Do I Have to Measure Anything More Than Alkalinity and Salinity?

[howaboutme]

We test too much.

Test what you cannot see. Your eyes often tell you if you are stable or not. If you are losing alk after a water change, consider switching to a salt mix that mixes closer to your desired levels. If you have high consumption because you have heavy sps then supplementing may be inevitable. That is not the OP's issue so contextualizing the suggestions is important.

On the other hand, if you enjoy testing, being proactive, please continue. Sometimes doing the testing routine is therapeutic. That also doesn't sound like the OP.

 

[reddogf5]

Fresh air in the room, outside air to a skimmer, high pH additives when supplementing alkalinity are all good choices.

Yes, thank you for the input Randy, I tend to ignore outside air because it’s not convenient for me but others may live in places more amenable. What I was trying to convey is pH isn’t something that can be controlled like calcium or magnesium, but is a product of the overall water chemistry. If the chemistry is right, the pH should be in the right range. If pH isn’t, it is usually due to elevated atmospheric CO2, which has to be reduced one way or another to raise pH.
also, I’m not saying this is a GOOD way to monitor a tank, let alone the best, but just whether it can work. More information with an understanding of what it means is always better.

 

[ApoIsland]

I was thinking about the bare minimum to keep a tank healthy, and boiled it down to measuring alkalinity and salinity, keeping salinity stable, and alkalinity correct with a balanced additive (alk/Ca/Mg), with regular water changes. Not for an SPS tank with huge consumption, but a softy/LPS tank with fish.

So what else do you think NEEDS to be tested, and why?

you don’t need to test alkalinity for that type of tank. The only thing you need to occasionally test is salinity. I do look at my temp daily as I’m prone to large swings if a heater or a fan doesn’t come on.

I have been running this 120g mixed lps/sps reef for 10 years (9 years without testing) and mostly without dosing. Occasionally I’ll drip lime water when I’m highly motivated and am trying to acclimate a new coral but for the most part it gets nothing.

I do a large water change every 3-6 weeks. I have calculated 125g actual total water volume including the sump and will change 45g if I go 3 weeks between changes and will do up to 70 gallons if I go 6 weeks or longer without a change.

I do get curious from time to time once every 2 or 3 years and run some tests, and occasionally a local club member will come over and be in awe of my lazy non technical approach and take some water to test himself. Unless I have done a fairly recent water change the results are alkalinity in the high 3 to low 4. After large water change of course they are back up to high 6 or low 7.

mag is always high at over 1500. A guy much more knowledgeable than I came over and told me it’s because I use tap water I have virtually no corraline algae growth in this tank so mag never gets consumed.

Cal is always in the 400s so no issue there.

ph was high 7s when I used to test that first year in the hobby. Has never been tested since.

nitrate hasn’t been tested in forever but would always be around 30 -50 before a water change. Again this was many years ago when i was first starting out so I’m sure the tank is much different now.

phosphate has never been tested.

I don’t run a skimmer so I’m sure I have plenty of nutrients in the tank.

I keep simple and easy corals and this will never be tank of the month but it has outlasted many other local tanks and I am a little biased but it still looks better than most of the reefs I see on these forums

 

[brandon429]

I honestly thought that much coral in a big tank would require the tediousness it’s neat to see an example of when it wasn’t required.


I thought that much coral mass and weight really would cause an imbalance since big volumes couldn’t be exchanged. very sharp

 

[Rmckoy]

Here's a good breakdown of basics of water chemistry

This is one of the best ways of describing relationships so far .
Thank you for the video ....

 

[stanleo]

With my 120 I am religious about testing, water changes, and dosing. Over all maintenance as well. I have tight schedule that I keep. The tank is too large and everything is so good in it I am afraid to stop.

But with my 20 gallon. I only test salinity once in a while. I do 50% water changes weekly but I sometimes miss those. I have a schedule set now though so hopefully I won't miss anymore.

The 120 is better looking with a lot more life. The only thing in the 20 is a giant hermit, snails, dwarf hermits and kenya trees. I had a six line in there but he died which is why I am going to be more strict about water changes.