Best Test Kit?
- Thread starter Snid
- Start date
frisbee
Well-Known Member
For crucial things like alkalinity, calcium, & magnesium, I would go with some of the more reliable test kits like Salifert, Red Sea, or Elos. For things such as ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, & pH, some of the cheaper test kits on the market should be ok. (API, Tetra, Nutrafin, etc) If your lucky though, your LFS will do some of the basic tests for free, so you could save a few bucks.
SydneyReefer
Member
I think different brands offer good tests for certain things. For instance I like using Salifert for KH and Red Sea tests for Phosphate. Salifert in terms of price to quality ratio are fairly good the only criticism I would have is the box and instructions are not made for water and can deteriorate if not looked after properly whereas Red Sea is laminated. I'm careful so I mostly use Salifert and have had no problems. Some people above are saying that Salifert is expensive but here in Australia that's the cheapest one I can find at my LFS and works the best.
Sera tests kits are cheaper actually! But they're terrible. I personally would avoid them.
Maybe start off with an all encompassing kit. Learn the ropes and then you can start buying individually in terms of what you like and what you find easiest to use and cheaper.
Sera tests kits are cheaper actually! But they're terrible. I personally would avoid them.
Maybe start off with an all encompassing kit. Learn the ropes and then you can start buying individually in terms of what you like and what you find easiest to use and cheaper.
Snid
Active Member
I've started testing for Calcium, using the API version. I have the Salifert for Magnesium on order.
Question though... I held off on buying one for Alkalinity. One of my LFS peeps, (which I don't solely rely on, hence my questioning here) claims that there is no real reason to test Alkalinity unless the pH starts going awry. They claimed that if the pH is always in the clear, so to will be the Alkalinity. So, here I am asking, just to get confirmation because it seems odd to me to not test something, but at the same time the LFS was turning down a potential sale which made me think that they were telling me the truth even more than normal.
Question though... I held off on buying one for Alkalinity. One of my LFS peeps, (which I don't solely rely on, hence my questioning here) claims that there is no real reason to test Alkalinity unless the pH starts going awry. They claimed that if the pH is always in the clear, so to will be the Alkalinity. So, here I am asking, just to get confirmation because it seems odd to me to not test something, but at the same time the LFS was turning down a potential sale which made me think that they were telling me the truth even more than normal.
Alk is far more important in my view to ph. For example if my kh was 9 or if it was 7 my ph would be ok, however the difference between alk would indicate especially if moving from one reading towards the other I would know I'm heading towards trouble that I need to rectify sooner than worrying about ph.
reefer gladness
Well-Known Member
Absolutely terrible advise from your LFS but not surprising as it happens all the time. Alkalinity is one of the most important things to test for. It's true that if you have pH issues it is related to alkalinity 99% of the time but the reverse is not true. There are elements included in many of the popular salt mixes that lock in the pH around 8.1-8.4 and by the time the pH swings outside that range the alkalinity is usually pretty far out of whack and your corals will be suffering as a result.
As I would expect, the LFS people demonstrate once again that they are clueless when it comes to any kind of advanced aquarium system.
pH, alkalinity, calcium, and magnesium are all interrelated. You should not attempt to adjust one with out knowing the others.
Here are a couple of good articles on the subject and they go in to far more detail than I could in a post here (offsite links) -
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-06/rhf/
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2002/11/chemistry
To touch on your original question about what test kit is best, all of the brands so far mentioned are hobby grade test kits. They are fine to use, but always be skeptical because sometimes they go bad. If you want extreme accuracy you can get the lab grade test kits made by Hach or LaMotte, but most of them are extremely expensive, typically costing about $80 up per test kit.
Snid
Active Member
MrSalt, Reefer, and DaveK... Thanks a bunch! You guys confirmed my suspicions and then some. +1 to each of you!!! I'll be ordering an Alk test very shortly as well. Luckily for me, it is too early for corals just yet and I am just starting to test to see where things are at and if I need to be gradually adjusting them into the right direction.
Topline Marines
Member
Im using salifert for Alk CA and MG but my LFS has warned me they can be inaccurate sometimes especially MG upto 100 out, they now use JBL marin test lab. So who do you trust and which tests really are the best, In the past ive used JBL test lab and API but I tend to believe what the saliferts are telling me to be more accurate than the rest but that's just me.
Is this the same Lfs that told you alk isn't important?
I use various kits from differing company's mainly due to user feedback on sites like this and the zeovit forum. So this is what I use, to trust each would be a mistake so I Varify by retesting each result if its massively different from the last half weekly test. Usually if there is a error its on my part lol
Salifert for nitrate, nitrite and ammonia. Also potassium (highly recommended due to its end point colour shift is obvious)
Red Sea for calcium and mag (also alk from time to time to add variety to my alk test)
Elos for phoshate crossed with a hanna checker
Fuana marine for alk (very easy)
HTH
I use various kits from differing company's mainly due to user feedback on sites like this and the zeovit forum. So this is what I use, to trust each would be a mistake so I Varify by retesting each result if its massively different from the last half weekly test. Usually if there is a error its on my part lol
Salifert for nitrate, nitrite and ammonia. Also potassium (highly recommended due to its end point colour shift is obvious)
Red Sea for calcium and mag (also alk from time to time to add variety to my alk test)
Elos for phoshate crossed with a hanna checker
Fuana marine for alk (very easy)
HTH