Test Kit suggestions.

[PotRoast]

I am new to the hobby and need a good, reliable, quality test kit for a marine reef aquarium.

Please advise, and thank you.

[Catpicklesdog]

I always use the Salifert ones. To start off you'll need nitrAtes, NitrItes and ammonia. I always have a phosphate test kit as well. Depending on what you want in your tank, will depend on whether you need further kits.

I know a lot of people also use the API test kits.

HTH

[Ace25]

IMO, Phosphate test kits are meaningless in a tank. They are only good for testing freshly made batches of SW before you put it into your tank. I have a bunch of Salifert tests, and for the most part, are good. One exception is the Calcium test, some reason those really suck, and give off very odd results compared to 3 other CA test kits I have from other makers.

[Catpicklesdog]

IMO, Phosphate test kits are meaningless in a tank. They are only good for testing freshly made batches of SW before you put it into your tank. I have a bunch of Salifert tests, and for the most part, are good. One exception is the Calcium test, some reason those really suck, and give off very odd results compared to 3 other CA test kits I have from other makers.

I only mention phosphates because I had a really, really bad experience with phosphates:eek:. Which other test kits do you recommend, especially for calcium, as I only use Salifert ones so would be interested to hear what your reading were and what you recommend. Mine seem to be reading OK considering how well my corals are doing.

[Ace25]

Here is an example I just did over the weekend to test my salt mix. At the moment, I can't say with 100% accuracy which test is better than another, or which one is more "true".. but right now I am leaning towards Seachem for my CA tests. I will stick with Salifert for all my others though as I never had any issues with the rest of their test kits.

OceanPure Pro salt, RO/DI water. All tests were done 3 times in a row to verify readings. There has been a debate in my local reef club about salt brands/calcium levels and tests so we are all trying to get to the bottom of the odd readings.

CA Readings
380 - Salifert (had it come up 340 once, 400 another time, and 380 3 times.. all with the same batch of water)
420 - Aquarium Pharmaceuticals
440 - Seachem
500 - Red Sea (don't trust this one either)

Now Mg is a different story, all of our tests/brands all came to the same results on Mg.. 1480-1500 using OceanPure Pro salt.

[Reefscape]

I'm always a stickler for phosphate test kits too.....along with the other above...Yes, it may not be much good for the tank, but for testing premixed water, i feel its well worth the investment...Salifert and API for me..

[Ace25]

Yes, I agree, it is very important to test freshly mixed water for Phosphates so you know what, if any, you are putting into your tank... once it is in your tank though, the algae consumes it and seems to always give off false test readings, ie, 0 phosphates and the tank is full of hair algae and cyano. I understand the reason behind that now, so I don't test my tank for phosphates anymore because it is pointless in the tank.

[madeley]

A little off topic, but why is a phosphate test kit no good at testing tank water, do other things affect its accuracy?

[BeelzeBob]

i used red sea for awhile and they sucked.

salifet is expensive.

API seems to be spot on, and is what i currently use. if i have any questions, i just take a lil water to the LFS, and use their saliferts as a check. no issues yet w/ API

[BeelzeBob]

A little off topic, but why is a phosphate test kit no good at testing tank water, do other things affect its accuracy?

what ace is sayinf is that the badnasties like cyano, HA, etc, use up phos so fast that even though its present, tests will not show a dissolved consistancy like N02, N03, ammonia, calc, mag, etc because it has been used by said growing things.

so like he says, if you test for phos in a tank w/ a bunch of cyano and HA, the test will read "0" phos

[Reefscape]

what ace is sayinf is that the badnasties like cyano, HA, etc, use up phos so fast that even though its present, tests will not show a dissolved consistancy like N02, N03, ammonia, calc, mag, etc because it has been used by said growing things.

so like he says, if you test for phos in a tank w/ a bunch of cyano and HA, the test will read "0" phos


Exactly....trace elements of phosphate will be absorbed continuously by the plague macro algae, thus, under normal circumstances, you'll get a reading of zero, because its already been used up..

[madeley]

Got it, just test for phosphates in a new mix of salt water, unless there are big tank issues.
Thanks for that guys.

[Catpicklesdog]

I often get a reading of phosphates from my tank but zero going in. I got a bit lazy on rinsing the frozen food!!! I might try aother test kit for calcium though and see what I get. I used to always get a high reading of calcium but it has reduced - since I added some more hard corals.

[madeley]

Funny you should mention changing test kits, i had two salifert magnesium kits and there's 100ppm difference between the too, there both in date!! but what to change to.

[Amphiprion]

Try Elos. That is all I use.

[Catpicklesdog]

Try Elos. That is all I use.

Unfortunately I don't think we can get Elos in the UK. I've just had a quick scout round with Google but nothing came up for UK. I did have a look at a few of the U.S sites and it does look good - but expensive:grinyes:

[Amphiprion]

They are an Italian company to begin with and you guys are a lot closer than I am. I know there HAS to be somewhere in the UK you can get them--maybe even for better prices than in the US (like Deltec and the like). Unfortunately, I don't know which UK stores would be ideal.