Am I too strict in my husbandry, a fellow reefer says so.

[kevensquint]

A good reefer buddy told me last night that I was too strict with my tank, for example, we wanted to try out one of his skimmers on my tank and I prepared a gallon of salt water, warmed it to tank temp and checked its PH. He said, "why don't you just dump fresh water top off in?, don't even bother to warm it". This is what he does in his tank, which is fine, his tank looks fine too. He thinks my tank looks very healthy, but the point is, am I too strict? should I save myself some trouble/time and do stuff in a more carefree way? I check my PH,temp. S.G and ALK once per day, Ca every other day and I do 15% WC's every friday without miss. I don't know, I thought I was doing good. Can some of you give me an idea if I'm normal or overboard?

 

[Lev F.]

Being Strict is good, It helps decrease the chance of the tank crashing.

 

[SDguy]

Anyone who says that you are too strict in your organization and routine for keeping a healthy reef, assuming it doesn't affect other aspects of your life, is just jealous they neither have the patience nor the discipline to be that way themselves Keep up the good work :thumbsup:

 

[~ChrisB~]

I think you may be being a bit obsessive... However, if it's working for you, and you enjoy partaking of that much husbandry, go for it!

Over the years I have found that I have fallen into the "rhythm" of my tank, and have a general idea of where things sit without testing overly much. I probably test ALK/Cal once a weekish. I am pretty much always in line, but maybe once every 3 weeks or so I need to bump up my dosing to keep up with new growth. I wouldn't be able to deal with the tedium of testing these things every day.

I have a feeling that more of us test less often than we should.....

 

[ramone]

Diligence is key. No doubt about it.

 

[thereefmaster]

I test every week. And I check my PH and Salinity meters every 4 hrs or so, since it only takes a quick glance in the stand. I only tested every day when I was first starting my 55g.

HTH, cheers

 

[outy]

you wont make mistakes that way i do and have paided dearly keep up your good houskeeping you dont have to be so anul but its all good in the end

 

[RichConley]

15% weekly WC is way overboard.

I do 10% a month, and the sps are doign great.

 

[smleee]

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Nuf said.

eee

 

[Putawaywet]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6601239#post6601239 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by smleee
If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Nuf said.

eee

Yep, that's my mantra.

I'm definitely on the other end of the spectrum from what you're describing, but your way appears to work just fine for you so why change things now.

Brett

 

[Travis L. Stevens]

Re: Am I too strict in my husbandry, a fellow reefer says so.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6597599#post6597599 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kevensquint
A good reefer buddy told me last night that I was too strict with my tank, for example, we wanted to try out one of his skimmers on my tank and I prepared a gallon of salt water, warmed it to tank temp and checked its PH. He said, "why don't you just dump fresh water top off in?, don't even bother to warm it". This is what he does in his tank, which is fine, his tank looks fine too. He thinks my tank looks very healthy, but the point is, am I too strict? should I save myself some trouble/time and do stuff in a more carefree way? I check my PH,temp. S.G and ALK once per day, Ca every other day and I do 15% WC's every friday without miss. I don't know, I thought I was doing good. Can some of you give me an idea if I'm normal or overboard?

Well, lets put it this way. I'm at the other end, but I would really like to be in your shoes. I just usually don't have enough of a set schedule to be so stable about my routines. Sometimes I get to do a 10% water change weekly and then have to skip two months before I can do another.

 

[bhdmc]

If your tanks are preforming well, be strict. Do not fix what is not broken!

 

[kevensquint]

Well thanks for the comments, both the positive and the negative. It helps me evaluate my methods with more than just my opinion and my friends.

 

[finneganswake]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6598838#post6598838 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by RichConley
15% weekly WC is way overboard.

I do 10% a month, and the sps are doign great.

That's nonsense. I'm not saying that a 10% monthly water change won't suffice, but there is no doubt that a 15% weekly will do better. I used to do the 10% monthly and have noticed a HUGE difference in sps colors since switching to 10% weekly. Since color change is kind of subjective, I can give you absolute proof that it has changed the water quality--before switching to the weekly 10% water changes, my redox was at 380 or so. Since switching, it's around 450, and that is without using any ozone.

 

[eidillitih]

not even close to being too strict. as long as your tank looks healthy, don't worry about it.