Test Kits

[skeets]

Does anyone out there currently use the salifert test kits for ammonia, nitrates, nitrites?
Right now I am just using the boxed set "saltwater master". It is the one that can be bought at petsmart and stuff. It has really crappy incriments and It is impossible to tell what it is at. I dont suspect that I have 0amm, 0nitrate, however if I had even 1, I wouldnt be able to tell on this kit. I just wanted to know how good the saliferts were and if they have closer ranges/easier to read.
I am using the salifert kits for calc, alk, mag, but thats it.
Thanks

[tendar]

I have all 3 kits and the amonia and nitirites are pretty easy to read but the nitrates can be a little tricky if there a little nitrates since it works in shades and can be a little hard to tell in the lower levels but work well.
If you want to try them out you can borrow mine since I rarely use them. Let me know.

[mx_tang]

The salifert test kits are nice for the money. I really like them for the calcium, and are even better than lamotte for that parameter as far as ease of readabililty. Nitrate goes from white to varying degrees of pink, so you need to be under a crisp white light source to discern which shade correlates closest to that concentration of nitrate. Anyway, I'd suggest not getting ammonia or nitrite unless you are curing LR or setting up tanks on a regular basis. The only parameters I routinely check are calcium, alk, and nitrate.

[JHardman]

DR, they are good kits, but you have to get used to reading them. One of the things you can do is use the low range method with the ammonia and nitrate test. Also remember that fish can handle high nitrates ~100ppm without having any real short term problem.

While you are getting used to them, go get that ammonia alert badge I told you about and use that in the QT tank. As soon as you see a color change, do a water change. Then check for nitrites the next day. If the water is getting too hard to manage, I can loan you one of my established foam filters. PetCo carries the ammonia alert badge for under $10 and last quite a long time.

[skeets]

Thanks John,
I am not using the QT tank afterall, and now that I got the tang out of the tank I should be fine.
I just wanted to use the low-range on my tank just to see if there was anything. I dont suspect that there would be but I sure cant tell with these test kits I have.

I have used that badge before, when I had a FW tank, they are nice =D
Thanks for the info guys

[mx_tang]

If you already have the Seachem ammonia alert, you can just go and buy the "stick on adhesive" refill, which costs quite a bit less. I don't know if any local stores carry it, but they should.

If you have any macroalgaes, or even microalgaes, and ammonia is less than .2ppm NH3/NH4+, then they favor that for nitrogen rather that nitrate. The algaes would help keep any residual ammonia that doesn't spike too much in control.

I agree with John about doing water changes during the first sign of ammonia in any type of tank. However, if you ever do want to do have a QT tank or something similar, you can do water changes by taking water from the main tank. Since the main tank is established, you should have 0ppm ammonia and you have the added benefit of the water being used, dissolved of salt, and saturated with O2, etc. Sometimes, new salt might not sit too well with certain fish and/or corals if the change is greater than 30%. Then, just do a mini water change in the display tank to top-off any water that was taken to change water in another aquarium.