I'm going to be heading to the store soon to find a decent test kit. It's flat out impossible to balance my tank for plants without knowing what's in my water beyond the basic fish stuff.
So what do people generally test for? What should be my top priority when picking out a test kit? I had $100 set aside for an aquarium fund that I wanted to use for a canopy.. but I think this is more important..
CO2 and O2 definitely.. Carbonate Hardness.. then the basics of course (Nitrates, KH, GH(This will give me a good idea of Calcium levels, right?), Ammonia, Nitrites, PH, etc).. then the macronutrients
I'm having trouble finding a testkit that does it all. My Phosphate testkit was for SW and I'm seriously doubting the accuracy, I've never seen a test kit that measures gasous nitrogen or potassium.
I've heard Iron testkits are useless? I'm sure I have enough because of my Fluorite anyways.
uh.. one more thing, can someone explain to me the difference between Nitrates and Nitrogen? I've read that Aquarium Plants need the gassy Nitrogen more than the disolved solid Nitrates. Is this something that should naturally occur in an aquarium with good bio filtration? Turning Nitrates into Nitrogen? Or should it be something I should be concerned about.. where 20ppm Nitrates might not mean I have enough disolved Nitrogen in the water.
I appreciate the help, thanks.
and I'm quickly finding out that planted aquariums aren't that much cheaper than reefs.. oh well, at least I dont cry when I lose a single $5 plant like I did when I would lose a $100 Coral.
So what do people generally test for? What should be my top priority when picking out a test kit? I had $100 set aside for an aquarium fund that I wanted to use for a canopy.. but I think this is more important..
CO2 and O2 definitely.. Carbonate Hardness.. then the basics of course (Nitrates, KH, GH(This will give me a good idea of Calcium levels, right?), Ammonia, Nitrites, PH, etc).. then the macronutrients
I'm having trouble finding a testkit that does it all. My Phosphate testkit was for SW and I'm seriously doubting the accuracy, I've never seen a test kit that measures gasous nitrogen or potassium.
I've heard Iron testkits are useless? I'm sure I have enough because of my Fluorite anyways.
uh.. one more thing, can someone explain to me the difference between Nitrates and Nitrogen? I've read that Aquarium Plants need the gassy Nitrogen more than the disolved solid Nitrates. Is this something that should naturally occur in an aquarium with good bio filtration? Turning Nitrates into Nitrogen? Or should it be something I should be concerned about.. where 20ppm Nitrates might not mean I have enough disolved Nitrogen in the water.
I appreciate the help, thanks.
and I'm quickly finding out that planted aquariums aren't that much cheaper than reefs.. oh well, at least I dont cry when I lose a single $5 plant like I did when I would lose a $100 Coral.
