Testing water
 

This has been talked about in the past on the site but let's see what you have to say. I all but gave up on checking my water parameters about 16 months ago because every test kit I had never agreed on any test I did I had 4 test kits (Hagen, API, Seachem and salifert) not one ever agreed with the other and it was a guessing game on what the water was doing.

So I gave up testing and watched my corals and fish for clues and made changes accordingly. Yes I know it's not scientific and it's not acceptable per se with many people in the hobby but I haven't killed anything yet since I stopped testing. On my last set of days off I had a friend come over and do some water tests and aside from my water being a bit low in calcium(which I expected) my water was well within all the acceptable water parameters. So I must be doing something right.

So with that being said how often do you check your water or do you rely on your tank to tell you?

After completely screwing up my tank through an ALK crash, I now check pretty darn regularly. 90% loss of coral and Hair algae which I've never had before.

I test alk almost every day, everything else 1 - 2 times per week, except magnesium maybe 2 - 3 times a month. I usually test my newly mixed water also.

Usually test alk 1-2 times a week , everything else 1-2 times a month.
I use salifert test kits , except for PO4 - Hanna

I will test ALK twice a week as well and Calcium once or twice a week. MAG I test usually once a month or every two months.

Nada, don't check for squat. Only time I check something is when I do salinity check.

I believe in keeping good husbandry goes a long way - also I don't have any really high demanding corals.

Clean skimmer and swap out filter socks every 3-4 days
10% water change weekly
30% water change every 6th week
Zeovit additives routinely

I too keep an eye on the fish and corals. If all looks fat, happy and plump. I let it be.

I don't get enough time to stare at my tank on a regular basis. Because of that I can't see when something is happening, so I rely on testing.
I test the Big 3 weekly and adjust my doser accordingly.
I perform WCs every other week and adjust the new water before adding it, then adjust the timers for a week to compensate for the salt I buy.
I'm being cheap with salt, so this is my life ...

It's either this or get out of the hobby

Yep I stopped checking my parameters for about almost a year now. Before I use to check all the time and seems like each time I do I end up adjusting my additives and cause more rtn,stn etc. ever since I cared for my tank less my tank has been thriving. I'm pretty lazy I only do the bare minimum like water changes every 2 weeks or so and mix additives for my dosed every 2 months. Dirty tank? Then get a sea hare and thank yourself later. I drilled a hole through my skimmer cup and attached a tube to it direct the nasty stuff to a 2L pop bottle so now I don't even need to dump it out for over a month. Enjoy your tank, not be a slave to it.

For the people that can't be bothered testing your tank why even have one? Your all one alk swing away from a full wipe out. This thread makes me laugh people bragging about there lazines or inability to figure out a 3 step test kit. That's all for now

My thoughts exactly. :(