Eye ball method

[Tankkeepers]

So am I crazy or is it just becouse in been reefing to long but the eye ball method works better for me then any test kit ever has as in just look at your tank and what it is doing and correct whatever the problem is without ever test your tank will show you exactly what's wrong with it just by watching what it is doing iv tested this tank exactly 2 times since it has been setup(well tank once and new batch of rock in seprate bucket after days of alowing it to leach to see if the new rock had any phosphates in it) tank has been running since December with half of everything in it I have not lost anything except 1 firefish I acedentally traped when adding new rock and all coral is thriving zoas palys ricordias gorgonian leather and duncan all growing fast

 

[Tankkeepers]

I'm going to be adding the last piece of coral soon just have not found the acro I want yet

 

[homer1475]

While I would mostly agree with you, there is no way your eyeball can tell when your low on one of the big 3.

Since my tank is very stable, I only test once a week. As an "advanced" aquarist, I have gotten to know my reef and do to some degree let it tell me when something is off.

 

[ScubaFish802]

Like above, I would not have any idea my Alk drops as fast as it does without regular testing, and I certainly can’t see that without a kit. While you certainly can get away without testing, I believe to have a stable / successful tank you should be testing parameters. If I had a freshwater tank with no corals I would be more anti-testing probably.

 

[dank reefer]

 

[BaysEndReef]

My parameter swings happen so fast and drastic on the big 3 that I would lose everything I have growing if I trusted only my eyes.

 

[PicassoClown04]

I’ve been running on the eyeball method for almost a year, wayyyy less stressful than trying to chase numbers while hand dosing

 

[Vette67]

After doing this for a couple decades now, I use a hybrid method. If I notice anything that doesn't look right (eyeball method), then I go test to figure out what's going on. You may think you can look at your water and know the pH, calcium, magnesium, alkalinity or nutrient level, but you can't. I have used the eyeball method thinking I knew what the problem was, only to figure out it was something else once I ran tests.

But I won't disagree that the eyeball method is the most important method to try to detect problems in a system. You need to know what certain things look like and observe what is happening in your system to know that you should react. But I would never dump chemicals (elements) into a tank without testing. I can't imagine blindly adding magnesium and *hoping* I guessed right.

 

[Sharkbait19]

I’m a beginner, and have been heavily criticized for this, but I don’t use test kits, they’re way too much to handle and are often inaccurate. I only test the big three once in a blue moon. I find it easier to look in the tank, and if I see a lot of poop or if my corals are unhappy, I say “well, time for a water change.” It’s a bad habit, though. I need to stop.

 

[Tankkeepers]

Oh if I was dosing anything I would agree testing is needed but I don't need to dose anything as everything used is replaced via water changes and yes you can tell pH, calcium, magnesium, alkalinity or nutrient level, by looking at what your tank is doing low ph only happens when u run out of buffer in the water and I can tell within a day what needs to change by observing growth of calcified macro and what the coral is doing saying you cant look at what your tank is doing and tell whats wrong would be incorrect as long as you know what each reaction means when it happens and if your water chemistry is swinging as fast as you say you have a whole diffrent problem as your tank is not stable and needs to be corrected tje eye ball method is the most reliable method there is imo

 

[Sharkbait19]

Here’s my stance, if my corals are starting to look bad, there may be a need to test the water and do a water change. But that seldom happens.

 

[homer1475]

Your tank has been up 9 months and your relying on your eyeball?

Next post will be "my tank is crashing and I don't test, what do I do?".

Seriously though......

You can tell something is off by your eye, but until you test, you don't know which element is off. Take it from the people that have been doing this for decades.

 

[Tankkeepers]

Granted I watch my tank for hours a day and I know exactly what each and everything is and how it reacts

 

[Tankkeepers]

While I would mostly agree with you, there is no way your eyeball can tell when your low on one of the big 3.

Since my tank is very stable, I only test once a week. As an "advanced" aquarist, I have gotten to know my reef and do to some degree let it tell me when something is off.

Your tank has been up 9 months and your relying on your eyeball?

Next post will be "my tank is crashing and I don't test, what do I do?".

Seriously though......

You can tell something is off by your eye, but until you test, you don't know which element is off. Take it from the people that have been doing this for decades.

Buddy iv been reefing for most of my life over a decade you will never ever see a my tank is crashing post from me this is just the newest tank I setup after a 2 year break after my kid wiped out a 50000 dollor system in 2 minutes by dumping chili powder in it and yes you can tell exactly what element is off by just looking

 

[homer1475]

Keep telling yourself that. When you get expensive corals, you'll start testing or you'll throw a ton of money into your tank only to loose corals.

I'm out now.

 

[Tankkeepers]

I used to test my old system daily ran for 8 years and while taking care if that system I noticed that when somthing was off the tank showed me even before the test showed me what it was

 

[Tankkeepers]

Keep telling yourself that. When you get expensive corals, you'll start testing or you'll throw a ton of money into your tank only to loose corals.

I'm out now.

I have over 2000 dollors in coral currently have not lost a single thing so I'm sry but you are incorrect and are obviously set in your ways half of all the coral in the tank current and fish and snails and shrimp were in there since day 1 went threw the cycle and everything with 0 losses so you really are showing that you don't know what your tank is doing or what reaction each thing has

 

[homer1475]

And I agree with that, but how do you know whats "off" without testing? You can honestly tell me that you can look at a coral and tell if it needs more alkalinity? I highly doubt that.

If people that have been doing this for several decades(not just 1) tell you that you need to test, then you obviously do.

Man, why do I keep responding?

 

[Tankkeepers]

And I agree with that, but how do you know whats "off" without testing? You can honestly tell me that you can look at a coral and tell if it needs more alkalinity? I highly doubt that.

If people that have been doing this for several decades(not just 1) tell you that you need to test, then you obviously do.

Man, why do I keep responding?

There are people who have not tested in decades out there with absolutely gorgeous reefs I'm not saying this method is for everyone nor should it be used enless you know exactly what to look for and you do relize that alkalinity is nothing more then the waters ability to buffer ph swings as long as your calcium is good then you alkalinity is also good and I can tell if I'm low on calcium by simply observing calcifyed macro growth

 

[andrewkw]

I wish my eyes could see trends of slight rises or drops in parameters. Unfortunately even my corals cannot. .1 dkh drop or even .5 is not going to cause any harm in the corals I keep for instance, BUT .1 dropping every day for 10 or 20 days will.

It gets to the point where you may not have to test weekly or even monthly for many things. I rarely test nitrates for instance but it's still a good idea to check them out from time to time. I put roughly the same amount of food in each week and I take out roughly the same amount of nutrients. However Alkalinity I will test regularly even with a soft coral dominated display (decent amount of lps and some sps too). Even calcium where a larger fluctuation is not going to effect anything I'd rather correct the issue while it's minor rather than wait for it to become even moderate.

If you run a calcium reactor it needs less adjustment then 2 part dosing, at least that's what I remember it's been many many years since I ran a ca reactor but for 2 part I need to make adjustments based on growth, cutting back and even slight seasonal adjustments as my PH is lower in the winter, something I actually knew without testing PH since I use less alk in the winter but now that I monitor PH some 15 years after getting into reefing I actually see it.