Do you test your water?

[George]

is testing smelling the tank?

I test my kh... that is about it.

I have a Ph meter permanently on my CO2 planted to keep me from dumping to much CO2 in it but that's it. How can you test 50 tanks?

I suspect that Sarah may have meant this as a joke but maybe not. She has been doing this for while so maybe does what I do. I sniff my tanks fairly often and know how they should smell. Some of you may have noticed I have a very talented nose anyway. Once in awhile one will smell a bit off and it gets an extra water change.

If you have to test your tanks, you aren't changing water often enough or on a decent schedule. That isn't a criticism. People have busy lives and if testing it let's you skip a water change when you can, it is a good thing.

Trying to adjust Ph is a losing battle if that is all you do with the Ph up and down chemicals. Ph is more of an indicator of other factors. With Africans you can harden the water with minerals and bring your Ph up but if you want to bring it down, you really fight a losing battle unless you soften it and get those minerals out. This is obviosly best done before the water goes in the tank. Putting acid in the tank just doesn't do the job. I tried it and it doesn't work. Ph is usually not the problem anyway. Acid, hard water isn't any better than alkaline soft water if your fish need a low Ph. I don't think you can do that anyway.

Rachel, I bet those snails could use some extra calcium, couldn't they?

George

 

[msjinkzd]

I dose kent's marine calcium as well as make homemade plaster of paris pucks which increase the kh and add calcium to their diet. They also eat some home snail jello with reptical calcium powder added or fresh blanched green veggies. So yea, the reason I test my kh and gh is to make sure that the carbonate hardness is high enough for good shell development in the snails. in my shrimp tanks, alot of those require softer water tanks so I have to adjust my water with ro or peat to reduce the kh for them. I rarely to never test ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH etc. I do check temperatures and hardness levels.

 

[longstocking]

George it wasn't a joke. Smell test is the best test !

 

[maddog10]

I would like to test for TDS...

If I had a TDS tester I would test every day...

It's one of the things I have wanted for years. Just never bought... I'm hoping this year...

I have one, still don't know what the heck the numbers mean.


What's a water test?

 

[danger_chicken]

is testing smelling the tank?

I do this test too :blush: I test for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate when I set up a new tank. I rarley test for PH, except on my largest tank which has a PH meter attached, but that's cause I'm lazy. I usually swap an old filter to the new tank or run the new filter on an established tank for a while to accelerate the cycle. Once established I'll test for nirates every so often, but mostly to check that my stocking or growth hasn't out preformed my water changes.

I would like to test for TDS...

If I had a TDS tester I would test every day...

It's one of the things I have wanted for years. Just never bought... I'm hoping this year...

I was going to get one earlier this year but forgot and spent the money. I tired again this month but I swear the price went up by 50%. I want one with a PH tester.

 

[Spine]

I only test if the tank is new or if I'm setting something up that's outside the norm. I have a hand held ph meter and a tds meter,but I mostly use them to check my soft water vat were I mix tap water with ro. Having a meter is nice because I can check all my tanks quikely if needed.If I remember correctly I bought both of them for under $30 each and they can be recalibrated.

 

[danger_chicken]

That's what I was looking at but they're closer to $90 now.

 

[Pat Kelly]

Someone asked if anybody followed the rules.

I follow the KISS rules.

 

[msjinkzd]

love that rule Pat

 

[crazyclowntang]

I follow the KISS rules.

I am not sure what the KISS rule is. Is this a CCA codeword or something

 

[msjinkzd]

Keep It Simple Stupid

 

[crazyclowntang]

jajaja Oh man, I feel stupid. I thought that is what it meant but I was not sure

 

[Sonny Disposition]

I should test. I just never get around to it.

 

[livingwatersaquarium]

I test every now and again. I have multiple test kits that I collected over the years and you would think I test my water all the time. No major problems that would make me bring out the test kit, but mainly test for ammonia.

Gerard