what other water test do I need?

[seaker]

I have a 12 gal nano-cube 1 clown 1 goby 1 cleaner shrimp, and clean up crew. stock light is 24 watts, good for soft corals, I don't have any yet. what do I need to test for besides amm, nitrite, nitrate, and ph once I get the corals, or now????

[Aiptasia]

Calcium, alkalinity and salinity.

 

And yes, you should be testing now. Please read everything in the FAQ section. Do you have any Live Rock in the tank? Two watts per gallon is low light except for hardy deep water corals. Make sure it's a 50/50 bulb (natural daylight + actinic 03) in the hood.

[Tempest]

You should also test for magnesium as it affects how "available" calcium is for use by inverts. Good articles on reef chemistry can be found at www.advancedaquarist.com Look in the Oct, Nov, Mar and Apr issues of 2003.

[seaker]

thanks. I just don't have the money to buy all the different tests. I just wanted to know what, I guess, I could get by with. Am I wrong but is it possible to know where calcium is at by where the alk is at, or vice versa? If one goes up doesn't the other go down?

Do I need to check iodine? btw, I am checking the salinity, forgot to mention it. It's 12 gal and I do weekly water changes of about 2 gal, shouldn't that replenish the trace elements?

 

The light is a 50/50 bulb but the actinic 03 is blue when on not purple. I heard the one that looks purple is better but I can't find a 50/50 that small. The total length of the tank is 13.8". I am looking into adding another 32 watts.

 

I'm going to check out that web site now. thanks again.

[Tempest]

If you aren't going to have corals then you really only need tests for ph, alkalinity, ammonia and nitrite. If you want corals then you'll eventually need the other tests.

 

There is a direct relationship between alkalinity and pH (positive correlation). I'm not 100% certain, but I do not believe that calcium and alkalinity have a direct relationship. You can have both high, low or just one of them high and the other low.

 

It can't hurt to check iodine, but I don't think it's necessary. Just DON'T add any as it is a poison and can cause havoc with your tank if you overdose.

 

Weekly water changes of 2 gallons is a great idea, but will not replace all used trace elements.

For (a rough) example:

1. Each gallon of SW has 1mg of X so there are 12mg of X in your tank (forget about volume displacement of the rock and sand for now).

2. Your biosystem uses 3mg of X a week.

3. A WC of 2 gallons adds 2mg of X. Your system now has 1mg LESS of X than the previous week. (You used 3 but only replaced 2).

 

From what I've read the best "blue" or actinic bulb is one with a wavelength of 420 nm. Check out www.hellolights.com for some decent DIY retro-fit kits. Search the forums for retrofitting of the nano cubes (lighting forum) so you can see what others have done.

 

Good luck.