I dont test my water parameters:(

[TwinsReef]

It's me again ,

So I have never test my water only salinity level, as my corals grow I will need to dose, but first I need to teste my water . I was told I should be fine by just testing for alkalinity, phosphate, and nitrates, and that I should leave calcium testing to the side. I'm thinking of using all for reef as my dosing solution.

I've also seen some people dose both all for reef, and kalkwasser .. I'm guessing for ph ??

Thanks for your input

 

[Coral reefer]

Ca might not move as much or be considered “as important” as alk but it’s also super quick and easy to test w salifert kit
I’d say more important than testing nitrate or phosphate

 

[Coral reefer]

I’m not a fan of all for reef. I’d go two part or kalk instead

 

[Turkeysammich]

You can get very far with Kalk. It’s very underrated.

 

[L/B Block]

I am plus one for all for reef. Once i had it dialed in-it’s been pretty good ever since in terms of keeping ALK/CA/MG steady. Plus if you make an error (like put too much in by accident) -it won’t spike alk or PH. It also has no effect on PH directly so I like that as well.

Can’t comment on Kalk as a way to go.

 

[TwinsReef]

Should I bother to test for calcium? And just stick to alkalinity, phosphate, and nitrates??

 

[Turkeysammich]

I test alk daily. Cal and mag weekly ( they rarely change ). Phos and nitrates never. They are always super high. I’m more of a fish guy than coral guy. Gonna try to lower them so testing those once a week now.
If you’re a fish guy, softies and lps. You don’t have to be so on the phos and nitrates.imo.

 

[jhuynh]

as a rule of thumb - dont dose anything you don't test for.

I would use the following:
hannah checkers: alk / po4 (i use the phosphorous ulr)
salifert test kit: cal, mag, no3

 

[TwinsReef]

as a rule of thumb - dont dose anything you don't test for.

I would use the following:
hannah checkers: alk / po4 (i use the phosphorous ulr)
salifert test kit: cal, mag, no3

Thank you for your feedback, I'll look into the salifert test kits

 

[L/B Block]

Should I bother to test for calcium? And just stick to alkalinity, phosphate, and nitrates??

You should not ignore CA-if it is too high-it can cause issues with pumps among other issues. Plus-if you are dosing two part solution two close together-one can precipitate.

 

[derek_SR]

I said this in your other thread but if you are performing semi regular water changes you don’t really have to dose anything. And you know your parameters won’t get too out of wack either.

Edit - I should add, while your tank is still fairly new and low consumption*

 

[Turkeysammich]

I said this in your other thread but if you are performing semi regular water changes you don’t really have to dose anything. And you know your parameters won’t get too out of wack either.

Edit - I should add, while your tank is still fairly new and low consumption*

Water changes get you really far too. lol.

 

[newfly]

i too didn;t test in the first 6months . Water change is more than sufficient, until its not. Started with all for reef. In retrospect i should have gone straight to 2-parts. All for reef is a pain to tune,
Now i mostly test for Alk weekly, Phosphate every 2-3 weeks and Ca probably even less.

 

[TwinsReef]

I said this in your other thread but if you are performing semi regular water changes you don’t really have to dose anything. And you know your parameters won’t get too out of wack either.

Edit - I should add, while your tank is still fairly new and low consumption*

True I just want to make sure I buy the necessary equipment now since everything is on sale. I'm wondering what test kits are best .

 

[Kensington Reefer]

Water changes are your friend

 

[Darkxerox]

True I just want to make sure I buy the necessary equipment now since everything is on sale. I'm wondering what test kits are best .

Just grab a Salifert alkalinity test kit, it's cheap, reliable, and pretty easy to use. Probably my most used kit the past 20 years. Maybe grab their calcium kit to see how well you're keeping things in check if you decide to start dosing.

But the key thing is that you shouldn't dose anything major without being able to test for it.

 

[tankguy]

I hardly ever test. Being good or bad I only test if I see something wrong

 

[Alexander1312]

I’m not a fan of all for reef. I’d go two part or kalk instead

Can you elaborate on the All for reef concern? I am using this for my 3 gallon pico tank but have not done an ICP test. Not sure if useful. For the new tank, I am planning to use the captiv8 minor trace product plus Kalkwasser. Kalkwasser on the 26-gallon nano has been quite a good experience in terms of coral growth.

 

[Slingfox]

Two part is super convenient and much more economical than AFR. Either should work fine though since they are tried and true. For two part use ESV hooked up to dosers. That allows me to dose small amounts multiple time every day. I adjust dosing based on results of water testing. If I need to adjust magnesium I do that by hand. I test alk, nitrate, phosphate and magnesium weekly. I used to test calcium, nitrite (not too useful it seems) and ammonia every week but no only do so sporadically or if trying to diagnose an issue.

 

[Coral reefer]

Can you elaborate on the All for reef concern? I am using this for my 3 gallon pico tank but have not done an ICP test. Not sure if useful. For the new tank, I am planning to use the captiv8 minor trace product plus Kalkwasser. Kalkwasser on the 26-gallon nano has been quite a good experience in terms of coral growth.

I don’t like not being able to control individual parameters. I also don’t like that is essentially carbon dosing. Newer reefers trying to learn to maintain chemistry and having to deal with carbon dosing at the same time can be tough imo