Test kits ??

[tatorswife]

I have some of the test to test the water but not sure which others we will need..I have red sea test for ph, alk, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate and have a hydrometer to test salinity. Which others do you guys think we will need to purchase??

 

[musicman1968]

Calcium, Mag, phosphate. And a refractometer more accurate than a hydrometer.

 

[tatorswife]

Opps my mistake..I think we do have a refractometer..Is that the digital one?? Thats what we have if so. Thanks Ill look into getting those other test.

 

[chad316]

Might be worth getting the Hanna tester (digital reading) for the phosphates....ive been told other phosphate test kits are hard to read because the colors are so similar. What do you plan on including in the tank? Fish only? Corals?

 

[tatorswife]

It will be mixed fish and coral in 150 gallon tank..Thanks for the info on the phospate test.

 

[chad316]

I was just wondering because for a basic fish only tank I would say you could probably get away with the basic test kits (ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, phosphates and possibly calcium w/refractometer) with regular water changes.

 

[tatorswife]

We are not planning on doing a gfo or calcium reactor but do you think we should if we are gonna have corals??

 

[chad316]

I personally use gfo and carbon (i think you meant carbon maybe?) reactor. I think you can combine both medias into one reactor....BRS has a video on it, I believe, for reference. Carbon is definitely nice for water pigmentation. If you were talking about calcium you are getting into dosing. I don't have enough corals to diminish my calcium concentration from simple water changes with reef salt....e.g. my calcium levels stay steady with simple water changes. You will probably need to dose down the road.

 

[tatorswife]

yes you are right..I meant carbon. The more we get into this the more we see how expensive it is becoming. I have had an empty 150 gallon tank in my living room since feb lol Finally getting our sand and rock this week and hopefully in the next 2 weeks will have rock, sand and water in the tank to start cycling. Thanks for your help.

 

[chad316]

No problem. Yes, it is very expensive IMO...however, the rewards outweigh the expense if everything is done correctly in the beginning....slowly! Make sure you are using RO/DI water when you get your water....other than that frequent these forums "when" you have questions.

 

[disc1]

Throw away the pH kit and the nitrite kit, you don't need them.

You do need to get alkalinity, calcium, and magnesium tests if you want to keep a reef tank.

The phosphate test is useful if you want to keep ULNS, but you can do without it otherwise. In my tank I use the appearance of dino's or dust algae on the glass as my phosphate test. But I'm not trying to maintain ULNS.