Water changes for water chemistry

[1guydude]

Sry but wat brands other than the regular api test, do u guys trust?
Sry zerc too if I'm speaking for u. or out of place or watever.
-d

 

[Zerc]

haha its fine, I would rather learn and not speak than speak and not ask the right questions.

 

[mfinn]

This type of question is like, "what salt do you like?" You will get different suggestions from different people.

I happen to like Salifert.

 

[NanaReefer]

Back to answering your original question...don't worry about dosing anything now. Continue with regular water changes. Get a decent test kit for the 3 majors, CA-ALK-MAG. I personally use the Red Sea Pro for this, $43.99 at DF&S. For PH, Ammonia, Nitrites and Nitrates I use API which are good.
I have never tested for phosphates.


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[HUNTER01975]

Well what are you using for a ATO water holder I know rubber bins like what I use are know the lech phos. you can run to OBD or Barrier Reef and buy a reactor to help you control it tho. If you have the extra money if not you could prob put some in a bag and put in the sump in a high flow area and do it that way. you just have to grab it daily and squeeze it so it dont tune into a big block.

 

[Zerc]

I am not that high tech! My ATO is a marker on the side of my refugium and a pitcher of water.

 

[NanaReefer]

I am not that high tech! My ATO is a marker on the side of my refugium and a pitcher of water.

Lol I remember those days Your not using tap water for topping off are you?


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[HUNTER01975]

There is a system that Katchupoy made up that he uses and is pretty affordable here is a link.

https://sites.google.com/site/caddnima/myreeftank/diy-top-off

this might be something you can make for under 20 bucks.

 

[senji]

test kits i trust are as follows from most trusted to less trusted.pin point, hanna, red sea, safeilert, elos, also ive had nothing but bad luck with API in my opinion oly good to track a new cycle on a tank and nothing further. they get inaccurate fast with age and always give different results, i also like to go digital when possible (pin point, and hanna) matching colors can be difficult and be expensive as with pin point u just calibrate 2 -3 times a year and hanna u replace the reagents. expensive at first but will save u allot of money in the long run as reagents and calibration solutions are cheap. example disposable tests run from 30 -50$ ea for 25-50 tests. pinpoint 100$ and calibration 3-5$ for 1 time use or 25-30$ for a bottle of it. hanna 45-60$ for unit and 25 tests and 15-25$ for every 25-50 tests. and best yet no matching colors all digital readout. just my experiences and 2 cent. take it how u will but it u want to have coral u need to monitor calcium, alkalinity, magnesium, ph, temp, salinity, and nitrate. if your seeing problems have an iodine test. but if every thing is new and frags i agree strongly a regular water change schedule is all ull need for the first year or so. when u get colony's and sps and most lps corals ull need to monitor these thing closely and start supplementing. just be patient and love the hobby and learn best of luck to ya and most important just have fun!!

 

[rayjay]

FWIW, I stopped "monitoring" for the most part, after a few years into my now 20 yrs of reefing. A few years back I bought calcium alk and magnesium test kits just out of curiosity, when I.O. was reported to have upped the calcium in it's formula, and found indeed, I could stop adding the calcium and magnesium that I had been adding on mixing I.O.. Other than that, I don't bother, but wait for my "tank" to tell me if something is wrong.
Once I get that "tell", I do a major water change and everything has returned to normal.
As for Iodine test kits, as far as I know there has been no improvement in the hobbyist Iodine test kits that are not dependable or reliable to any reasonable degree of accuracy. (I believe it was Randy Holmes-Farly's writing that convinced me of that)
As there is Iodine in most foods that are added to our tanks, I see no need for any other addition of it unless one is not doing regular water changes.

 

[burning2nd]

I also stop testing years and years ago..

I pretty much disagree with everything here... but then again i Do things much differently then everyone else, Couple impotent rules regularity, (water changes... salt brand) habit (feeding water changes) keeping your hands outta the tank.. ((let it be... let it do its thing)

I use tropic marin pro reef... switched to it years and years and years ago... because it kept my chemistry where it needed to be, 10% a week is fine... 50% every month would be better... grabing more of the dirty water at one time will help with that... assuming that your doing the water change correctly...

Ive done almost 100% at a time here and there over the years...
the poster above.. refers to waiting for the tank to tell you, Dont necessarily wait for the tank to say ahhhhhhhhhh trouble.. but have a small patch of algae that you can see... when it grows you do water change... when it dormant your good.... stuff like that

Give it some time... learn your tank... and keep your hands outta there

 

[rayjay]

the poster above.. refers to waiting for the tank to tell you, Dont necessarily wait for the tank to say ahhhhhhhhhh trouble.. but have a small patch of algae that you can see... when it grows you do water change... when it dormant your good.... stuff like that

?????
And don't you think that is my "tell"?
To me, the algae patch would indicate I need to do something.
Usually before that though, the corals or fish behaviour often indicate something isn't right.
As for my seahorse tanks, there is no waiting for a "tell" because it's a given that the water is dirty and is continually in need of upgrading.

 

[burning2nd]

algae is a normal part of the ocean

 

[rayjay]

It doesn't need to be a visible part of your tank if you don't want it.