What test kits do I really need?

[PizzaIan339]

For that size tank to start with you would need

Accurate salinity measurement
Alkalinity
Nitrate
Phosphate.

Salifert test kits are all you need.

With your planned waterchanges you do not need Calcium or Magnesium Kits especially if you use a product such ad AFR to maintain Alkalinity.

Thanks! Just a question as I am a nooby but why wood I not need Calcium and Magnesium?

 

[mizimmer90]

Thanks! Just a question as I am a nobody but why wood I not need Calcium and Magnesium?

You're not a nobody!!

But a 1 part dosing has the right proportion of carbonate, calcium, and magnesium that is taken up by most corals. Almost all corals will tolerate a wide range of values, but carbonate is needed at the highest. So if you monitor that one and dose the 1 part to keep it stable, the others will be in line too!

 

[PizzaIan339]

You're not a nobody!!

But a 1 part dosing has the right proportion of carbonate, calcium, and magnesium that is taken up by most corals. Almost all corals will tolerate a wide range of values, but carbonate is needed at the highest. So if you monitor that one and dose the 1 part to keep it stable, the others will be in line too!

Auto correct said that lol. I said Nooby and autocorrect made it into Nobody
and thanks for the clarification!

 

[mizimmer90]

Auto correct said that lol. I said Nooby and autocorrect made it into Nobody
and thanks for the clarification!

Either way I'm happy to pump you up and say you got this! Lol

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Thanks! Just a question as I am a nooby but why wood I not need Calcium and Magnesium?

Magnesium depletes incredibly slowly and testing is not very accurate. If you add a balanced amount of calcium and magnesium every time you need alk, you likely can avoid calcium testing and certainly can avoid magnesium testing.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Just say NO to magnesium testing: RMM is born

OK, this thread has been many years in the making, and I'm posting it here since folks in the chem forum are probably already tired of all the threads relating to problematic magnesium testing. I'm going to propose a method, let's call it the Randy Magnesium Method, or RMM for short. All good...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[PizzaIan339]

Either way I'm happy to pump you up and say you got this! Lol

Thanks!

 

[aellis9369]

Cheap ammonia for cycling (read API)
Decent nitrate now if you plan on keeping corals;otherwise, just get a cheap one.
The rest can wait IMO

 

[mdpitts]

With that size of tank you could mostly get away with consistent water changes. If you want to test, here is what I use very often:

Salinity: Refractometer and Hanna. Most important measure along with temperature. Good idea to have some redundancy. I use the Hanna checker mostly since it is super convenient.

Phosphorus or Phosphate ULR: Hanna

Nitrate HR: Hanna

Alkalinity: Hanna

Magnesium: Salifert. Some would argue you don't need this one and the four above are sufficient. I test for this because my torches/hammers/frogspawn seem to like elevated magnesium levels (1400+ ppm).

I also have the following but don't consider them as important:

Ammonia: Salifert. Used to test tank cycling and to monitor my QT tank periodically. I rarely test my main display tank but could be useful in emergencies.

Copper: Hanna. Needed for QT/hospital tank.

Calcium: Salifert. I used to test this weekly but I dose two part and can likely just get away with dosing alk and calcium in proper proportion.

PH: Salifert. Very easy test to perform but not too important unless you want to really push SPS growth.

Nitrite: Salifert. Don't think it is important if you can test for ammonia and nitrate.

Nitrate: Salifert. I find the Hanna checker much more useful since it provides a specific value rather than a broad range.

This is great. I’m looking at test kits too. I’ve got the Fluval Evo 13.5 and do a 15% water change each week - glad to hear water changes in a small tank are so helpful.

 

[KorD]

In all honesty... get a salinity, ammonia, and PO3/PO4 kit to start with... This is all you will need for the first few months as your tank is getting ready to be ready.. get the other over time as you need them.. if you are going to be doing water changes regularly you really will not need to to chase numbers since your water changes will be adding what is needed to the correct levels.
NEVER CHASE THE NUMBERS!!!!!!! this will just cause frustration and might make you nuke your tank.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

In all honesty... get a salinity, ammonia, and PO3/PO4 kit to start with...

Do you mean nitrate and phosphate by PO3/PO4?

 

[KorD]

Do you mean nitrate and phosphate by PO3/PO4?

Yes.