cowboyswife
New member
A local reefer is giving me what is left of their salifert calc this weekend, so that will have to hold me over til I get my income tax return. Thanks Paintbug.
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- Thread starter cowboyswife
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sir_dudeguy
Active member
tests are so overpriced. I'm like you cowboyswife...i dont have the money for anything better than the API tests. They're ok but not the greatest. And i got no intentions of buying those tests any time soon (soo broke) but for the time being, i get them done once a week for free from the lfs (salifert 
). Some lfs's charge like a buck or 2 for tests. Some give them free. I've found that the lfs's that charge for them, often dont even charge me for them cuz they know i'll be back in there in like 4 days anyways haha.
). Some lfs's charge like a buck or 2 for tests. Some give them free. I've found that the lfs's that charge for them, often dont even charge me for them cuz they know i'll be back in there in like 4 days anyways haha.
cowboyswife
New member
sir_dudeguy, Im so glad you understand. Im deathly broke til Friday when Uncle Sam pays back my husband for his slave labor. I dont even have the gas money to drive to a good LFS to get the water tested. lol. I compared my tests with my husbands IO test kit, and there wasnt much of a difference. If I can, Im going to get my neighbor, who is a reefer and works at my LFS, to test my water tonight.
Good for that. It's possible you have something in the tank that is dissolving and releasing calcium: old coral can do that, some crushed coral sands---I'd say the last thing you need is calcium additive, for sure! One of those salifert kits lasts half a year even used often, so that will help---hard to buy them all at once, but the most important are the alk and cal tests, plus your ph and salinity. [The others are just finesses, to be tested only when nothing else is making sense. For instance, you can spot excess phosphate just when algae grows: you got algae, you got phosphate, so no need for that test. Nitrate/ammonia---just hope you don't have any, so if your system has been clean under your general habit of husbandry, it should stay clean unless something dies and pollutes it.]
sir_dudeguy
Active member
ya i especially agree on the amonia test...not needed. The only time i've EVER used an amonia test was the first week of my 1st tank. Wish i hadnt bought it, cuz once my tank was cycled i never used it again (actually lost it). For my other tanks i've just taken water to the store for the cycle tests (amonia and nitrite). After its cycled...theres no reason you should have those if you're doing everything right.
cowboyswife
New member
Well as far as I know, Im doing everything right. Sk8r, good point about the old coral. I was given some GSP that never opened in the original owners tank, and it never opened in mine, and sure enough, it dissolved. Maybe thats it, but I really dont know. No nitrate or ammonia, so thats good. This hobby is like parenting. You do as best as you can with what you have, and you learn something new every single day. You guys have been amazing 
cowboyswife
New member
This was just posted in the reef chem forum in regards to someone asking about the very same test I have.
"Compared to others, it is routinely off by at least 20-30 ppm. It usually says that the calcium is much higher than it really is."
So there is part of my problem lol
"Compared to others, it is routinely off by at least 20-30 ppm. It usually says that the calcium is much higher than it really is."
So there is part of my problem lol
