What testers do I need?

[Spare time]

I really was thinking of buying that tropic marin all for one reef thing but since Im only planning to buy the Alk tester for now, should it be okay? Cause dosing it while not knowing the other elements' parameters are scary to me...

It's best to have a calcium test on hand with all for reef as the alk changes slowly when dosing with all for reef vs the calcium is immediate. As for the other things in it, I've dosed a gallon so far of all for reef with a single 5 gallon water change on my 75 with no issues

 

[ChiTown81]

So I’m planning on having a few fish an coral, so what test do I need and how many times weekly should I test? Right now I’m almost done with a 30 day cycling. I had my water tested yesterday and my levels are:
SA- 1.022
AK - 11.2
CALC: 465
Nitrate- 0
Nitrite- 0

 

[Spare time]

So I’m planning on having a few fish an coral, so what test do I need and how many times weekly should I test? Right now I’m almost done with a 30 day cycling. I had my water tested yesterday and my levels are:
SA- 1.022
AK - 11.2
CALC: 465
Nitrate- 0
Nitrite- 0

Testing is usually most handy when you are new. After a while things tend to be pretty steady. I test nitrate and phosphate once or twice a month because it usually never changes. I do alk weekly and calcium and mag once a month is. Once a week is probably handy for you.

 

[Uzair Aiman]

It's best to have a calcium test on hand with all for reef as the alk changes slowly when dosing with all for reef vs the calcium is immediate. As for the other things in it, I've dosed a gallon so far of all for reef with a single 5 gallon water change on my 75 with no issues

So I guess I should buy the Calcium tester first when I buy the tropic marin all for reef yea? What numbers should I aim for for all these elements?

 

[ChiTown81]

What water test should I do weekly ? And is it better to use digital water tests?

 

[Spare time]

So I guess I should buy the Calcium tester first when I buy the tropic marin all for reef yea? What numbers should I aim for for all these elements?

The best thing is just to keep them at the levels of your salt.

As for the test, I like the red sea calcium and alk tests but the hanna alk is the most popular. There are a lot of reliable alk tests. I would just avoid the ones like api as they only give whole number answers. Any of the calcium tests are fine. Calcium has a big ballpark range (380-500 is common). Alk usually hangs between 7-13 (if you run it on the higher end then you need to feed more or make sure nitrate and phosphate are not 0.00). Again what your salt mixes too is fine. Water changes can often take care of most elements until your alk and calcium and what not start to drop faster than water changes keep up (or it drops a lot between them). Usually people start dosing after they get a few lps growing well.


Dosing and testing often sounds intimidating but eventually it will be like me where I put 50ml of all for reef in a day and test biweekly or more.

 

[Uzair Aiman]

The best thing is just to keep them at the levels of your salt.

As for the test, I like the red sea calcium and alk tests but the hanna alk is the most popular. There are a lot of reliable alk tests. I would just avoid the ones like api as they only give whole number answers. Any of the calcium tests are fine. Calcium has a big ballpark range (380-500 is common). Alk usually hangs between 7-13 (if you run it on the higher end then you need to feed more or make sure nitrate and phosphate are not 0.00). Again what your salt mixes too is fine. Water changes can often take care of most elements until your alk and calcium and what not start to drop faster than water changes keep up (or it drops a lot between them). Usually people start dosing after they get a few lps growing well.


Dosing and testing often sounds intimidating but eventually it will be like me where I put 50ml of all for reef in a day and test biweekly or more.

I guess Ill hold on the dosing part for now since I only have 2 corals, 2 fishes and a snail in my tank. I dont think they can drain out the elements faster than my water changes. Ill just buy Alk/calcium testers for now to see how much my water changes affect my water chemistry. If it starts to change to the extreme due to adding new corals or live stock then Ill see more on dosing

 

[Spare time]

I guess Ill hold on the dosing part for now since I only have 2 corals, 2 fishes and a snail in my tank. I dont think they can drain out the elements faster than my water changes. Ill just buy Alk/calcium testers for now to see how much my water changes affect my water chemistry. If it starts to change to the extreme due to adding new corals or live stock then Ill see more on dosing

Yeah you shouldn't need to dose right now. When you get more corals, just watch the alk and when it is dropping whole numbers between water changes, then maybe consider dosing.