testing kit?

[1628mna]

i was wondering what kind of testing kits people use/perfer? i have the dip stick kind that test4 diffrent things,nitrates,nitrites,alkalinaty and the ph level. i can never tell what the reading is. am i being to picky on the readings?

thanx in advance
mike

[Live504]

Your not being picky at all. If I was you I would go for the liquid test kits, not the strips. In my testings, the liquid test kits always worked the best. Right now I use Saltwater master liquid test kit. I think I bought it for 30 dollars and got nitrates, nitrite, amonia, ph. Salifert has really good test kits as well, but they can get pricey. For other things like ca, magnesium, phosphates, I use salifert. For alk, I use some tetra kit, it works but its not my favorite.
Hope that helps
-Brandon

[Aadler]

Ya go with salifert if you can. ammonia... doesnt really matter, nor does nitrite, but I would get a salifert nitrate test. as well as the mentioned ca, mg and alk.

[dileggi]

I'm fairly new, but I don't believe you can be too picky about the readings at all. The readings themselves are probably one of the most important things.

I use the API - (American Pharm). I test for PH, amonia, nitrites, nitrates, phosphate, calcium and dKH. I don't know what is the best one out there. I only purchased the one I have because that's the only one my LFS had in stock.

I'm sure if you went with one of the digital or electronic one's you would get more of an accurate reading, but I have never tried one of those, and I'm not sure which one's are available. I think I've seen them for PH and amonia though.

[dileggi]

Originally posted by Aadler
Ya go with salifert if you can. ammonia... doesnt really matter, nor does nitrite, but I would get a salifert nitrate test. as well as the mentioned ca, mg and alk.

Now I am confused! I knew that nitrites didn't really matter. I kind of just them for fun. But, why doesn't amonia matter? I thought that REALLY mattered?

[kau_cinta_ku]

yes ammonia matters, but mainly only when setting up a new tank and if you have problems.

I had to finally go out and buy a new ammonia test kit because I am curing rock but the last time I used the ammonia test kit that I got when I set up the tank was over 3 years ago ( so it was to old to use) but still good to have one in case of emergancy.

[dileggi]

Thanks Kau! Does that mean I've been wasting my time testing for it? Oh well, I guess it only takes a total of 5 minutes to actually test for it, so no biggie! LOL!

Thanks again!

[kau_cinta_ku]

I wouldn't say a waste of time. heck you have it why not use it

I ended up throwing out 3/4 of my ammonia kit because I never used it once my tank was stable.

but once your tank gets to the point of being stable the ammonia should never raise.

[edandsandy]

API test kits are the best IMO