frequency of perimeter checkings

[reeferious]

for all you primitive, back to basics, keep things simple folks out there, i'm wondering how often you check your tank perimeters. my tank is fairly well established and so i check basics like ph, alk, cal once every 3 weeks and if i see something out of wack i check for phosphate, nitrate, mag levels. those test kits are not cheap and so i try to stretch them out as much as possible. i'm not offended if you call me a cheap, cost saving reef addict.

[marie]

Lately I've had to check my alk every 3 days or so because my calcium demand is increasing rapidly, the only other thing I check periodically is sg. and that is every 6 weeks.

[Lance]

Every 2 weeks for me.

[lorenz0]

used to be once a week. i dosed a wee bit to much this week and shot my calcium to 460ppm. time to start checking every odd day

but ya i think everything should be checked a few times a week if your dosing

[Myka]

I test once a week for cal, alk, and mag. I test nitrate once a month. Nitrite and ammonia if something's amiss. My phosphate kit just collects dust. My tank is 2 1/2 years old. I have yet to use up an entire test kit before the expiration date. :lol:

[mike31154]

Perimeter? You had me thinking there for a second! I looked all around the bottom of the outside of my tank for possible leaks or salt creep. Of course after reading a few responses I realized you mean parameters. I no longer have a real set regimen, check salinity, pH, nitrates, phosphates, calcium whenever I'm about to do a water change, which is roughly every 18-21 days.

[Tangman]

Once a week for me, Sunday is my tank regiment day

[christyf5]

I check mine weekly, mostly because I'm bored and well, there they are :biggrin: