rediculous!

[Celeste]

this is just a little rant. why cant they make a test strip specifically for cycling tanks that measures Ammonia, Nitrites, and nitrates??

they have to have a $10 bottle of just ammonia test strips, and another $10 bottle of Nitrate/Nitrite/PH/alkalinity/hardness test strips.

blah!

my mom still has like half a bottle of the 5 in 1 test strips from when we set up our pond, and she hasnt used them since, so i'll see if she'll let me have those, then i'll just buy the ammonia ones.....

[cyberbeer65]

BLAH! Try ordering online,or see if your local megapetrmart matches online prices.

[Roan Art]

this is just a little rant. why cant they make a test strip specifically for cycling tanks that measures Ammonia, Nitrites, and nitrates??

they have to have a $10 bottle of just ammonia test strips, and another $10 bottle of Nitrate/Nitrite/PH/alkalinity/hardness test strips..
You'd be better off buying a liquid chemical master test kit. Almost everyone agrees that they are more accurate than the strips.

I paid around $30 for my Aquarium Pharmacueticals Master Freshwater Kit (Ammonia, Nitrites, Nitrates, pH and pH High) at the LFS. They're only $15.99 (with shipping probably around 22$) at BigAlsOnLine.com and 14.99$ at PetSmart.com. You might be able to get your local PetSmart to honor that online price.

The good thing about the Master Kits is that they will last a LOT longer than those test strips. Mine says there are 75 tests for Ammonia (which is one of the ones that takes the most liquid) and even if I test my water weekly, it should last at least a year.

Roan

[pitthull]

I agree with Roan -- I personally bought both the Freshwater Master Kit and the strips -- I wanted to have a double-check of my chem kit. I have found though (and others here have confirmed) that the 5-in-1 strips are somewhat inaccurate. I seem to get accurate (within .1 or .2) reading from the pH pad -- and my kH and gH pads seem okay too -- but the nitrite and nitrate pad read WAY greater on my pads than on my chem kit. They agree with my chem kit when the readings are zero -- but even very small readings with my chem kit result in VERY pink pads for trites and trates.

[Lady G]

I am soooo glad to hear that about the strips!! I had been testing my tank using them and my trates were outragous according to them, I had others at this site tell me the same thing about the liquid/stip test so I did order the liquid cant wait to get it and test my tank to find out the real results!!! It's just nice to hear someone else say that I was feeling so bad, had been doing 30-50% water changes every 2-3 days and still was testing high. I would suggest getting a liquid testing kit also, I believe these guys on here do know what they are talking about, been coming here with lots of questions and they have helped me in sooooooo many ways!! --Thanks guy's/gal's your are GREAT--

[mooman]

this is just a little rant. why cant they make a test strip specifically for cycling tanks that measures Ammonia, Nitrites, and nitrates??

I believe it's got something to do with the chemical reactions involved. The ammonia test needs to be swished for 30 sec, while the 5in1 needs only one quick dunk.