First reef tank - testing

[fishnick]

Hi all
I am new to reef tanks and am very excited to start this new hobby.
I started cycling just over a week ago and plan to add my first 2 clownish at the end of August after the nitrogen cycle is complete.
Right now I am dosing with Nite out 2 and ammonium chloride when it drops to 0ppm.

Are the any easy to use test kits. Right now I am using the Sera Test kits for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. I have the Hanna ammonia test kit but I find it not very user friendly.

Also what other test kits should I buy as the tank progresses and when should I start testing other parameters?

Any advice will be much appreciated!

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Welcome to your new home for saltwater reef aquarium resources and fun! Welcome to the family! :D

 

[NyteRyder1]

 

[13rodo]

Hi all
I am new to reef tanks and am very excited to start this new hobby.
I started cycling just over a week ago and plan to add my first 2 clownish at the end of August after the nitrogen cycle is complete.
Right now I am dosing with Nite out 2 and ammonium chloride when it drops to 0ppm.

Are the any easy to use test kits. Right now I am using the Sera Test kits for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. I have the Hanna ammonia test kit but I find it not very user friendly.

Also what other test kits should I buy as the tank progresses and when should I start testing other parameters?

Any advice will be much appreciated!

Welcome! Highly recommend investing in decent test kits (Salfert/Hanna) from the start. Probably won't need the ammonia too often after the cycle is done. Alk, nitrate, phosphate are pretty easy in hanna.

 

[kevgib67]

Welcome, glad you are here!

 

[Gman83]

Welcome!

 

[fishface NJ]

Welcome

 

[Fish Fan]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

It shouldn't take two full months to cycle your tank, 3 to 4 weeks, give or take, is about right.

If you're already seeing ammonia going from about 2.0 ppm to nearly zero, you're cycled. There's no reason to keep adding more ammonia when it zeros out, and no reason to test for or worry about nitrite; it's non toxic in saltwater (unlike in freshwater).

For test kits, the Sera are very good, at least they are in the freshwater circle. Salifert and Hanna Checkers are the two most often cited here on R2R for saltwater use.

I'd have nitrate and phosphate kits right now, as these relate not just to coral health but also to algae growth. I'd start there as other kits may not be needed if you're just keeping easy to grow softies, Zoas, and even some LPS. If/when you get into keeping the more demanding LPS and SPS corals, you may want to test for at least alkalinity and possibly calcium. I wouldn't bother testing for magnesium, it's important, but there's a better way to manage it without needing to test for it.

I hope that helps!

 

[Peace River]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!!! Hanna checkers are a common approach. They are colorimeters that take the color that you see on the manual test and are able to assign it a digital reading. Not foolproof, but a good option for someone that wants an actual number instead of trying to estimate a color.

 

[EnterName]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

These are Tests you should always have available:

- Alkalinity. You will need this to ensure your water is sufficiently buffered against a pH falloff and there are sufficient carbonates available for certain beneficial bacteria as a carbon source. Once you start dosing n-part, all for reef, ati essentials, triton, reef zlements, (pick your poison), you will use it to dial in how much you need to dose daily. I personally like the Salifert test. It's easy to use and precise enough.

- Nitrate. You basically want to ensure that enough ammonia is entering the system to be taken up by your corals. If nitrate levels are detectable with simple test kits, chances are there is enough ammonia for your corals available and they cannot take up all available ammonia before it gets oxidized to nitrite and then nitrate. Salifert only gives a rough idea of nitrate levels, but for my use case that's fine.

- Phosphate. Another nutrient which you want to have a tiny bit of in your tank. I highly recommend getting the ULR Phosphate HannaChecker so you can run phosphate very low and still have precise measurements.

- Pure Water Tester / TDS meter. It doesn't matter if you are buying RO/DI water or have your own RO/DI system. You need to verify that the water you are using is free of pollutants. Especially silicates can be annoying as they are quite difficult to fully remove and cause diatom growth (brown dust on the substrate and sometimes rocks). Your water should read 0ppm total dissolved solids (TDS) or if your tester is conductivity based: Not more than 1μS/cm.

- Salinity tester. When mixing new water or wanting to ensure the salinity doesn't slowly increase in your tank you need a way to measure salinity. I personally recommend a glass hydrometer, but everyone has their favorite. You will need to learn how to use it and manually correct the readings for temperature, but it will give you repeatable results, which is arguably more important than absolute precision. Compared to other methods it doesn't require any calibration which you could accidentally mess up or need to buy or prepare solutions for. For the highest precision an electric salinity meter is needed as the modern salinity standard is based on conductivity, but neither corals nor fish and inverts will care for 1ppm salinity more or less.

 

[FrugalReeferJon]

 

[edsbeaker]

Hello and welcome!

 

[kingranch2003]

 

[fishnick]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

It shouldn't take two full months to cycle your tank, 3 to 4 weeks, give or take, is about right.

If you're already seeing ammonia going from about 2.0 ppm to nearly zero, you're cycled. There's no reason to keep adding more ammonia when it zeros out, and no reason to test for or worry about nitrite; it's non toxic in saltwater (unlike in freshwater).

For test kits, the Sera are very good, at least they are in the freshwater circle. Salifert and Hanna Checkers are the two most often cited here on R2R for saltwater use.

I'd have nitrate and phosphate kits right now, as these relate not just to coral health but also to algae growth. I'd start there as other kits may not be needed if you're just keeping easy to grow softies, Zoas, and even some LPS. If/when you get into keeping the more demanding LPS and SPS corals, you may want to test for at least alkalinity and possibly calcium. I wouldn't bother testing for magnesium, it's important, but there's a better way to manage it without needing to test for it.

I hope that helps!

Thanks for the message!
I'm still not seeing any nitrite being produced using the Sera so still in early cycling.
I am going away for a few days mid August and back on 20th Aug so all going well I will add my first 2 clownfish on 21 or 22 August.
Should I do my first waterchange when I am back around 10-20% or more?
Also do I need to QT the clownfish if they are bred and they are the first fish going into the tank?

 

[fishnick]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

These are Tests you should always have available:

- Alkalinity. You will need this to ensure your water is sufficiently buffered against a pH falloff and there are sufficient carbonates available for certain beneficial bacteria as a carbon source. Once you start dosing n-part, all for reef, ati essentials, triton, reef zlements, (pick your poison), you will use it to dial in how much you need to dose daily. I personally like the Salifert test. It's easy to use and precise enough.

- Nitrate. You basically want to ensure that enough ammonia is entering the system to be taken up by your corals. If nitrate levels are detectable with simple test kits, chances are there is enough ammonia for your corals available and they cannot take up all available ammonia before it gets oxidized to nitrite and then nitrate. Salifert only gives a rough idea of nitrate levels, but for my use case that's fine.

- Phosphate. Another nutrient which you want to have a tiny bit of in your tank. I highly recommend getting the ULR Phosphate HannaChecker so you can run phosphate very low and still have precise measurements.

- Pure Water Tester / TDS meter. It doesn't matter if you are buying RO/DI water or have your own RO/DI system. You need to verify that the water you are using is free of pollutants. Especially silicates can be annoying as they are quite difficult to fully remove and cause diatom growth (brown dust on the substrate and sometimes rocks). Your water should read 0ppm total dissolved solids (TDS) or if your tester is conductivity based: Not more than 1μS/cm.

- Salinity tester. When mixing new water or wanting to ensure the salinity doesn't slowly increase in your tank you need a way to measure salinity. I personally recommend a glass hydrometer, but everyone has their favorite. You will need to learn how to use it and manually correct the readings for temperature, but it will give you repeatable results, which is arguably more important than absolute precision. Compared to other methods it doesn't require any calibration which you could accidentally mess up or need to buy or prepare solutions for. For the highest precision an electric salinity meter is needed as the modern salinity standard is based on conductivity, but neither corals nor fish and inverts will care for 1ppm salinity more or less.

Thanks for the help!

Yes I am checking salinity on a daily basis which is staying at 1.025-1.026.

My RO/DI system has a TDS meter when in use which have only seen at 0.

Nitrate I have the Sera Test kit but have not started testing as still early in the cycle and I measured Nitrite on Saturday which tested 0.

When do you think should start testing Alkalinity and Phosphate? Before adding my first coral?

 

[EnterName]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

These are Tests you should always have available:

- Alkalinity. You will need this to ensure your water is sufficiently buffered against a pH falloff and there are sufficient carbonates available for certain beneficial bacteria as a carbon source. Once you start dosing n-part, all for reef, ati essentials, triton, reef zlements, (pick your poison), you will use it to dial in how much you need to dose daily. I personally like the Salifert test. It's easy to use and precise enough.

- Nitrate. You basically want to ensure that enough ammonia is entering the system to be taken up by your corals. If nitrate levels are detectable with simple test kits, chances are there is enough ammonia for your corals available and they cannot take up all available ammonia before it gets oxidized to nitrite and then nitrate. Salifert only gives a rough idea of nitrate levels, but for my use case that's fine.

- Phosphate. Another nutrient which you want to have a tiny bit of in your tank. I highly recommend getting the ULR Phosphate HannaChecker so you can run phosphate very low and still have precise measurements.

- Pure Water Tester / TDS meter. It doesn't matter if you are buying RO/DI water or have your own RO/DI system. You need to verify that the water you are using is free of pollutants. Especially silicates can be annoying as they are quite difficult to fully remove and cause diatom growth (brown dust on the substrate and sometimes rocks). Your water should read 0ppm total dissolved solids (TDS) or if your tester is conductivity based: Not more than 1μS/cm.

- Salinity tester. When mixing new water or wanting to ensure the salinity doesn't slowly increase in your tank you need a way to measure salinity. I personally recommend a glass hydrometer, but everyone has their favorite. You will need to learn how to use it and manually correct the readings for temperature, but it will give you repeatable results, which is arguably more important than absolute precision. Compared to other methods it doesn't require any calibration which you could accidentally mess up or need to buy or prepare solutions for. For the highest precision an electric salinity meter is needed as the modern salinity standard is based on conductivity, but neither corals nor fish and inverts will care for 1ppm salinity more or less.

Thanks for the help!

Yes I am checking salinity on a daily basis which is staying at 1.025-1.026.

My RO/DI system has a TDS meter when in use which have only seen at 0.

Nitrate I have the Sera Test kit but have not started testing as still early in the cycle and I measured Nitrite on Saturday which tested 0.

When do you think should start testing Alkalinity and Phosphate? Before adding my first coral?

Salinity is very stable and will only change based on evaporation, when dosing something like calcium or alkalinity, and when the skimmer removes saltwater that the auto top-off (ATO) system will replace with freshwater. You will rarely need to measure salinity.

If the RO/DI system comes with a TDS meter that's even better. CO2 from the air starts dissolving into RO/DI as soon as it leaves the system and will increase the water's conductivity, so this way you get the most reliable readings that aren't skewed by CO2.

Depending on the system it's possible you won't get any nitrate readings without dosing ammonia. If I stop dosing ammonia nitrate levels will drop to undetectable levels as there is more nitrogen demand than the few fish I have can produce.

New substrate and rocks can also bind a lot of phosphate in the beginning. It can take a while until it's saturated enough to allow for sufficient phosphate to stay dissolved to be measurable.

Alkalinity is directly related to carbonates and bicarbonates. Some bacteria can use these to meet their carbon requirements. As your tank is still young and offers a lot of unclaimed surface area for bacteria to grow on, it's possible you see some alkalinity decline compared to the original salt mix already, but it will probably take a while until you notice a daily decline. You definitely need to check it before adding corals, but I would also check it before adding any other living creature because you want them to live in a stable pH environment.

Note that the tank will enter the ugly phase soon. The substrate will grow brown spots (diatoms) and later on green hair algae will overgrow everything. This is expected and doesn't require any action from your side. Corals won't be happy during this phase so wait until the green hair algae is gone. Depending on the percentage of dry rock used, this process can take a few weeks vs months.

 

[ReefNutsThailand]

Welcome

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Hi all
I am new to reef tanks and am very excited to start this new hobby.
I started cycling just over a week ago and plan to add my first 2 clownish at the end of August after the nitrogen cycle is complete.
Right now I am dosing with Nite out 2 and ammonium chloride when it drops to 0ppm.

Are the any easy to use test kits. Right now I am using the Sera Test kits for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. I have the Hanna ammonia test kit but I find it not very user friendly.

Also what other test kits should I buy as the tank progresses and when should I start testing other parameters?

Any advice will be much appreciated!

Salifert, Hanna, and Red Sea kits are what I always recommend to people! Once you get past the initial cycle, ditch the nitrite kit and start testing your Alkalinity and calcium.

 

[CoralB]

Welcome !!

 

[Fish Fan]

Thanks for the message!
I'm still not seeing any nitrite being produced using the Sera so still in early cycling.
I am going away for a few days mid August and back on 20th Aug so all going well I will add my first 2 clownfish on 21 or 22 August.
Should I do my first waterchange when I am back around 10-20% or more?
Also do I need to QT the clownfish if they are bred and they are the first fish going into the tank?

I don't think you're adding enough ammonia. You want the ammonia to go up to about 2.0 ppm on your test kit (don't go only by the instructions on the bottle). If you get your ammonia up that high, and it goes down to nearly zero, you should have nitrite at that point.