When to test for what. ;)

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cJw

Aquarium Advice Addict
Joined
Mar 14, 2005
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Greets!

I realized tonight, just before a PWC, that I hadn't tested for anything in a while. This got me wondering what I should even test for! :?

I've had a temperature issue the past few days (air conditioner went out) and that got me wondering how that would effect my water quality.

I didn't quite have the time for a whole 'battery' (lol) of testing, so I just checked my nitrates - 40ppm - before the pwc, but still - ew.

How often do you check your water's 'status' in your tank? What kinds of obvious 'signs' make your brain click into 'time to test!' mode?

tia -
 
By force of habit, I test nitrates weekly. I will test for other parameters when:

Fish death
Sudden cloudiness
illness
changes in eating habits
Adding new plants/fish

I also test all parameters monthly, just before doing my monthly maintenance.
 
Do you watch your fish and how they behave.. you can usually tell from changes in the mood or behavior of the fish that something might be wrong. I think this personaly is a good time to test on top of any changes.
 
IMO in an established tank the two most important tests are nitrates and pH. After a while you'll get a handle on how stable your water is. It's a good idea to test pH just prior to, immediately following, and 24 hours after a water change. I use this as kind of a barometer that my water changes aren't affecting pH. If your nitrates get over 20ppm it's time to do a water change as well.

I will test ammonia a few days after cleaning the filters. Again, this is to be sure that I haven't disturbed the bio colony.
 
I test pH and Nitrates 2 hours after my weekly water changes. The Ammonia and Nitrites I will test about 3 or 4 days after adding a new fish, or if my parrots start to show the black stripe. And of course if I have a fish death or the fish start to act weird. Then I'd test all levels. About once a month or so I'll test the hardness. Just as a precaution or just because I'm bored. :D
 
Or...just an excuse to play "mad scientist"!
Click to expand...

Exactly! I actually got ahold of a 5ml syringe (w/out hypo) and use it for xfer into the tubes. :cue maniacal laughter sfx:

Thanks for the input; I'm trying to get into the habit of testing for nitrates, although I'm going to do the pwc @ least one a week anyway, regardless of the results. :)

I do watch my fish; that's most the reason they're there, after all! If I saw a change, I'd worry and do all I could to figure out why there's a change. Everyone seems to be acting normal as of late, although I need to get some driftwood in there so we can actually see Mr. Albino Pleco. My wife told me last night we 'bought a dud fish'. :lol:
 
I am ashamed to say that in most of my tanks I don't test for anything unless there is a problem. My 55 I test about every other day for various things I am trying to control, phosphate to see how my phosphate removing media is working/not working, nitrate to see how much I have to dose (usually dead flat zero when there is pearling) and my pH monitor is always on so I just glance at that.

In my other tanks I just do my weekly 50% pwc and leave it at that. If there is cloudiness, fish acting strangely, etc. then I do test, but it has been a while.

I am not a model of the conscientious aquarist, so I don't recommend anyone put away their test kits :|
 
my weekly 50% pwc
Click to expand...

Wow!

I never remember seeing that this was your habit; 50% seems like a lot for weekly - doesn't that stress the fish? I'm sure it helps water quality a lot, but, Wow! :D
 
My water supply has big swings (pH 7.2-8.4, gh 12-24) so I often test my water that I am putting in. Using 50% RO has helped bring kh down from 14 to 7. If fish are panting at the surface or flashing you should do a full battery of tests.
 
Or...just an excuse to play "mad scientist"!

YES.. lol, i check mine on a weekly basis usually. Sometimes if i have problems its more often, or if i've just changed some filter media or something. I usually just check everything in the master kit, not becuase i need to, but becuase i like to. Its a good thing though, becuase i just had a small mini cycle after changing my biomax, Ammonia went to .25 and i did a large water change, and my nitrites were at .25 yesterday with ammonia at 0 so i did another water change. My nitrates usually stay steady at 10-20 becuase of all the live plants so thats not really a problem for me.
 
sadly to say, I've never done any tests on my aquariums. :oops: I started with some goldfish in a little plastic tank that grew to a 10g and then a 29g, and with the 29g I am quite hooked, but was poorly informed. I've been learning about cycling and other stuff, and even set up my 10g with plants and a few fish after a fishless cycle.

My question is what is a good test kit? Previously I have just taken some water into my lps and they test it for free, but it's a little inconvient, so I am looking to buy one. Is a master set better or more accurate than a dipstick test? Are there any brands that you'd recommend?
 
yes the master test kit (reagent kits) with the drops and vials has a better range when testing and is therefore more accurate. Dipsticks should be used with caution and never as a final answer. I like the Freshwater Master test kit, you can find Here:

http://www.petsolutions.com/Liquid+Master+Test+Kits-I-17101034-I-.aspx

Gread website, good prices, fast shipping... and its a lot cheaper than the dipsticks. This does way more tests and is only 15 bucks, and the dipsticks only do 25 tests and are about 10.00 a bottle.
 
Yep- I'd say invest in the FW master kit, as it has everything you need.

cJw - I have had great success doing 50% weekly. This is even for my tank that has a pH lowered with CO2 to 6.7 (from the tap of 7.6 or so) and in that tank after a pwc I do not see a jump in pH, interestingly enough. I believe very strongly that these large water changes remove DOCs that ultimately bring down water quality and cause problems, and I just do not get disease in my tanks since I have been doing this. It keeps my alkalinity up (since my tap has 5-6 dKH) and the fish really seem to liven up and become more active after a pwc. I mainly started doing it because it took that much water out of the tank to get debris off the bottom to my liking, but I am not alone in this habit - many an experienced aquarist do 50% weekly, or even more.

This is still no excuse for not testing all my tanks more often - it is just a pain and I have no time to stand there drip, drip, dripping into vials. :wink:

I think if you are going to use dip strips (way more convenient for folks like me) the Mardel 5-in-1 strips have the reputation for being relatively accurate.
 
Cool; good info!

I don't mind the drip, drip, dripping; it's the drip, shake, drip, shake more, wait of the nitrate test that annoys me. ;)
 
The Nitrate tests are kind of a hassle. But that's why I have James there doing all the shaking. HA! Then we just do all the Nitrate tests at once. That way you don't have to shake the second reagent bottle over and over. The tricky part is trying to keep seperated which result belongs to which tank.

Where can I find a 5 ml syringe? I found a 3 ml eye dropper, but it only pulls up maybe 1/2 ml. Doing my weekly tests makes me feel like a real life CSI. :D Just if I could get a 5 ml syrings and one of those spinny things they use then I'd be set!
 
The new AP Master test kit leaves out the hardness test and adds the nitrate test.. I just noticed this recently when I went to buy one.. just thought Id let you guys know..
I havnt gotten to the point were I want to shell out the bucks for the lammote test kits but I might once things get going.. :D
 
Actually GM, it's been that way for at least a year. I bought my first one last July and it had the Nitrate test and no hardness tests. Has anyone made a DIY test kit holder? I am thinking of having James make me 1 for each tank. Basically have a small rectangular box for each tank that holds all the vials. Then when I do tests, put the vials in the holes on the top of the box (there would be 4 holes ontop of each box to correspond to each test). Then mark each box with the tank that it corresponds to, and mark where each test vial goes. Then have just a box made for the solutions and test cards. How does that sound? I've been thinking about it for a while because I tend to knock over vials as I am putting in the reagents.
 
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