Reef Testing in Nano Tank?

[Subliminal]

Hello!

I am new to nano reefing. I have a Evo 13.5 with some softies, a nem, a few clowns, and some inverts.

I'm wondering if testing is necessary in such a small tank, or if weekly 2-3 gallon water changes are the norm.

Basically, I'm wondering what those successful with a reef in a small tank generally do?

Thanks!

Damon

 

[brandon429]

I have not tested for anything other than temp and salinity in seventeen years in the same setup, small tanks can work well without testing/water changes balance it all out. if you want to reduce water change work that's where testing steps in.

when an invasion happens, I don't test: I clean the tank a special way.

if the corals look poor: I don't test, I clean the tank a special way and up the feed input rate and sustain that for two months before backing down to the cruise control prior setting feed rate, corals always respond by growing 2x as fast. I won't ever bother to test my reef, physical controls are much easier

I combine feed input frequency (protein import) with advanced cleaning techniques (protein export) to control every aspect of my nano. other's get a kick out of testing using fancy gear, that's ok as well.
if the tank is running well I'm feeding a bit less and hardly cleaning it

if it's running dirty or poor coral growth, I up the cleaning rate and up the feed rate together and it self repairs in two months/over and over for nearly 2 decades on one system.