Water tests

[ericgreg]

What kind of water testing should I be doing on a regular basis? I have a 24-gal aquapod, and want to perform my own testing. Is there a brand that is better than the rest? I am a little hesitant to use the litmus paper type, because I've never been too successful with those. But, if that's what gets suggested, I'll try it.

[crvz]

what kind of corals and other critters are you keeping in the tank? In simple setups, just testing salinity and temp is all that's needed after the initial cycle, though others need a lot more attention.

[jenglish]

no, the litmus paper type are generally less reliable than the liquid tests. In the begining ammonia, nitrite and nitrate are important to test for to check the cycle. After the tank is cycled I typically test for nitrate, phosphate, KH and calcium. I use an API reefmaster test kit. API is not as reliable and a bit harder to read than Elos or Salifert but considerably cheaper and good enough for my needs. What you test for is kind of dependant on what you want you want to keep in the tank. Oh.. and you will need to test salinity

[OneDummHikk]

If anybody tells you to use the litmus paper test for anything other than a guideline, ignore them. You can use them as a guideline to know whether to test with a better test kit but to rely on them for accuracy would be a bad mistake.

With that said, the test kits I have are API and Red Sea. Mainly because thats what the store had the day I went in to buy them. When its time to replace them, not sure what brand I will but will probably stick with API mainly because I am so familiar with it.

As for what to test, it depends on what you have in the tank. But, here's a starter list:

pH, Nitrate, Calcium, Magnesium, Alkalinity

Those are the major ones. Test them weekly unless you have issues with them.