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Unread 12/03/2017, 07:50 PM   #1047
watchguy123
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Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Southern California
Posts: 1,074
I test nitrates weekly or more as just part of my routine with alkalinity testing. I think the two most critical factors for guesstimating stable tank chemistry are alkalinity and nitrates.

I use a calcium reactor so I presume that my alkalinity and calcium and even magnesium (I have magnesium in the reactor as well) are balanced. So I target the alkalinity and again presume the calcium and magnesium are in line with the alkalinity.

The other part of reef chemistry that I am focused on is nutrient control. And since I am supplementing nitrates via KNO3 powder, I want to make sure that it is stable and neither decreasing nor increasing.

I log my results and quite frankly things remain relatively stable but there may be some fluctuations and I want to be aware of trends. Sometimes my alkalinity will trend lower and whether that is a result of more growth or some fluctuation with the calcium reactor itself, I am not a 100% sure but I will tweak the reactor to compensate. And although I have been adding the exact same amount of KNO3 powder for many months, when I am away from the tank, it generally gets overfed and the nitrates will jump. I usually respond with less feeding for a while but the point is I can easily modify my feeding routine to compensate.

Perhaps it is unnecessary but I think it is a far greater mistake to under evaluate tank chemistry than to test more frequently. I very well may be paranoid about my concerns but I definitely don’t want to witness another tank crash, ever.

One of the things I value on the forum are the various threads with lots of full sps colonies. It shows a commitment to constant vigilance over a period of years. One has to be either very lucky or very diligent to end up with full colonies, and I would guess diligence with good fortune is the winning combination.

I should add that although I am frequently testing, I’m not constantly adjusting anything. I try to simply observe trends.


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Current Tank Info: 180 Bowfront, 30 gallon sump, 20 gallon refugium, reeflo dart/snapper hybrid pump, 2 x 6105 Tunze ,Tunze ATO, dual chamber CA reactor, 3 x250 metal halides with 2x t5 actinic supplement, Reefbrite Blue XHO's dawn/dusk
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