I was thinkng about this the other day, and thought I'd solicit some opinions from the group.
I got a Pinpoint Ph meter in December, and as a result, checking the Ph is noq beyond simplicity. It's so easy that I am constantly aware of the Ph in the tank. I'll be watching the corals or fish, and absent-mindedly reach up and check the Ph on the meter. No effort, no hesitation, no worry.
Temperature, same thing. One glance at the little thermometer I have in my tank, and I know what the temp is. It's just a cheap little suction-cup thermometer. It may not be as accurate as a fancy digital one, but its very precise. I know as soon as the temperature changes so much as a degree or so.
Salinity/SG, I also check very often. I use one of the Deep Sea plastic "dip and check" gauges. Again, perhaps not the best tool in the world, but it's fast and handy, which means I check it often. I keep it sitting on top of my tank, and anytime I feel like it, I check the reading.
Alk and Calcium levels however, I do less often. Usually, I make myself do them at least twice a week, but sometimes go longer. My tank is well-balanced, and with dosing of Kalk and/or balanced supplements, I keep it that way, without having to check levels every single day. But really, at any given moment in time, I couldn't tell you off the top of my head what my levels are. I have a pretty good idea, but unlike temp, Ph, or salinity, I don't know on a moment to moment basis.
Why is this? Because testing for these two parameters takes a little more time and effort. I have to get out the kit and run a test which takes a couple of minutes, mixing reagents, and dripping indicator out of a syringe.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating being lazy- I know this hobby takes dedication and effort, and I do check these levels regularly. But I know I'd check them even MORE often if I had a magic meter or wand I could wave and instantly know the levels of Ca or Alk.
With other parameters, I've got some "compromises" that I use to keep the testing extremely simple.
Example: Ammonia. First off, I don't feel I have to test for this very often. If I'm not introducing many changes, it's unlikely to go up. Still, it needs to be checked reasonably often, "just in case".
I have a bottle of test strips that check for ammonia levels. Dip the strip in the water, wait a minute, and look at the color. No mixing of reagents, no dripping of indicator. The drawback is that these test strips aren't terribly accurate, and the difference between minute differences in levels are indistinguishable.
That's ok though. I consider it just a "sanity test" to make sure that it hasn't skyrocketed for some unknown reason without my knowledge. If I have reason to suspect a problem, or if I need to know the exact level (though it's nearly always at 0), then I can use a more accurate and precise test.
I guess what I'm trying to say here, is that making a job extremely easy means I'll do it a LOT more often. It translates to other maintenance tasks too. Making sure your mechanical filter pads (if you use them) are easy to get to means you'll celan them more often. Setting up a tap to drain water out of your sump mean's you'll probably be more likely to do scheduled water changes. Making your pumps easy to remove by installing union fittings means you can easily remove them for cleaning or other maintenance.
These are ways to not only make jobs easier, but to help insure that you won't procrastinate doing them.
So, with that in mind (and I guess that was a pretty long-winded intro), I have the following questions to throw out to the group:
1)What is, in your opinion, the easiest method to test for Ca, Alk, Phosphate, etc. Not neccesarily the most accurate, (since you can supplement with "traditional" tests) but the method that is the most simple, and will 'nudge' you towards checking them more often.
2)What little tricks or methods have you discovered as time-savers, or ways of making any maintenance task even easier?
Thanks,
--TMIB
I got a Pinpoint Ph meter in December, and as a result, checking the Ph is noq beyond simplicity. It's so easy that I am constantly aware of the Ph in the tank. I'll be watching the corals or fish, and absent-mindedly reach up and check the Ph on the meter. No effort, no hesitation, no worry.
Temperature, same thing. One glance at the little thermometer I have in my tank, and I know what the temp is. It's just a cheap little suction-cup thermometer. It may not be as accurate as a fancy digital one, but its very precise. I know as soon as the temperature changes so much as a degree or so.
Salinity/SG, I also check very often. I use one of the Deep Sea plastic "dip and check" gauges. Again, perhaps not the best tool in the world, but it's fast and handy, which means I check it often. I keep it sitting on top of my tank, and anytime I feel like it, I check the reading.
Alk and Calcium levels however, I do less often. Usually, I make myself do them at least twice a week, but sometimes go longer. My tank is well-balanced, and with dosing of Kalk and/or balanced supplements, I keep it that way, without having to check levels every single day. But really, at any given moment in time, I couldn't tell you off the top of my head what my levels are. I have a pretty good idea, but unlike temp, Ph, or salinity, I don't know on a moment to moment basis.
Why is this? Because testing for these two parameters takes a little more time and effort. I have to get out the kit and run a test which takes a couple of minutes, mixing reagents, and dripping indicator out of a syringe.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating being lazy- I know this hobby takes dedication and effort, and I do check these levels regularly. But I know I'd check them even MORE often if I had a magic meter or wand I could wave and instantly know the levels of Ca or Alk.
With other parameters, I've got some "compromises" that I use to keep the testing extremely simple.
Example: Ammonia. First off, I don't feel I have to test for this very often. If I'm not introducing many changes, it's unlikely to go up. Still, it needs to be checked reasonably often, "just in case".
I have a bottle of test strips that check for ammonia levels. Dip the strip in the water, wait a minute, and look at the color. No mixing of reagents, no dripping of indicator. The drawback is that these test strips aren't terribly accurate, and the difference between minute differences in levels are indistinguishable.
That's ok though. I consider it just a "sanity test" to make sure that it hasn't skyrocketed for some unknown reason without my knowledge. If I have reason to suspect a problem, or if I need to know the exact level (though it's nearly always at 0), then I can use a more accurate and precise test.
I guess what I'm trying to say here, is that making a job extremely easy means I'll do it a LOT more often. It translates to other maintenance tasks too. Making sure your mechanical filter pads (if you use them) are easy to get to means you'll celan them more often. Setting up a tap to drain water out of your sump mean's you'll probably be more likely to do scheduled water changes. Making your pumps easy to remove by installing union fittings means you can easily remove them for cleaning or other maintenance.
These are ways to not only make jobs easier, but to help insure that you won't procrastinate doing them.
So, with that in mind (and I guess that was a pretty long-winded intro), I have the following questions to throw out to the group:
1)What is, in your opinion, the easiest method to test for Ca, Alk, Phosphate, etc. Not neccesarily the most accurate, (since you can supplement with "traditional" tests) but the method that is the most simple, and will 'nudge' you towards checking them more often.
2)What little tricks or methods have you discovered as time-savers, or ways of making any maintenance task even easier?
Thanks,
--TMIB
