How often do you test your water?

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whenever i glance at my semi-hidden testing supplies and the thought pops into my head "hey, it's been awhile since i last tested" or "i can't even remember the last time i tested"
 
i test ammonia nitrite pH and salt. every now and then i'll test nitrate
 
Once a week on my tank on my son's I have been doing about once every other day.
 
i do mine once a fortnight unless there is an obvious problem then I would, haven't needed to yet.
 
i only test when i think something is up or when i start a tank cycle .
most of the problems can be found by nose
 
The problem I see with only testing the water when you NOTICE a problem is that by then it's generally too late to do anything about it. With proper records you can monitor the differance between varying tanks/fish/set-ups and make adjustments BEFORE you have a disaster.
 
toehead11183;1104997; said:
I was just wondering how often everyone test theyr water params and what they test for. This thread only applies to freshwater.
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Test 2 x's a wk, which is at the time of water changes. Tank's get tested B4 water changes, water gets tested from the tap, then tank's are tested after water changes.

Tests done are for Ammonia, Nitrite, High PH, KH & GH.

Unless someone purifies their water, i.e. wolf3101, then you are relying on a "public water source" to supply your fishes environment/life. If you "refuse" to test properly, then you are going on blind faith that all will be well from the tap to tank. You may go for yr.'s w/ out a prob. or seeing a change, but all it takes is once for the water to change (tap or tank), which happens constantly & you could be responsible for killing some or all your fish. Just because you change water reg. doesn't mean you should negate the rest of your responsibilities to your fish & just consider all well. Public water treatment is changing all the time & it's for the benefit of people, not fish. If your not testing, tap & tank, then how do you know what you're doing to your fish, oh that's right, you "know" when something bad happens or they die right. :shakehead :(

It's called not being a SLACKER & just doing the right thing. Honestly, how much time/effort does it really take to do water test compared to replacing a $ or a $$$$ fish, just because you "thought" you had it all under control. If you don't know Mr. Murphy by now, let me introduce him. Everyone this is Mr. Murphy, when ever anything that can go wrong, does, at the worst possible time, look around, you'll see him smiling every time. It might seem like you have all the answers, cause so far so good, right? So what's it like to be perfect?;)

Good ? toehead & some really good, honest, irresponsible, sad fish keeping answers. Answers aren't surprising though, most of this has to do w/ age/maturity, most all of us go thru it, then we learn. :) :) :)

toehead11183;1105662; said:
i started to do mine weekly when i got my 75. thats when i started getting serious with my fish keeping. before i bought whatever i liked when i went to the store. at the LFS i worked at, we did it daily and kepped a log on the results to monitor any changes. it helped alot so i started doing it at home. i log my weekly water changes. it helps me remember when i changed the filters, did WCs and monitor the temp on the pond throughout the year. i guess im a little to obsessed with my fish.
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Sometimes it's good to be "obsessed" or responsible, what every it takes to keep us honest & our fish alive, LOL. Keep up the good wrk, :thumbsup: it does pay off. :)

The rational person accepts change & adapts to the world around them. The irrational person refuses change & expects the world to change around them. There for all progress depends on the irrational person.
George Bernard Shaw, 17th century
 
bigcichntwisted, unless you have an alternate water supply, if the city changes something, there's not a whole lot you will be able to do.

I tested the water the week I moved into my current place, haven't tested since. Why not? 50-100% water changes on all my tanks will take care of nitrates. I over filter every single one of my tanks and don't do stupid things with stocking levels, so nitrite and ammonia will never be a problem (with the water changes, those levels would be small even if a single filter failed).

Ph? Gh? Kh? As if my CA cichlids really notice minor changes. I don't try to play basement chemist with my water. What comes out of the tap is what the fish get. No RO/DI, no peat, not crushed coral. Well I do dechlorinate the tap water, that's it.

That being said, I don't do water changes if the city mains are been flushed out in my area. That happens twice a year.
 
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