General testing questions.

[Mrramsey]

Currently cycling but not planning any livestock til mid July so I have some time to get things right. I am planning a mixed reef starting with easy corals and fish. The tank is 120g with a total capacity of 150g.

I purchased 2 RedSea test kits. One for pH, KH, NH3/NH4, NO2/NO3 and one for CA, ALK, and MG.

So when and how often should I test?
My pH tests at 8.1. I think I read 8.2 as the ideal number but is 1 point a big deal? This was with lights out.
I haven't tested for CA,ALK OR MG as of yet. When should I start those now or after the cycle?

I am not planning on running any reactors at this point but when do you make the determination on weather or not it is going to be required?

[MacWilliams]

As for testing right now it is not needed. But you should test a few times a week or at least once a week to keep an eye on the numbers just so you know whats going on. Its always good to know whats going on in your tank. CA/ALK/MG shouldnt be needing to test right now. You have nothing in the tank using it. Ph at 8.1 with lights out is fine. When lights are on for a couple hours take another test and see how much it rises. You have good test kits and seem to have the patience to do this right. I cant comment on the reactor question since i have no experience with them. Hope this helps.

[Mrramsey]

Originally Posted by MacWilliams

As for testing right now it is not needed. But you should test a few times a week or at least once a week to keep an eye on the numbers just so you know whats going on. Its always good to know whats going on in your tank. CA/ALK/MG shouldnt be needing to test right now. You have nothing in the tank using it. Ph at 8.1 with lights out is fine. When lights are on for a couple hours take another test and see how much it rises. You have good test kits and seem to have the patience to do this right. I cant comment on the reactor question since i have no experience with them. Hope this helps.

Yes it does. Thanks Mac. I am just surmising what I have read in other threads and comments. If my understanding is on the right track reactors tend to get into the SPS hard corals more than softies and lps.

[MacWilliams]

Reactors are used for a lot of different things. Carbon and GFO seem to be the popular go to's. I use one for Carbon that i run to polish the water. I have just picked up my first SPS frags last weekend so I havent been running much else. Hopefully someone with a little more experience than me will comment on that for you.

[thegrun]

I would recommend that you test daily for salinity, ammonia and nitrites during the cycle as much to get you used to testing as for any other reason. Daily testing of ammonia and nitrites will give you a good understanding how the cycle is progressing, but you could test once a week and be fine. Once the cycle is complete you should test weekly for salinity (refractometer), nitrates, phosphates (a Hanna Checker is the instrument of choice for phosphate testing), alkalinity and if you plan on keeping hard corals or clams calcium and magnesium. Reactors are not necessary but running carbon will clarify your water and reduce the toxins in the water if you are keeping corals, many of which release poisons to kill neighboring corals. Many of us also run Granular Ferris Oxide or phosphate removing resins in a reactor to reduce phosphate levels.

[Mrramsey]

Originally Posted by thegrun

I would recommend that you test daily for salinity, ammonia and nitrites during the cycle as much to get you used to testing as for any other reason. Daily testing of ammonia and nitrites will give you a good understanding how the cycle is progressing, but you could test once a week and be fine. Once the cycle is complete you should test weekly for salinity (refractometer), nitrates, phosphates (a Hanna Checker is the instrument of choice for phosphate testing), alkalinity and if you plan on keeping hard corals or clams calcium and magnesium. Reactors are not necessary but running carbon will clarify your water and reduce the toxins in the water if you are keeping corals, many of which release poisons to kill neighboring corals. Many of us also run Granular Ferris Oxide or phosphate removing resins in a reactor to reduce phosphate levels.

Thanks Grun

My current params are:
ammonia 0.2
Nitrite 0.1
SG 1.025
pH 8.1

I started the cycle Saturday with a shrimp. I added a couple chunks of LR from a buddy's sump into mine. I have was not seeing a significant amount of ammonia from the one shrimp so I dosed 10ml of pure ammonia yesterday which gave me .4ppm today it has dropped to .2ppm and nitrites are .1 so something is working. I have also made a couple of doses of MicroBactor7 on a recommendation from my LFS. I am not relying on it but figured it cant hurt.

[thegrun]

Looks like things are progressing well. I wouldn't add anything else to the system (MicroBactor7 or ammonia) at this point. In a week you could start to add a small pinch of dry flake fish food daily, but things will be fine if just left alone.

[Mrramsey]

Originally Posted by thegrun

Looks like things are progressing well. I wouldn't add anything else to the system (MicroBactor7 or ammonia) at this point. In a week you could start to add a small pinch of dry flake fish food daily, but things will be fine if just left alone.

Great! Thanks. I will just keep up with the testing and wait till I have a nicely cycled tank. I was just not getting enough ammonia from the one shrimp so I figured make a dose and see what happens.