How often do you test your water?

lakwriter · #1 04/13/2007, 08:12 PM

As my tank has stabilized over the past few months, I've gotten out of the weekly water test habit. When I do test, all my readings have been in good shape, further encouraging my laziness when it comes to testing (though I'm not lazy in the slightest with other maintenance, oddly enough)

How often do you test your water? I'm currently averaging monthly.

drummereef · #2 04/13/2007, 08:44 PM

Here's what I do.

pH - daily with Aquacontroller
temp - daily with Aquacontroller
salinity - weekly
alkalinity - weekly
calcium - every 2 weeks or as needed
magnesium - monthly
ammonia - almost never
nitrite - not since cycle
nitrate - monthly or as needed
phosphate - monthly or as needed

davocean · #3 04/13/2007, 08:51 PM

My last tank(90) got to the point that I almost never tested.
Since I swapped up, (180) I test some things almost every other day.
Forgot what it was like to test all the time!
Pretty much once stable I can just look at how everything is doing, can't wait to get back to that point!

scrmbld33 · #4 04/13/2007, 08:53 PM

weekly for me unles i think something is amiss in the tank

DouglasTiede · #5 04/13/2007, 10:03 PM

( scrmbld33, what is that a picture of in your avatar? I like it! )

leeweber85 · #6 04/13/2007, 11:27 PM

I dont test too often and if do its just Ca and Alk really. Magnesium every now and then.

old salty · #7 04/13/2007, 11:29 PM

I'm supposed to test the water?

scumonkey · #8 04/14/2007, 01:46 AM

Temp, Cal, Alk- daily
Sal, Mag-weekly
PH, Nitrate, Phosphate - monthly

Rokdog · #9 04/14/2007, 02:14 AM

I'm like C.S.I- I run the tests after the bodies are found

121ddler · #10 04/14/2007, 03:13 AM

nitrates, calcium, ph, alk weekly

phosphates, magnesium bi weekly

dendro982 · #11 04/14/2007, 06:32 AM

Can't vote - neither.
When seems necessary, before the problem arises.
Alkalinity in one of the tanks - twice weekly, before adding supplemet.

Tang Salad · #12 04/14/2007, 06:34 AM

Never.

michaeldaly · #13 04/14/2007, 08:02 AM

I's say once a year.

angelopasto · #14 04/14/2007, 08:19 AM

only Ph - daily with a Ph meter

lakwriter · #15 04/14/2007, 09:06 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Rokdog
I'm like C.S.I- I run the tests after the bodies are found

I love it!

lakwriter · #16 04/14/2007, 12:47 PM

^

Sk8r · #17 04/14/2007, 12:56 PM

When setting up or going through a major phase, like the addition of a new species [clam, eg] or a significant number of new corals, I test daily for the first couple of months and log the results: this shows me the behavior of the new tank, how it uses buffer and calcium, how it's disposing of waste, etc. Pretty soon I can look at the specimens and 'read' them for a certain amount of info.

After the 'break-in' period, I test weekly, before the water change, and log the results.

Right before I moved, I let this rule lapse for 2 months and lost bigtime as my skimmer went offline and I failed to detect it, while the 'coral behavior' rule misled me into over-buffering: seems some of the clues I was reading as 'needs buffer' were really 'the cussed skimmer pump's going out'. I ended up with water way out of whack, and it cost me a lot of specimens.

So in the tank's new incarnation, I'm going back to the weekly tests and log book, faithfully. I don't like turning pretty specimens into 'live rock', and it's expensive to boot. I'm now starting the 'daily' regime, like what I'm reading on the new setup, and will continue this for a while, then go to weekly.

jfish298 · #18 04/14/2007, 02:19 PM

almost never

View Poll Results: How often do you test water?
Weekly	30	34.48%
Monthly	16	18.39%
Whenever I remember	11	12.64%
Only when I think there's a problem	30	34.48%
Voters: 87. You may not vote on this poll