What To Check For - FOWLR to Reef

[Hognoxious]

Question about testing water chemistry for reef setup versus FOWLER.

 

We've been transitioning our 34-gallon FOWLR over to a reef ... over the last 6-weeks we have added a select few mushrooms, various zoanthids, a small frag of GSP and a single head of Torch coral. PWC schedule consists of replacing 10-gallons (Reef Crystals) every 2-weeks.

 

So currently we test ...

 

• Specific Gravity (daily)

• Nitrate (weekly)

• PH (weekly)

 

But now we are adding corals we need to start testing for ...

 

• Alkalinity

• Calcium

 

Is this primarily what we should be testing for as we graduate to a reef setup?

[lakshwadeep]

Alkalinity and Calcium need to be tested regularly when you have many stony corals, which in your case only includes the torch. However, the torch, a large polyp stony (LPS) coral, doesn't depend significantly on calcium/alkalinity for growth, so you will likely need to test weekly or even less often. Water changes should be enough with your livestock to keep alkalinity and calcium levels in normal ranges.

 

It might be easier to do smaller water changes more frequently than a 10 gallon change every two weeks.

[Hognoxious]

Thanks for the info lakshwadeep ... so say I test and find that calcium is low - is one of the two-part dosing regimens the best solution to keep things in optimum range?

[lakshwadeep]

Two-part solutions are very useful for nanos. Here's a guide to supplementation:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-04/rhf/index.php