How ofter does everyone...

[labnjab]

test their different parameters. I've just been curious lately, and wanted to see if I was testing too little/ too much

Ammonia- about once every 3 weeks or so
nitrate- about once every week or 2
PH- weekly
Calcium- daily for now, until I learn how much our reef consumes
ALK- Weekly
Phosphate- I just got the kit so its only been once
SG- every few days, its easy enough with a refractometer

[oldhead]

test their different parameters. I've just been curious lately, and wanted to see if I was testing too little/ too much

Ammonia- about once every 3 weeks or so
nitrate- about once every week or 2
PH- weekly
Calcium- daily for now, until I learn how much our reef consumes
ALK- Weekly
Phosphate- I just got the kit so its only been once
SG- every few days, its easy enough with a refractometer

Ammonia- Maybe once every couple months or so.
nitrate- Same as above.
PH- Once a week or two.
Calcium- Generally about every other day sometimes I wait longer depending on how consistent the numbers I see are.
ALK- Same as calcium.
Phosphate- About one to two times weekly.
SG- Once every couple weeks and after water changes.



My tank is seemingly consistent on most of the numbers so I don't test if I feel I don't have to. Generally the only time that I find myself doing more testing is Ca after water changes since IO salt seems to be lacking in that department. I always experience a descent sized drop after a 10 or 12 gallon water change. I've been using Turbo calcium to bring it up quicker.

[jimpierce]

Ph, nitrite, nitrate, and ammonia every other week. Thats all my test kit does.

[labnjab]

My tank is seemingly consistent on most of the numbers so I don't test if I feel I don't have to. Generally the only time that I find myself doing more testing is Ca after water changes since IO salt seems to be lacking in that department. I always experience a descent sized drop after a 10 or 12 gallon water change. I've been using Turbo calcium to bring it up quicker.

Our tank stays consistent, besides calcium, which I have to dose every day or 2. My alk stays at 12-13. I also use instant ocean salt, but I don't notice a drop in calcium, actually I usually don't have to add calcium until 2 days after a water change. I only do 3 gallon pwc a week though. I just ordered 2 api calcium test kits since I am almost out of solution 2 and go through it so fast, lol

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

Ammonia- never, my system is established and with nothing changing there's no reason to test it.
nitrate- never, I know what my biofilter is capable of taking care of
PH- never, there's no reason in my tank for the pH to swing.
Calcium- every 6 months or so. I use Oceanic salt, calcium is never an issue.
ALK- every 3 months or so
Phosphate- if is see an issue indicative of phosphate levels.
SG- every 3-4 water changes3

As you can tell, I'm not huge on testing a lot. The longer you deal with aquariums, and the more in tune you become with your tank, the less you need to test. You will know something is out of whack simply by looking at the tank.

[Northernguy]

I test everything in all my tanks once a week.Every week!Unless cycling then its daily.
I also still do water changes weekly .

[labnjab]

Our freshwater tanks I usually never test, except when I'm gonna have to go a few extra days between water changes, just to make sure it doesn't absolutely need it asap. When we first started our saltwater, I would test twice daily, but now we've cut back as its aged a little. I haven't seen any nitrate since the 2nd week.

[Wartorn]

test their different parameters. I've just been curious lately, and wanted to see if I was testing too little/ too much

Ammonia- about once every 3 weeks or so
nitrate- about once every week or 2
PH- weekly
Calcium- daily for now, until I learn how much our reef consumes
ALK- Weekly
Phosphate- I just got the kit so its only been once
SG- every few days, its easy enough with a refractometer

I do a quick dip test daily just to see how things are going...and then focus test when something changes on the color pads.

But I always test every parameter before a water change and after...

As for Salinity I test it after a water change... I normally Dry skim to prevent lots of water loss...but sometimes you know those stupid skimmers ... wet skimming at times ....

[Wartorn]

Our tank stays consistent, besides calcium, which I have to dose every day or 2. My alk stays at 12-13. I also use instant ocean salt, but I don't notice a drop in calcium, actually I usually don't have to add calcium until 2 days after a water change. I only do 3 gallon pwc a week though. I just ordered 2 api calcium test kits since I am almost out of solution 2 and go through it so fast, lol

You could invest in Two Little Fishies C-Balance to dose daily. Has many beneficial trace elements and promotes coraline algae growth.

[cocoa_pleco]

just calcium and alkalinity every once in a while, and if i see some excess cyano or algae i test phosphate. i test salinity at every water change and the whole tank itself every once in a while

[coachfraley]

While my tank was maturing, I was checking nitrate, ca, phosphate, and PH weekly. Now, just about the only thing I check is salinity.

I should be checking my ca regularly, but I get lazy :(

[kaybee]

Ammonia: Never

Nitrate: Twice a year (consistently at undetectable).

PH: Every other blue moon.

Calcium: Variable (1-3 times monthly).

ALK: About weekly

Phosphate: Varies. Tested with a colorimeter maybe monthly in the first few months after ferric oxide media change out (readings consistently 0.00ppm); but once PO4 becomes detectable (4 or 5 months down the line), I test weekly (and change out media when levels consistently read 0.07ppm).

SG: About weekly w/refractometer, I skim a little on the wet side so I test to get an idea of when to top off with saltwater rather than RO/DI. I top off with SW when SG drops to 1.025 and revert to using RO/DI when SG reaches 1.027.

[unleashed]

to tell you the truth, I have not tested my water in over a year - except for SG which I test daily.

I have found that if you keep up your water changes, use good quality salt, don't over feed and over stock, your water will be fine.

The only time I test my water chemistry is if I have set up a new tank from scratch and waiting for it to cycle.......

[labnjab]

Thank you everyone. As my tank matures, I will probably test less and less. But for now with it only 3 months old, I will keep with the same schedule. So far everything has been consistent, other then calcium, which I dose with b-ionic every day.

[Tigerbarb]

I test everything about once every 2 weeks. If I get a new specimin, I test daily for a couple days.