Reef Aquarium Testing

Reef Aquarium Testing

REEF AQUARIUM TESTING

Water testing can be one of the timelier aspects of maintenance, but without testing, it’s difficult to know what’s going on inside your tank. Every time you test your water is a chance to correct any imbalances in water chemistry and improve the overall water quality of your system.

You should be testing your water at least once a week. Most local fish stores will help you test your water; however, aquarium test kits are relatively inexpensive and it’s a good idea to start testing your water at home. From the day you set up your aquarium until years down the road, testing your aquarium water should become an important aquarium ritual.

WHAT TO TEST 

If you are just setting up an aquarium the first month or longer is an important time for beneficial bacteria to grow inside your reef tank, this process is called cycling. During this period, you want to actively monitor: Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate. 

Ammonia is a byproduct of fish waste or un-eaten foods. During the initial set-up or cycling or your tank, Ammonia is absorbed by Nitrosomonas bacteria and released as Nitrite through an internal chemical process. High level of Ammonia and Nitrite are harmful and even toxic to fish, therefore it’s important to take your time before adding any fish or corals to the aquarium.

During the first month Nitrobacter bacteria are building up in your aquarium. These bacteria consume Nitrite converting it to Nitrate. Nitrate, while not as harmful, will build up in the aquarium and must be removed. This can be done through regular water changes.

You can test for all three of these parameters using aquarium test kits. For Ammonia, you can also purchase Ammonia indicators which can be placed inside your aquarium glass. This test will change color if toxic level of ammonia is building up in your tank.

As your aquarium progresses and you are ready to add fish and corals, you will want to test for Salinity and Temperature. Saltwater aquariums should be kept between 75 – 80°F or (23.5 -26.5°C) and you can purchase a floating thermometer for your tank.

Salinity should be maintained at 35ppt or a specific gravity of 1.0264. As water evaporates from your aquarium salinity levels can rise, since only the freshwater is evaporating. This can be avoided by having an auto top-off system installed on your tank or manually topping off with freshwater.

If you are keeping a nano size aquarium smaller than 20g you will want to pay close attention to salinity. You can test for salinity with a refractometer. 

By now you should have a weekly routine for testing Nitrate and Salinity, while also keeping an eye on your Temperature and Ammonia levels, at this point you can start testing you Phosphate, Alkalinity, Calcium, Magnesium, and PH.

These parameters affect the growth of corals and algae in the aquarium. You can test for these parameters using aquarium test kits, taking your water sample to a local fish store, or by sending your water for an in depth ICP water analysis.

If you are using at home test kits and your aquarium is healthy you shouldn’t need ICP testing. These tests are helpful if certain corals are dying or you have an unexpected crash.

HOW OFTEN TO TEST

You should test your water about three days a week. If your water is experiencing swings or spikes from test to test, then you may need to test every day. At home test kits come with easy to follow instructions, and don’t be worried if it takes a few tries to get it right. Be sure to check the expiration date when buying test kits.

Test for anything you are dosing and test each time you dose your tank. Overdosing your tank with alkalinity can kill the tips of your coral which I have learned the hard way from experience.

Some at home test kits, especially those which involve counting drops or color can be difficult to distinguish between result levels. As you become more involved in reef keeping you can invest in probes which continually monitor parameter like PH and Salinity. You can also purchase Hanna instrument checkers which give you an instant readout for Nitrate, Phosphate, Calcium, or Alkalinity.

You will see the benefits of testing in no time and if you do not test you will surely see the consequences. Testing allows us to know what our tank needs so we can provide a healthy habitat for keeping fish and corals.

Reef Tank Maintenance

Reef Tank Maintenance

9 MOST IMPORTANT REEF TANK AQUARIUM WATER PARAMETERS

Here are the 9 MOST IMPORTANT Reef Tank Parameters:

  1. Alkalinity
  2. Ammonia
  3. Calcium
  4. Nitrate
  5. Nitrite
  6. pH
  7. Phosphate
  8. Salinity
  9. Temperature

Let’s dive a little deeper into each individual water parameter as well as the value considered to be ideal for a reef tank:

1. ALKALINITY

Alkalinity is a complex concept/thing to contemplate. As aquarists, we don’t care so much about the scientific definition of it, as much as we care that it is a proxy (a way to estimate) the amount of bicarbonate available in the water–because bicarbonate is essential for coral health–it is one of the main ‘ingredients’ used to build coral skeletons.

Even though it is difficult to understand, as a concept, rest assured that alkalinity is one of the most important reef tank parameters.

IDEAL ALKALINITY FOR A REEF TANK

The ideal alkalinity for a reef tank is 8-12 dkh. That’s a pretty broad range. The goal, as with most of these water parameters, is to maintain consistency. Even though the accepted range is 8-12 dkh, it doesn’t mean your tank will do well if the alkalinity drifts dramatically from day to day. Do what you can to maintain stable alkalinity–and even if you are trying to get your alkalinity up (if it is low, for example), you will want to do so very, very gradually to avoid shocking any of the animals in your system.

2. AMMONIA

Ammonia is toxic waste in your aquarium. Except for when you are cycling your tank, you want ammonia levels to be as close to zero as possible. Ammonia gets into your reef tank when your fish…um…pee…and also when food or other stuff rots.

A healthy, fully-functioning biological filter will remove ammonia from your water. If you have detectable levels of ammonia in your tank, it means your aquarium is too new (has not fully cycled yet) or there is a problem with your biological filter.

IDEAL AMMONIA PARAMETER FOR A REEF TANK

As another one of the most important reef tank parameters, the ideal ammonia level for a reef aquarium is ~0 ppm. If your tank has fully cycled, there should be no detectable levels of ammonia. Ammonia can burn your fish and corals and at higher levels, it can be toxic.

3. CALCIUM

Calcium is another essential element for coral health in a saltwater tank and is one of the most important reef aquarium parameters. According to the Drs. Foster and Smith chart, natural coral reefs tend to have calcium levels between 380-420 ppm (parts per million). For simplicity sake, I find 400 ppm to be a suitable approximate value. Calcium is extremely important for LPS Coral and SPS Coral.

IDEAL REEF TANK PARAMETER FOR CALCIUM

The ideal marine aquarium water parameter for Calcium is ~400 ppm

4. NITRATE

In a properly cycled aquarium, the presence of nitrate is confirmation that your biological filter is working. Congratulations on that. On an ongoing basis, you want to strive for nitrate levels as low as possible. However, levels around 30-40 ppm are generally tolerated by most saltwater aquarium fish (except for fragile species) and many soft corals that tend to come from nutrient-rich waters.

In order to help keep your nitrates as low as possible, you may want to purchase a high-quality protein skimmer.

IDEAL REEF AQUARIUM VALUE FOR NITRATE

The ideal reef aquarium value for nitrates is ~0 ppm. However, as mentioned above, you may be able to ‘get away with’ slightly higher levels.

5. NITRITE

Nitrite is an intermediate by-product produced by your bacterial filter. In your filter, bacteria convert toxic ammonia into less toxic nitrite and then nitrite is further converted into an even more safe chemical called nitrate.

Except when cycling your tank, nitrite levels should remain as close to zero as possible.

That is the reason that nitrite is one of the 9 most important reef tank parameters.

IDEAL NITRITE LEVEL FOR A REEF TANK

~0 ppm

6. PH

I won’t bore you, too much, with the scientific definition of what pH is. The simple version is that it has to do with how acidic (or not acidic) the water is.

The scale reads from ‘acidic’ on the low end to ‘basic’ on the high end. The pH is essential to how all of the chemistry in your reef tank works, which is why pH is one of the 9 most important reef tank parameters.

While the absolute pH is important, it is perhaps even more important to ensure that the pH remains stable. Dramatic swings in pH can cause problems for your livestock.

IDEAL PH FOR A REEF AQUARIUM

~8.1 – 8.4

7. PHOSPHATE

On natural reefs, phosphate is present at a level of ~0.13 ppm. In your saltwater aquarium, it acts as a fertilizer for algae–because of that, I recommend you keep levels below 0.2 ppm if possible.

IDEAL PHOSPHATE LEVEL FOR A SALTWATER TANK

<0.2 ppm

8. SALINITY

The salinity of the ocean is actually ~ 35 g/L, but for your saltwater aquarium, it is more common to measure the specific gravity of the water as a proxy for salinity, because of how easily specific gravity can be measured. If your zoanthids have closed up, check your salinity.

You have to have salt in the water to measure salinity. Most of us make our own seawater with a salt mix.

IDEAL REEF TANK SALINITY LEVEL–MEASURED AS SPECIFIC GRAVITY

Ideally, you want to keep your aquarium reef at a specific gravity of  1.025, which is the simplest way to ensure the salinity replicates the salt concentration of a natural reef.

9. TEMPERATURE

As long as the temperature of your saltwater aquarium is in this range, keeping the temperature consistent (avoiding fluctuation) becomes more important than the actual value itself. I have most commonly seen/heard recommended temperatures around 78 degrees Fahrenheit (25.5 degrees Celsius).

To keep your aquarium temperature stable, you might need two pieces of equipment.

An aquarium heater is probably required for just about any aquarium because most of us live in houses where the daily temperature is lower than the ideal values listed below. The aquarium heater raises the water temperature and helps keep it from falling below that level.

If you live in a warm climate, where the temperature gets above the ideal range, you may need an aquarium chiller.

IDEAL VALUE

73-84 Fahrenheit or 22-29 Celcius

OTHER IMPORTANT REEF AQUARIUM PARAMETERS

There are three other aquarium water parameters on the Drs. Foster and Smith chart that were left off the list of 9 MOST IMPORTANT reef tank parameters:

  1. Iodine
  2. Magnesium
  3. Strontium

The reason those three reef tank parameters didn’t make the cut is that they are not practical to measure or dose in a saltwater aquarium. Don’t read this the wrong way–all three are important to reef coral biology. The critical factor is not that these are irrelevant biologically, but that they are not practical for the casual hobbyist.

Magnesium is a tremendously important ion–but it is available in such large amounts in a typical aquarium that it is all but irrelevant for most aquariums. Iodine and Strontium, on the other hand, are important trace elements–but their concentrations are generally so low that it is not practical to dose them, measure them or otherwise deal with them in any reasonable fashion.

As best I can tell, the science supporting the dosing of these trace elements in a reef aquarium is inconclusive. So, I took them off the list. No sense measuring something you don’t intend to act upon.

IODINE

Iodine, as a trace element does appear to be important to several macroalgae, shrimp and coral species, but because natural levels are so low (0.06 ppm), it is very difficult to test and maintain these levels with standard test kits. As such, I don’t recommend dosing iodine as a supplement with the intent to keep levels consistent with natural seawater.

IDEAL VALUE

0.06 ppm

MAGNESIUM

Magnesium is the third most abundant ion in seawater. It is an extremely important ion, but since it is generally present in such high quantities, measuring it and worrying about it just doesn’t seem that practical to me. It is a critically important reef tank parameter, but it tends to only be a problem in advanced situations.

As such, I put it in the ‘nice to know, but don’t need to worry’ bucket. At least for right now.

If you’re already an advanced aquarist, then, you may want to dig a little deeper there.

IDEAL VALUE

1285-1300 ppm

STRONTIUM

Strontium is actually a bit of a controversial supplement in the saltwater aquarium hobby (well, I guess as controversial as something like strontium supplementation could be).

IDEAL VALUE

~8 ppm

So those are the 9 MOST IMPORTANT marine aquarium water parameters plus 3 more important items that are important, but just not worth a lot of your time and effort (in most cases), unless you are having serious problems and are convinced the top 9 values are fine.