Testing

I test the salinity of my 10 gallon nano , well established, tank on a regular basis.

If the salinity is good,the water clarity perfect & all the occupants are doing well, is it really necessary to test further ?

 

The only things that I test for regularly are calcium, magnesium and alkalinity. If I notice something awry, then I will test for phosphates, nitrates, etc.

 

Salinity is not going to change much, it more a test you do when doing a water change.
If you have corals, expecially SPS or LPS, calcium, alkalinity and magnesium are good tests, pH and nitrates are important for any tank regardless of inhabitants.

 

since its a smaller sized tank, and the params could be tougher to keep in check , would it be advisable to always test for nitrates and phosphates regularily? just a curiosity question.

guy

 

what kind of tank are you talking about? What's in it? Fish only?


SG doesn't really have anything much to do with the other params, so I wouldn't include it in any list that somehow gets the other tests off the hook...

It depends on what your long term goals are and if any occupants or future planned occupants require stability of any particular thing.


I haven't had a Ca or Alk fluctuation in over 6 months... I test monthly nowadays.

 

Depends on the fish load, feeding habits and source water, but yes small tanks can shift params quickly. Our old 8gl with one goby and a bunch of soft corals never produced any nitrate so we eventually stopped testing. What did change quickly was salinity, if we failed to top off on time, small topless tanks lose a few inches so easily. What hurts is when you go fill that two inches in one pour and the salinity rapidly drops back down. Haven't seen any real problems arise that way with my own livestock, but it's about the only real concern we had with a small tank. Temp may change quickly that way, as well. Always good to keep a small tank topped off, or even have an auto-top off.

 

One of the best "windows" into the stability and overall good chemistry of our tank are the Alk and PH readings. If they remain in range and relatively stable, our coral and other denizens of the deep will probably be in good health. Like some have already said, if there is an algae problem for example, then test for nitrate and phosphate. If coral are present Mag and Cal should be monitored bi-weekly if not weekly.

 

Peredhil,
I have a 10 gallon nano.
The occupants are; a clown, an anenome, a shrimp, a crab, snails & 4 corals.
I do not wish to add anything else. I think, for a tank this size, it has reached its bio load. I just want to sit back & enjoy.

Thanks to all you others for your suggestions.