When I first set up my 55gal cube, I was doing my water tests with my Saltwater Test Kit. I felt very proud of myself that I was doing the right things and so far it was doing well, with my 4 corals and pair of clowns looking happy and healthy.
My test kit contains tests for pH, ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate. The more I am reading about requirements of different corals and the need for dosing, with the required testing first, the more I am starting to stress.
The stress has been added to because of a lovely crash last night, when 2 days earlier all my, parameters were ok (I have since found out this was due to a rotting leather coral - another story). My pH was down to 7.4-7.6, ammonia and nitrite both up and nitrate moderate.
Can we please have a thread or a sticky to let beginners know what they should be testing for (obviously the basics as above) and what particular tests are beneficial to be done? For my freshwater tanks I also test for KH and GH, should I be doing similar for my marine tank? I did do these one time – the GH I gave up on when I got to 30 drops and couldn’t fit more into the test tube and the KH was at 8.
Please help.
My test kit contains tests for pH, ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate. The more I am reading about requirements of different corals and the need for dosing, with the required testing first, the more I am starting to stress.
The stress has been added to because of a lovely crash last night, when 2 days earlier all my, parameters were ok (I have since found out this was due to a rotting leather coral - another story). My pH was down to 7.4-7.6, ammonia and nitrite both up and nitrate moderate.
Can we please have a thread or a sticky to let beginners know what they should be testing for (obviously the basics as above) and what particular tests are beneficial to be done? For my freshwater tanks I also test for KH and GH, should I be doing similar for my marine tank? I did do these one time – the GH I gave up on when I got to 30 drops and couldn’t fit more into the test tube and the KH was at 8.
Please help.