Timing of water change and water testing

[legrunt]

So, I've got a routine down where i have a couple of hours to mess with my tank on Saturday and Sunday mornings. Should i change my water (10-20%) then test or test then change?

 

[Retro Reefer]

I personally skip testing for a day or two after water changes, I have found testing before water changes gives me a more realistic view of my actual numbers... if I’m trying to correct an problem I may check before and immediately after changes.

 

[Peach02]

Following along

 

[ScottR]

I prefer to test after the WC to see if anything jumps such as alk. Or to see if nitrates or phosphates dropped. To be honest I don’t test often anymore. In my experience, 10-20% water change didn’t really move the needle much at all. But each tank and salt is different. I do recommend playing around with testing until you get comfortable. At a certain point you kind of know what to expect with the absence of WC and parameters before and after.

 

[windemerejack]

I always test after a water change simply so I know things are still stable and if not I can I can safely say it was something to do with the salt as my params are the same as my salt mix

 

[Andy429]

Home testing for Alk is done every day and other home tests are done prior to water change so I see the worst case. Water changes don’t seem to affect mag, calc etc that much and they are dosed balanced with alk anyway to alk paints the picture. ICPs are always done prior to a water change.

 

[mike550]

I usually test just prior to a water change and then about 24 hours after the change. Then back to my regular schedule which is every three days. Tank is six months old and I’m still adding fish and coral so I like to make sure I’m not disturbing parameters.

 

[SeaSickness]

I test prior to WC. That way I can make any adjustments as needed.

 

[PatW]

I have done enough water changes to know the effect, so I test before I water change.

 

[W1ngz]

I don't specifically test on water change day. All my tests are spread throughout the month so I'm doing nitrate, phosphate and alk twice a week on different days, cal once a week and mag once a month.

 

[lapin]

I test the same bat time, same bat day, 1 day after the change