How to Test Your Saltwater Reef Tank

It's a new year, and your saltwater aquarium deserves the right parameters. Calcium, Magnesium, Alkalinity, Nitrates, etc., these are the building blocks for a healthy reef tank. Water Testing kits help make sure your reef tank parameters are exactly where they need to be. They make the difference between a reef that is failing, one that is simply alive, and one that is thriving. In this video, we go over how to test your water and why each test is important.
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[@chihaonguyen8292]

I love coral and sea fish❤❤❤

[@WorldWideCorals]

We do too!

[@dusk1947]

Good video.

[@WorldWideCorals]

Glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for the support! ❤️

[@SADUTTAQUARIUM]

Beautyful😍

[@WorldWideCorals]

We appreciate it very much!

[@louislalobstah]

Great video. Thank you!

[@WorldWideCorals]

Thank you

[@ManiacalMangoes]

Question - I had been doing weekly 10% water changes for about a year, but it seemed to continually put my system out of whack for a few days. The sweet spot for my tank seems to be every 2 weeks. Could this be due to me having a lower bioload? 25 gallon peninsula, clownfish, Tailspot blenny, yellow watchman, royal gramma and cleaner shrimp. Nitrates seem to always be around 8-9 no matter what I do and phosphates are 0.03. It seems to stay around there even if I wait weeks before a water change.

[@ManiacalMangoes]

With Reef Crystals, my alkalinity has been around 10 and calcium a bit high too. With fewer water changes, I can keep it closer to 8.3 and 440

[@WorldWideCorals]

Reefs with a low Bioload can absolutely lead to fluctuating parameters as you are most likely not feeding enough to keep your bacterial populations stable. So you are doing the right thing by only doing water changes every two weeks.

[@johnwilliams4806]

Great great video… do you like the Hanna checkers for calcium and magnesium??? Why or why not thanks

[@CLOWNFISH69]

Always had high Mag 1600 in my tank and I don’t even dose Mag. Calc reactor stable calc at 420, Alk is 8.7. How do you bring Mag down?

[@WorldWideCorals]

Mag levels can be really dependent on your salt mix. What brand of salt mix are you using?

[@CLOWNFISH69]

@@WorldWideCorals fritz blue box, which is the normal stuff

[@Merknilash]

I'd question your mag tester. Hanna checker is very inaccurate and says my mag is super high too, but it's really not.@@CLOWNFISH69

[@paulp6138]

Would you consider these the most important perimeters to test weekly?

[@kiddt1999]

Wait a minute. My hannah phosphate tester doesn’t make me hold down the button and then countdown. Am i doing it wrong? It reads like i am testing my alkalinity for a few seconds and gives me a number.

[@ManiacalMangoes]

Many of the Hannah checkers have 2 options. Either hold the button to start a timer, then take the reading OR time it yourself, then tap the button once to take the reading. So yes, you’re likely doing it wrong and are getting false low readings unless you’re waiting for the specified time before tapping the button.

[@kiddt1999]

@@ManiacalMangoes i add C1 then it calls for c2, then it reads for a few seconds and gives me my number. I am at .3 on my phosphates.

[@ManiacalMangoes]

You’re supposed to wait for 3 minutes prior to pushing the button at C2 and waiting for a few seconds for your number. You can either wait for 3 minutes yourself, then tap the button OR you can hold the button like in this video. That starts a 3 minute timer, then gives you your number. Your tank is likely much higher than 0.3 if you’re not waiting 3 minutes before taking your reading.

[@WorldWideCorals]

If you hold down the button, it should show a 3 minute countdown, give that a try!

[@kiddt1999]

@@ManiacalMangoes so i measure weekly and i have been around .3ppm. I did the 3 minute long press and got .33, not any different. 👍

[@invaderjoshua6280]

Honestly if you add a bit of plants to an aquarium you can ignore the nitrate/phosphate portion.

[@WorldWideCorals]

You running a Refugium

[@thomaslasure8839]

Wish you would give links to the hannah teaters

[@jaidyn.m]

jus search it up lol

[@odog12345]

Doesn't google work for you?

[@nftank]

Before I watch this video I don't test anything besides salinity. I do 50% water changes every week on my tank 13 gallons. I remember a short that was uploaded by this channel. In the comment section you said you only do 2 water changes a week. If you tell me to test like how you test my go to would be to add another 50% water change every week. I simply don't want to test because the education behind the reason to test is too low for a not smart guy like myself.

[@SilentBiscuit17]

2 water changes on the same tank every week seems like overkill no?? I just booted up my 15g and plan on doing 4 gallon water changes weekly after my tank settles in

[@ManiacalMangoes]

You’re smart enough! You just follow the instructions such as add 3 drops, shake for 2 minutes etc. Then read the value and see if it’s within the normal range (which you can find online or in videos like this one).

[@nftank]

​@@SilentBiscuit17 Most likely it would be but if I don't test my parameters I want my tank clean and I want to replace the nutrients that the coral need instead of figuring out the trouble of testing and adding extra chemicals. Simple is better if I don't really know what I'm doing. On my tank I went a month without water changes. Well maybe like 25% because I added coral and dipped during that time. The coral were looking super small but alive. I did a 50% water change and it made an instant noticeable change. After that I did 200% in a week due to an anemeone that died because I didn't have enough par. Since I don't test I assumed my parameters are close to 100% normal and I resumed normal water changes. 4 Gallons a week for a 15 gallon tank is on the higher end in my opinion. It depends how much you stock and feed. There are so many ways to start a tank. My simple advice for starting is pay a lot of attention so you can train your eyes to notice a difference. When you think you are ready start testing if you need to for a specific reason. Not just because this video told you.

[@WorldWideCorals]

For many, with SMALL ESTABLISHED REEF TANKS (even myself to be honest), I only test if there is a problem. That said this is not recommended for tanks larger than 20 gallons. On larger tanks, testing should occur on a weekly basis, whether you have smarts or not, lol.

[@nftank]

Oh of course if I had a giant display you better believe I'm testing. I'd be like I dare you to try and convince me not to test.

[@nftank]

You were unable to persuade me the importance of testing. I know that purple algae is the hallmark of an established tank but I don't care about that. My tank is at the green phase and I have no problem with that at all.

[@Dd-760-]

No worries have a tank that’s 2 years old and doesn’t grow coralline algae. Everything even GMKs are thriving.

[@ManiacalMangoes]

Lol what? Testing is of course important! Maintaining proper and stable parameters is key to success. How can you possibly do that if you don’t measure? I suppose you could luck out with the perfect live stock and maintenance combo.

[@nftank]

@@ManiacalMangoes "If you expect nothing and receive everything that's destiny." I bought a dying plate coral and it seems to be growing anthocauli. I have like a month progress video but the new babies are too small there's no point in doing an update atm. kzbin.info/www/bejne/eZC9qGt3op2FoK8 I hate to seem like I'm advertising my channel but I'm that lucky.

[@nftank]

Also I know what I'm doing when it comes to testing I just pretend I don't because if I tell you I intentionally don't test you might use it as an excuse for why you can't properly take care of your tank if you were to copy me. Someone saw my tank in person and I tried to persuade them I'm doing it wrong.

[@nftank]

@@ManiacalMangoes Can you tell me why it is important? Why do you chase numbers?