Bulk Supply's 52 weeks of reefing made a good point when they said that most of us slack off on testing and it's true. But do we test what we dose for? The common being pH, nitrate on occasions, phosphate, alkalinity, calcium, magnesium. And then you have iodine, potassium, iron, strontium, copper, silicate, co2, boron, ORP,
and a few others. Notice I left out ammonia and nitrite just because we don't test for it as much or we tend to not bother after a tank has cycled. There are those who will say I dose idione or iodide and I'll ask them if they test for it and they say nah. Is it worth to take a risk on your tank, to dose something you don't test for just because others claim it helps with growth, brings out coloration, helps for invertebrates? I decided to test for potassium, iodine, and iron in my 25 gallon a day after a water change to see what my levels were. Note that this is the first time testing in my 25 gallon and I haven't dosed any trace elements or abcd. Just calcium, and magnesium and pH buffer for the rodi water. And these were my results using Red Sea colors test kit.
Iron- 0.10
Potassium- 362pm
Iodine- 0.06ppm
Now potassium and irons color on the color chart weren't photo perfect meaning photos wouldn't do justice so that's why I didn't post them.
So what I suggest is those who dose iodine especially because that's one liquid available almost anywhere just understand your iodine levels based on your salt and the amount of water changes you do should be right around recommended levels so you may not have to dose.
I only have a few sps nothing that should impact the parameters over the course of a day after a water change. I use seachem reef salt because I buy it for $13.99 a 50 gallon mix bag from my local pet store and it works great and dissolves fantastically. I'm sure Red Sea Pro salt is better but for the price I can't complain. I do 5 gallon water changes once a week on a 25 gallon.
and a few others. Notice I left out ammonia and nitrite just because we don't test for it as much or we tend to not bother after a tank has cycled. There are those who will say I dose idione or iodide and I'll ask them if they test for it and they say nah. Is it worth to take a risk on your tank, to dose something you don't test for just because others claim it helps with growth, brings out coloration, helps for invertebrates? I decided to test for potassium, iodine, and iron in my 25 gallon a day after a water change to see what my levels were. Note that this is the first time testing in my 25 gallon and I haven't dosed any trace elements or abcd. Just calcium, and magnesium and pH buffer for the rodi water. And these were my results using Red Sea colors test kit.
Iron- 0.10
Potassium- 362pm
Iodine- 0.06ppm
Now potassium and irons color on the color chart weren't photo perfect meaning photos wouldn't do justice so that's why I didn't post them.
So what I suggest is those who dose iodine especially because that's one liquid available almost anywhere just understand your iodine levels based on your salt and the amount of water changes you do should be right around recommended levels so you may not have to dose.
I only have a few sps nothing that should impact the parameters over the course of a day after a water change. I use seachem reef salt because I buy it for $13.99 a 50 gallon mix bag from my local pet store and it works great and dissolves fantastically. I'm sure Red Sea Pro salt is better but for the price I can't complain. I do 5 gallon water changes once a week on a 25 gallon.