevous rat checking and testing all the time
- Location
- East Stroudsburg, PA
Ya know in the fire dept. there's the policy and it's how I operate in life generally.
You start off in the beginning bunker coat buttoned all the way up, collar up with the velcro strap that holds it tightly to your neck secured, helmet ear flaps down, chinstrap hanging at the ready to clasp, nomex hood at the ready, wrapped around your collar to be able to pull up if it's a job(fire), gloves on and your mind focused at the possible task in hand......then as time goes on and 90% of the alarms in the building you are on the way to have turned out to be false alarms- you get on the rig, coat unbuttoned, gloves in your pocket, hood on your neck but tucked pretty much away, your chinstrap wrapped around above the brim of your helmet and instead of focusing you and the other guys in the back of the rig laugh and joke on your way to the address, except for 1- the probie.
The probie is all buttoned up as in my first paragraph and everyone busts his balls- comeon kid relax we go to this box(address) 20 times a week and it's always bs, unbutton until you need to it's too hot to be wearing all that crap for a false alarm. The probie shrugs it off, you pull up to the building, get to a couple of floors below the floor the alarm was activated thinkin it's a bad smoke head. As you get to the floor, there's a slight odor, not much maybe food on the stove. Then you find the apartment, knock, no answer, so you force the door.
The flames and heat roll out of the door, if that senior man that was joking on the way would have felt the door he would have felt it was hot but then again it's a regular false alarm address.
The only one prepared is that probie, geared up 100% snaps into action and he and the boss do everyone's job and then HE gets to laugh at all the senior guys that got caught with their pants around their ankles when it hit the fan in the back of the rig on the way back to the firehouse....
I'll be that probie that tests my aquarium.
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