a simple question.

[jony nuemonic]

i have a question to ask,im not trying to get bashed so if you are gonna be negative please dont answer my thread,having said that,i have a simple question,my tank has been running for over 6 months now and i have been doing 25 percent water changes monthly,my stock list is as follows,cream angel,percula clown and domino damsel,5 hermits and thats about it.i have a 29 gallon tank with a cannister filter,no skimmer,.i have all the tests you need but it gets annoying to a certain point.i know its possible to maintain a salt tank without testing it all the time.so (POSITIVE INPUT)would be appreciated.thanks for looking.

 

[Noddy]

I suppose if your tankmaintenance keeps your waterparameters at a steady level, I'd keep it up and test a little less frequent.
But I tested a lot when I just started out in the hobby!
If I'm not sure about my fish being happy and healthy, I grab my testkit!

 

[Reefscape]

I test once a month....10% water change per week...

 

[mr.reef24]

I do weekly 5% changes and keep the same amount of feeding and don't change thing's but only test when I introduce something or change my feeding amounts etc... I would just be religious with changing your carbon monthly keeping good water husbandry and you'll be good just be observant of anything abnormal.

mr.reef24

 

[bromie88]

i run a canister on my SW tank too. the only thing i will say about them is that they need to be maintained. they should be only be used as mechanical filtration in SW aquaria. they dont really make good homes for anerobic bacteria (the ones that convert nitrite to nitrate), as there is too much oxygen for the anerobic bacteria to do their job properly. they prefer to be in oxygen starved areas like under sand, and deep inside LR.

so instead of: ammonia> nitrite> nitrate
you get: ammonia> nitrate>........

as there arent as much denitifying bacteria as the ones that convert ammonia to nitrite, your nitrites build up. this can cause algae blooms ect.

i try to do about a 20-25% WC a week, but the bills unfortunately have to come first. so sometimes it can be 2-3 weeks for a WC.

but i do keep enough salt for a small emergency WC just in case i need it. then i'll go out and get some more salt the day after. even if it means borrowing money to do so.

i hardly ever check params (unless i havent done a WC that week), as my fish usually tell me when they arent happy. they get lathargic and basically arent themselves. i also keep an eye on my corals too. as these are obviously more sensitive to changes in the aquaria.

as soon as i notice any changes in behaviour, i do a WC. i also run a small skimmer on my tank (a 100L). its a V2 nano, it is supposed to be used on tanks up to 120L. its still not a powerful enough skimmer for my needs (i have a fuzzy dwarf lionfish, very messy), but something is better than nothing. and an undersized skimmer will hopefully leave some bio-matter for my corals to eat too. even if it produces a 'dry' skimmate.

 

[BIGgourami]

to be honest i haven't tested my bigger tanks in months (year/s?)

once they are established well enough, you really only need to check certain things when something big comes up; power outage, new fish, new coral, change filters/skimmer, etc.

things like pH and salinity i check every week, and temp at least once a day, as those change somewhat readily and can have big impacts

things like phostphate, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, copper, etc i check for those big occasions (see above)