What Tests

I Already Do My Regular Testing But I Want To Know What Other Tests Are Good To Do And When You Start Doing Certain Tests. Can Someone Also Explain What Carbonate Hardness Is? I Will Be Doing A Mini Reef, Lr, Fish, And Some Easy Corals Ex. Bubble, Mushrooms, Maybe Leathers.


Calcium
Copper
Iodine
Phosphates

Any Other Suggestions?

 

Carbonate Hardness (dKH) is technically the bicarbonate (HCO3-), and carbonate (CO3--) ions. However.............

The term or expression of Carbonate Hardness is confusing and misused and is really Alkalinity; the ability of a solution to resist a pH downward shift with an addition of an acid. Other ions, such as borates hydroxides, silicates, and phosphates all contribute to alkalinity, called Total Alkalinity. All kits that we use measure what we call Total Alkalinity (TA). They are not really measuring just carbonate and bicarbonate or so called Carbonate Hardness. True carbonate hardness or Carbonate Alkalinity (CA), for the most part, is the TA minus all other forms of Alk. For use, in seawater, TA is CA + Borate Alkalinity (BA). Borate makes up about .15 meq / l of TA at normal pH and Alk of Natural Seawater of about 2.25 meq / l TA (1 meq / l = 2.8 dKH). But as I indicated the test kits we use do not measure CA but TA, so again the term Carbonate hardness is misleading. SeaChem does make a test kit that measures TA and BA. So, TA-BA = CA (true carbonate hardness)

The purpose behind Carbonate Hardness is to help drops in pH due to various natural chemical reactions that take place in water. Most of these are acids, where the Carbonate Hardness / Alkalinity buffers them. Meaning, these carbonates neutralizes the acids so there is no downward shift in pH. However, CO2 DOES NOT play a roll here. CO2 will drop the pH no matter what the Carbonate Hardness/ Alkalinity is.

The best example of a buffer that raises the Carbonate Hardness /Alkalinity is Baking Soda ( Sodium **Bicarbonate**) and Washing Soda ( Sodium **Carbonate**). At any particular pH there will be a fixed amount of these two, a ratio. A ratio does not mean how much. You can have a very high or very low Alk but the ratio will still be the same at a particular pH. They are also a function of temperature and salinity.

If you want to get even deeper into this, very deep, than read these;

What is Alkalinity?
Chemistry and the Aquarium - Randy Holmes-Farley


The Relationship Between Alkalinity and pH.
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/may2002/chem

Other kits to look at not on your list

pH, Nitrate, Nitrite, Ammonia, Magnesium. And iron if you are thinkin' about a Macro algae. Silica, Iodine and Strontium are not really needed.

 

Don't forget the kh/dkh test Here's some beginner facts that explain carbonate hardness, etc., in easier to understand terms:

Beginner FAQ: Water Chemistry

 

Test kits for copper and iodine and not very reliable.
The copper I would only use if treating a fish with copper, the iodine I would never use because I've never dosed iodine in close to 13 years now.
Iodine is in the foods you feed to the tank and that plus phosphates and trace elements that build up from food additions to the tank are the major reason I do water changes, not just to replace used up trace elements that you think are being depleted.
Other than the ammonia group of testing untill the tank has matured, I check specific gravity, temperature, pH, calcium, magnesium, and alkalinity.
Many hobbyists test and add many things and are successful but as dollars are at a premium for me, I don't add/test if I experience no need for it.

 

Don't forget the kh/dkh test

What do you mean ? They are the same thing, kh and dkh. Or do you mean the GH/KH test, that is meaningless in seawater. That webstie can be very misleading it is on FW not seawater.

 

My bad. I meant a kh/alk test.

As for the website, I simply posted the link because the definitions of ph, carbonate hardness, etc., are easier to understand than what had previously been posted.

 

are easier to understand than what had previously been posted.

That's OK, sometimes I get carried away and get to technical

 

My eyes glaze over after a while when I read that technical stuff. Even though the topic interests me

 

Oh Ya, I Agree, Unless Your A Science Person Or Excelled In Chemistry ( Which I Didn't...i'm A Biology Gal) That Would Totally Lose A Person. Right Now I Test: Ammonia, Nitrates, Nitrites, Ph, Alk, Sg.

 

I see I had a bad link so in case you guys/gals dare yourself

The Relationship Between Alkalinity and pH.
Chemistry and the Aquarium