No tests... ever.

[MoreReef]

Don't suggest anyone take the same approach. But... it's working. Tank is 8 months. Any questions... ask away lol.

 

[MoreReef]

This thing is older... lol

 

[fish farmer]

What is your maintenance routine?

 

[Solga]

Granted, I only have a 10g with a few coral and about 15 pounds of live ocean rock from GLR & TBS, but I have ony tested parameters once in 3 months. All seems to be going well so far ... Knock on wood !

 

[LovinlifeinGuam]

I've seen people post this same exact thing multiple times...it's not magic...

 

[Miami Reef]

You don’t test anything at all? Temperature? Salinity?

 

[3429810]

My question is how are you maintaining steady alk with those acros in there? You must be dosing to, which again how are you doing that without testing and keeping things stable?

 

[Solga]

I've seen people post this same exact thing multiple times...it's not magic...

You're right, it's not magic at all. I think it's more of a statement to show that chasing numbers, and buying every piece of testing equipment available, is just not as necessary in this hobby, as it is commonly advertised.

You don’t test anything at all? Temperature? Salinity?

You have a good point there, and I misspoke earlier. Although I don't really consider temp and salinity "testing" parameters per say, I do have a cheap $5 temperature probe in both of my tanks, and every time I mix up salt water, I match salinity using a 10 year old swing arm hydrometer (that I check against a control once in a while).

 

[Solga]

My question is how are you maintaining steady alk with those acros in there? You must be dosing to, which again how are you doing that without testing and keeping things stable?

My guess would be very low bioload and steady & frequent water changes...

 

[Miami Reef]

You're right, it's not magic at all. I think it's more of a statement to show that chasing numbers, and buying every piece of testing equipment available, is just not as necessary in this hobby, as it is commonly advertised.

You have a good point there, and I misspoke earlier. Although I don't really consider temp and salinity "testing" parameters per say, I do have a cheap $5 temperature probe in both of my tanks, and every time I mix up salt water, I match salinity using a 10 year old swing arm hydrometer (that I check against a control once in a while).

Good! As long as you do water changes you will be fine. When you colonies grow bigger they will consume much more alkalinity than what water changes could realistically supply.

 

[Matrig]

There are no notable fish in the tanks so I’m assuming that would assist greatly in some parameter stability?

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

How often you changing your water?

If you're doing regular water changes then the statement of "no tests ever" isnt as significant as someone that doesnt change the water and doesnt test.

I also maintain a 15 gallon without ever testing anything even once since I put the tank up in Jan, but I do weekly water changes, so i know everything is basically in line where its supposed to be.

 

[3429810]

My guess would be very low bioload and steady & frequent water changes...

The half dozen acros in my 65 suck up about 0.5 dkh per day. Without testing I never would have caught and stabilized that because I thought the same thing about low bio load. Even my 10 gallon that just had a few lps sucked up 2 dkh in a month with weekly water changes. Not sure why people think they are so effective for alk. IMO op has tested this tank in the past to figure out his alk consumption.

 

[Solga]

Good! As long as you do water changes you will be fine. When you colonies grow bigger they will consume much more alkalinity than what water changes could realistically supply.

Oh I do understand that. That is one reason I am using the 10g ... a 5g water change is nothing to mix up volume wise, but is a 50% changeover. And with limited dimensions, the "colonies" can't get too big before needing trimmed back.
When I get my 90g going, I am sure testing will be a different story for me.

 

[radreef02]

I believe it’ll work with the current corals you have but as the tank goes on and corals grow out. I would recommend testing.

i have an LPS tank and I test maybe every month now when I water change but that’s because I am checking nitrate cus I was having an issue with that. I added a few fish so I want to keep it good. I believe if you don’t have very demanding corals like SPS, you can usually tel an issue pretty fast with some corals like Duncan or torch.

 

[doubleshot00]

There is a local reefer near me that test nothing other than temp. His tanks look great. WC every two weeks using college filter salt water.

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

I love these , it's funny to see them a year or two after these posts, its usually nonexistent, or not in the same glory. IMO There is no way you can run a successful reef tank without some sort of testing, heck you can't even have a nice pool without some sort of water testing......

 

[PeterC99]

I’ve seen lots of questions but no responses from @MoreReef !!!

What happened to “Ask Away”???

 

[Ef4life]

How much did you spend on all
Those frags that haven’t even grown off the plugs yet?

how much are you willing to spend on replacing them?

every frag in there costs more than a test kit, and the time it takes to test is minuscule compared to the time it takes to grown out coral.

 

[Chrisv.]

I guess my question is "why?"