Instant-testing your tank, plus emergencies

Instant-testing your tank, plus emergencies---FYI
Understand---there is NO substitute for your logbook of weekly chemical tests: a reef should run the alkalinity and calcium tests weekly, and log them; and the magnesium test monthly. A fish-only should run the nitrate/ammonia and the alkalinity tests weekly, the calcium and magnesium tests monthly, with a log. And while you're testing mg, take a look at your salinity.

However there are some fast-checks you can do visually that are a big help.

1. temperature. I touch the glass as I pass now and again---experience teaches you what that should feel like. I keep a thermometer on the tank, and another on the sump, which I check while running other tests.

2. algae on the glass. This indicates you have phosphate in your system. If it's moderate, good. It feeds microlife like copepods, and your algae-eating fish, such as combtooth blennies, and your pod-eating fish like mandys and scooters, which will fail and die if you rob them of that.
If, however, you have so much algae on the glass you're having to scrape daily to see your fish---you need a remediation: a GFO reactor used for a month or two will do the job: just don't overdo it.

3. coralline on your glass. Your magnesium level is up, maybe a shade high, but this is not such a bad thing. As a reef, I worry and check my mag if I don't see a few pink spots on my glass.

4. corals. Corals are water-monitors. If your corals aren't expanded and lush, you need to run all your water tests and of course test your temperature. This is why even a fish-only could benefit from having a mushroom or button-polyp rock. Fish won't generally bother those species, and they're an excellent warning of water trouble.

5. red or brown stain on your sand. Check the date on your lights. MH is only good for 6-8 months---then the spectrum goes off, and you're getting sunlight for an alien planet. Either that or you have sunlight getting to the tank at an angle, and you're having a little cyano outbreak. Keeping your tank dark for 3 days will knock this stuff...IF you have a decent skimmer. Do this once a month for several months and it will solve it. This procedure is safe for fish and corals and clams.

Note that I don't mention ph. Don't 'chase' ph. The better indicator is alkalinity. And I personally don't test nitrate or ammonia, not past the cycle---again, I have a reef with hungry corals, I have a small fish-load, and it just doesn't go 'off' while the corals are happy. If my corals went unhappy, I'd be testing everything and running polyfilter. Polyfilter is pricey---but it is an excellent thing to have on hand, particularly if children or party guests or a maid service can get near your tank, or if you have softies or anemones that occasionally get into a tank-wide snit. This stuff can save your tank: it pulls out metal contamination and organics. A bag of carbon is also good to have under the same circumstances, but the polyfilter pulls more kinds of things, particularly metals, and is diagnostic: it turns colors as it absorbs stuff, and you can use it to tell exactly what it's pulling out, ergo what your problem is. Just cut a strip of it and put it in your water-flow area, and it works pretty fast. A real tank-saver in a crisis. Your third tank-saver is a supply of salt and water conditioner: in a real water crisis, ro/di or not, prepare buckets of salt water with a mixing pump, the more violent the pump the better. Salt is ready when the water is clear; and putting fish and corals into clean water WITH aeration going in each bucket IS the fix when your tank is crashing. The tank, without dead fish and dying corals, will often pull back from the brink with 30% water change, and you've saved your fish, your corals, AND the time invested in your tank---with a salt supply, some water conditioner, an airpump, line splices and bubble wands, and enough buckets. Buckets nest if not in use, so they take up very little closet space. A reefer never has too many buckets!

So learn to use your eyes and fingers to do spot-checks on your tank; keep a little log book of test results, and dose to 'trends,' before your readings exit the 'good' zone [eg, if your alk is 8.5 this week and was 9 last week, dose buffer now, before it hits 8.3, plus check the magnesium: alk and cal won't fall unless your mg does: trust me; it's magic] And if you come home and discover a disaster in progress, go to those emergency procedures above.


__________________
Sk8r