Ordered 4 Salifert test kits. Which other ones should I get?

[Bliz]

I just received my BRS shipment which included my Alkalinity, pH, Nirtrate and Ammonia testing kits along with a refractometer. Which other tests would you guys recommend?

I plan to keep corals in the future. Will I need Calcium testing? Strontium? Magnesium?

Thanks!

[meatball87]

Anything you add to your tank you should test for it but if you don't plan on keeping corals just yet the three you mentioned I wouldn't worry about just yet

[Beandawg]

You can probably skip the last 3 for now. Yes you will need at least the calcium and magnesium in the future. But don't forget your nitrite test, it's not the same as a nitrate test. A phosphate test may be a good thing to have as well.

[anderson0196]

+1 on a phosphate test. If you can swing it, look into a Hanna Checker for this.

[Sk8r]

If you are going for sps corals, a phosphate test is not bad, but not needed so much for lps and softies. What you do need for any stony coral is magnesium and calcium, and circle your expiration dates so you remember to look at them. An expired test can get you into a world of hurt.
Go to my blog and read up on water balance.
Just as a note, I own a ph meter, but never use it. Alkalinity is much more important and informative and it doesn't bounce around during the day the way ph does. If your alk is right, no matter if you keep just fish or corals and fish, your ph will generally be ok. People who start trying to correct ph either get themselves in trouble or go stark mad, because it's a moving target. But if your alk is 'on' and stays there you can pretty well depend on mag and cal and ph all being pretty ok. You'll need only 3 supplements: alk buffer, calcium, and mg. DON'T try to use selenium, strontium, or iodine or the other supplements: they're not for ordinary situations: just do your water changes. The extra elements are in your salt mix, and they exist in such tiny doses even for a huge tank, and deplete so very slowly (and do not evaporate), water changes are how to handle it: overdose on one of these microchemicals is an easily avoidable disaster: just stick to alk, cal, mg, and don't fuss with ph. When you get to where you have lots of stony and it's using up your calcium fast, come back and ask about a kalk drip.

[Bliz]

Sk8r, thank you so much. Very informative and easy to understand post!