Testing your water...does time of day matter?

[jaydogg76]

Does it matter what time of day you test your water for ph, alk, and cal?

 

[cromag27 Verified Sponsor]

Yes it does matter. try to test around the same time each day. ph will swing up and down throughout the day. other elements could vary depending on consumption and evaporation rate. especially test at the same time if you're not dosing of using a ca reactor.

 

[jaydogg76]

can i test 2hrs before my lights go out? because i get home from work late..

 

[cromag27 Verified Sponsor]

Sure. but let me ask you - what do you want to test and why?

 

[jaydogg76]

Sure. but let me ask you - what do you want to test and why?

I want to test my alk and cal more consistently. I usually don't because i do 2 small water changes a week for my 14 gallon nano.

 

[Playa-1]

I agree, for consistency purposes, It makes sense to test around the same time of the day when you run your test. Then log the results for future reference.

 

[cromag27 Verified Sponsor]

Then yes, same time each day.

I want to test my alk and cal more consistently. I usually don't because i do 2 small water changes a week for my 14 gallon nano.

 

[jaydogg76]

even though i do 2 small water changes a week? test at the same time?

 

[cromag27 Verified Sponsor]

Yes. You want to establish a pattern based on coral consumption and water changes. and I would test before and after the water changes. once you have an established pattern, you won't need to test nearly as much.

 

[jaydogg76]

Okay got it. Another question. Does it matter what tune of day I do water changes. Because I sont want my alk and cal to rise to fast

 

[cromag27 Verified Sponsor]

Possibly. just depends on how far out of whack hour parameters are before the water change. it's such a small tank though, so you might not have to worry about it until you pack it with sps.

 

[jaydogg76]

I do have several sps in my tank

 

[jaydogg76]

9 sps

 

[cromag27 Verified Sponsor]

First step would be to decide what you want to maintain your alk at. then test each day to find out how much your corals are consuming. do a water change then test again. if the salt mix is crazy different than your target, you could have issues.

 

[jaydogg76]

I use red sea coral pro.

 

[cromag27 Verified Sponsor]

Around 12dkh iirc. very high.

 

[jaydogg76]

So, what do you recommend?

 

[cromag27 Verified Sponsor]

Instant ocean. dkh is a more reasonable 10.

 

[jaydogg76]

I really dont get growth, but i get poly extension

 

[jaydogg76]

Instant ocean. dkh is a more reasonable 10.

So I can just switch to instant ocean with no problem