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What to test for.

I curently have test kits for ammonia, nitrites/trates, phosphates, ph, & calcium. All perimeters are stable. What else is nessasary to test for? If my ph is stable, is it nessasarry to test alkalinity? All my corals are growing and have nice colors. There is no algae in the tank at all. No bad algae or coraline. I never even have to clean the glass. They sell a ton of test kits, I'm trying to figure out witch ones I need to buy.
 

redfishbluefish

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
If you have hard corals (SPS or LPS) and or a clam, your alk and cal demand eventually won't be able to be supply by water changes alone. You will need to supplement these guys in some fashion (Calc reactor, Kalkwasser, 2 part, etc). Therefore, you will need to test for alk and calc to make sure you're in the proper range. My suggestion would be the Red Sea Pro kit (for alk, calc and mag), or Hanna checkers.
 

art13

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
If you have sps corals, yes, you need to test alk, calc, and mag. lps i would still test for but not so much. softies you don't need to test for those three. besides those three, after a tank is going, the only other items i test for are phosphates and nitrates from time to time, ph should be fine, but i have a probe for it, not really needed though. ammonia you shouldn't have to worry about after the tank has cycled.
 
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