Testing Kits?

[drewtah]

Hi All.
I'm just about to start my new tank and I was wondering what testing kits I should get. I read that all you really need while your waiting for your tank to cycle is amonia and nitrate. Once the tank settles I was told to get Saifert Reef test kit.
Does that sound right? Am I getting too much?

[bheron]

you should start with the main 4:

PH
Nitrite
Nitrate
Ammonia

If youre going to add corals, then you'll need calcium and a few others.

I've always believed the best have been any type of "tablet" test kits, where you drop a tablet in a test tube. Salifert is an excellent choise.

[bertoni]

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.php

That article talks about all the water parameters.

Items I think you'll want to check:

alkalinity
calcium
pH
temperature
ammonia
SG

Now and then, I test:

magnesium
phosphate

You might want to have a nitrate test kit on hand, too, in case you have an algae problem, although it'd really more important when you have stony corals, IMO.

[Spuds725]

I think you missed nitrate...

I would skip the Salifert Master test kits- they are kind of pricey-- you really don't need that accurate of a nitrite or amonia test kit IMO-- as long as they can see what you are testing for (detectable levels)-- you should only see these during cycling anyway... the levels of these are less important then their existance.

I do recommend the Salifert Nitrate, pH, alkalinity, and calcium kits-- haven't used any others-- my previous calcium test was off by 50 ppm (on the low side).

Some test kits are just hard to see the various levels-- saliferts are pretty good in this respect.

To start off-- pH, ammonia, nitrite, Nitrate should be fine--- I'd get a refractometer for your salinity....maybe get the Phospate too.

Calcium and alkalinity if you want to keep this up and keep your coraline algae spreading or if you keep corals...

Remember you want to be able to test for anything you add-- so if you dose calcium of buffer-- you will need a calcium and alk test kits.

[drewtah]

How often should I be testing these various components?

[drewtah]

Also, isn't pH and alkalinity the same thing?

[markandkristen]

during cycling i would do it every 2-3 days so you can see each change. as the amonia rises , peaks then comes down nitrite rises peaks then comes down>nitrate rises peaks and then comes down then wait a couple of days after its at zero or close to zero then you can start either fish or clean up crew

[markandkristen]

im not a damsel fan and youll see what were talking about when you try to catch that fish to trade it in. they are so fast you will start cussing and kicking the aquarium LOL!

[markandkristen]

my sermon. speaking from killing over 500 dollars worth of fish. add your fish slowly . dont think you are going to be a albert einstein or a bell or edison by being the only one that can add 10 fish at one time. it wont work. i know ive tried it several times. and that lesson can cost you $ and get you very discouraged at this hobby making you want to quit... that was my biggest downfall i think. they would tell me one fish at a time but i said hmm... that only worked for them...boy was i a idiot

[2639]

ph and alkalinity aren't the same thing.
The best kit for the newbie is the master saltwater test kit from aquarium pharmecuticals. I'll post a link in a few.

here's a great article on ph/alkalinity http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/feb2002/chemistry.htm

[bertoni]

You'll need to test alkalinity when you want your coralline and corals to grow. I test every couple weeks, but I've gotten to know how much alkalinity my tank consumes, and so I can test less. At first, you might need to test every few days or so. Luckily, alkalinity tests are cheap. Because calcium and alkalinity are consumed in a fixed ratio, I only test calcium every few months or so. I use B-Ionic and lime to supplement alkalinity and calcium together, so I know they stay in pretty good balance.

I don't think a nitrite test kit is all that useful. The chemistry forum article I posted talks about the details.

I generally don't test for nitrate either, although a new tank might be more prone to that sort of problem. If you start stocking stony corals, nitrate testing becomes more interesting.

During the cycle, I think the suggestion of testing for ammonia every few days is fine. Temperature and SG are worth a test every few days or so as well while the tank is new. Maybe even every day for the SG until you get that dialed in.

[Spuds725]

I test nitrate, pH, Calcium, & Alk weekly--- I only check ammonia if I make any system changes that could affect bio-load or the bio capacity of my setup.

If your fish start acting weird then test for ammonia..

I haven't tested nitrite since I cycled my tank 4 years ago.

[2639]

Nitrite is pretty much harmless anyway. If ammonia is down then most likely nitrites will be too.

I wrote a neat application to track and aid in maintaining a tank. If interested, PM me.

[hans1976]

I tend to agree with Spuds. The one test I add is Phosphate. That is a big contributor to algee.

Salifert Prices (http://www.geocities.com/hans1976/Salifert.html)

A refractometer is a worthwhile investment for checking specific gravity (SG).