Test kit recommendations?

[Sensei_the_dojo]

Just wondering if anyone out there has recommendations or cautions regarding test kits. Neither of our town's lfs even bother to carry them, and our Wal-mart only carries AP's Ammonia test kit and pH test kit with (useless) pH Up and pH Down. Hoping to get a larger tank in the near future and am considering fishless cycling, but certainly can't do that without nitrIte and nitrAte kits now can I?

[Bruddah Chrispy]

I use Aquarium Pharmaceutical's test kit. It's your basic fill-up-a-test-tube and compare-it-to-a-color-chart type thing. It's easy to use, but it doesn't give you very fine granularity. For instance, the pH test has one color for 7.2 and the next is 7.6. And the colors are fairly close. For my purposes, it works fine; but if you need finer granularity, you might look for something else.

HTH.

[125gJoe]

Originally posted by Bruddah Chrispy
I use Aquarium Pharmaceutical's test kit. HTH. Same here.. I tried Red Sea and didn't like/trust the results.. LaMottes is supposed to be real good, but it's expensive.

[gcvt]

I went through plenty of unreliable test kits from Red Sea, Hagen and AP, before I finally ended up using Salifert almost exclusively. LaMotte and Hach are very good too, but cost quite a bit. I'm sticking with Salifert.

[Sumpin'fishy]

I have used AP, Red Sea, Sera, and Salifert test kits. Among them I prefer Salifert for most of the tests (quick and accurate - expensive). I am using Sera kits for Ammonia and Nitrite currently because my LFS had a bad shipment of these tests come in. The powders had gotten moist or something and blocked up like a rock. I have been happy with the results, so far with these two kits. I am also very happy with my Salifert pH, and KH/Alkalinity test kits.

I will say that I DO NOT like the Nitrate test from Salifert. The colors are very hard to distinguish. Especially when these tests are supposed to be great for Saltwater too (require even lower nitrates). My tests always seem to come out somewhere between 2ppm and 10ppm (I think) while my Red Sea (which I'm finishing up) will read at pretty exact levels (easily distinguished colors). I cannot distinguish a difference in readings with the Salifert kit before and after water changes. My Red Sea does....clearly going from 5ppm (after water change) to 20ppm (before). I am currently on the market for a new nitrate test kit.....any recommendations? I would stay with Red Sea, but my LFS doesn't stock them regularly, and I keep hearing bad things about these kits. I might try Sera again with this.