Am I in The Wrong Hobby?

[staycat]

I get so sick of buying test kits for this, test kits for that, than trying to read the directions, my head is spinning. Am I the only one that is overwhelmed by all this? Is there a magic probe or something that can digitally or electrically test for water parameters? Thanks!

 

[cnaegler]

I use a controller... it takes care of ph and temp. I only test for alk, calcium and nitrates once a week or if something looks amiss. I occasionally test for Mag and I only check salinity when i do a water change.

 

[noobtothereef]

theres some people that dont ever test anything and have esome reefs, and then theres people that test everything all of the time and have a glass box with white coral skeletons in it.... everything will get easier, starting out a ne tank for the first 6 months are the worst, after roughly that time frame the tank starts to become more self sufficient and you dont have to test everything as much as you did starting out

 

[widmer]

I never test - I have a thermometer, and I check salinity occasionally. Using a name brand salt (Instant Ocean in my case), not having lots of SPS corals which are rapidly consuming calcium, and doing regular water changes starting with RO water, you really don't have to bother testing anything IMO. I do own test kits like Ca, pH, alk, nitrate... But what's the point?

 

[Alunai]

I agree with widmer- you can usually tell if something is out of whack by the way your animals are eating, looking, and behaving. But I suppose if you're trying to seriously get into reefkeeping, testing is just something your going to have to get used to in order to really keep pristine water.

 

[Waterobert]

If you want to keep SPS corals happy, testing your water is very important. If you don't like testing stick with fish and soft corals. Those are much more forgiving and as long as you change 10-15% of water every month you should be ok without much of testing. Use refractometer for testing salinity and use good salt for water changes. Hobby is something you should enjoy so if you hate testing stay away from difficult corals.

 

[widmer]

The other thing I'd like to mention is that I believe most reefers get to a place where they've reached an equilibrium so to speak; For an extended period of time they haven't made any major changes and they have a regular schedule that they have grown to adhere to. At this point, they generally know what they would expect to see if they tested various water parameters, so even the most drip-then-shake-then-compare-to-the-color-chart happy reefers will end up cutting way back on how much they have been testing...

 

[SnowManSnow]

I do have to say that if you stick around the stuff becomes second nature.. it is REALLY easy to get overwhelmed when you are kind of new (no offense if you aren't just going by your new post #'s).

Hang in there. It's not that difficult once you figure things out.

That being said.. if you REALLY don't like doing tests, and keeping track of stuff... I suppose you may be happier else where

 

[Salamander]

I think for some the testing and tracking trends is the hobby....but not me. Like Widmer, Snowman and others above said, after a while you can just tell by looking.

I don't think I've monitored anything other than pH, sg and temp in 9+ months.

 

[djkms]

I actually kinda like testing. Makes me feel like a chemist :lmao:

The only thing I hate about testing is when my cheapo API test tubes leak. Calcium and Nitrate seem to be the worst culprits of this. I have Salifert for Mag and PO3, gonna pick up a Salifert CA test next.

 

[allsps40]

I test once a week when things are going well and dialed in and 3 times a week when this are off. I dont think this is to hard. I test for ph, alk, ca, no3 and po4.

 

[dublo8]

I rarely test for anything. I hate to say it but sometimes I just dont think it's necessary. I know my tank like the backside of my hand and if something is amiss I will test for it. I measure salinity and occasionally ph. I only tested ph when I was changing light cycles on my fuge to a reverse light cycle. I know where my ca. alk and mag are supposed to be and what to dose for it and when. It kind of becomes second nature sometimes. for over six months I ran my tank without test kits with softies, lps and 2 sps and everything did great. I made no major changes and did everything in moderation. I take my time with all things I do in my tank (except buying corals lol). eventually everything will fall into place for you so just sit back relax and enjoy your tank. After all that's what it's there for.

I'm changing my salt mix this weekend and guess what I'm gonna do. test, test, test until I am comfortable with where things need to be adjusted. good luck and happy reefing.

 

[widmer]

I actually kinda like testing. Makes me feel like a chemist :lmao:

The only thing I hate about testing is when my cheapo API test tubes leak. Calcium and Nitrate seem to be the worst culprits of this. I have Salifert for Mag and PO3, gonna pick up a Salifert CA test next.

You, dear sir, need to invest in a magnetic stir plate, it will feel that much cooler. No kidding. :beer:

http://www.amazon.com/Hanna-Instrum..._1?ie=UTF8&s=industrial&qid=1288957368&sr=8-1

...you can get them much cheaper on ebay sometimes.

 

[jon1985]

I have to admit, I have all the test kits but only test salinity regularly. I only drag out the other test kits when something looks off.

 

[jasonrp104]

Same here. I tested once a week until a pattern was established with reduction in calcium/alk and rise in nitrates and then I stopped. Now I only check temp and salinity unless something seems wrong

 

[isildursbane]

If you notice a lot of hair algae, that means you probably have high phosphate.

 

[Palting]

I get so sick of buying test kits for this, test kits for that, than trying to read the directions, my head is spinning. Am I the only one that is overwhelmed by all this? Is there a magic probe or something that can digitally or electrically test for water parameters? Thanks!

I got to your point of exasperation when my tank was about 4 months old. I was so paranoid something was or would go wrong, I was testing for everything every several days from the tank start-up. It got real old. I quit testing altogether, except for SG, and waited for the tank to crash. It didn't . Now I just test for alk/Ca to check when to start dosing, and SG for water changes.

 

[djkms]

You, dear sir, need to invest in a magnetic stir plate, it will feel that much cooler. No kidding. :beer:

http://www.amazon.com/Hanna-Instrum..._1?ie=UTF8&s=industrial&qid=1288957368&sr=8-1

...you can get them much cheaper on ebay sometimes.

Well that looks fun! For starters I just need to get new test tubes that don't leak.

I test once a week also. My Neptune system monitors my temp and PH. I have a Hanna digital refractometer for my salinity which I test daily. Reason being I use a litermeter which does automatic water changes but I cant seem to calibrate it properly. I always get different values when calibrating.

 

[Shevlin77]

The other thing I'd like to mention is that I believe most reefers get to a place where they've reached an equilibrium so to speak; For an extended period of time they haven't made any major changes and they have a regular schedule that they have grown to adhere to. At this point, they generally know what they would expect to see if they tested various water parameters, so even the most drip-then-shake-then-compare-to-the-color-chart happy reefers will end up cutting way back on how much they have been testing...

Well said. My tank has been established for 4 years and I rarely test anything except salinity when mixing my new saltwater. after 18 years of testing weekly and never seeing any changes i decided it was not worth the time unless something looked out of whack.

 

[bsagecko]

Testing is all about personal opinion....but as long as you dont keep sps, high lvl lps, or sharks/stingrays then testing is really only necessary for your comfort....

I do not test on a regular basis nor do I do water changes on a regular basis and i have never had any problems keeping soft corals and fish and even most lps....but with that said I only have 4 small fish in 90g of water....so its all about the bioload....If you are trying to keep more than what your tank can really maintain on its own after the intial 6 months then you are going to need to test to make sure that you dont fall off the narrow fence your walking.....but if you really hate it why not just take a sample to your lfs and have them test if for you while you look at some beautiful new specimens.....lol