Fresh water test kits - recommendations

[Borrego]

Looking for recommendations on water test kits. Don't know if there are any battery powered probes that will do the trick or if the test strips with the color codes are still in use. Not afraid to spend the money for a quality product, simply trying to protect as best I can any future tanks I set up and their inhabitants.
There will be locally sourced driftwood as well as rocks in the tank, no live plants. Substrate will be gravel, washed and well rinsed. No sand. Size is 60 gallons.
I can control the temperature of the water with a heater, but I would like to pay much more attention to the living environment I provide the fish by monitoring the quality of the water they are in.
All suggestions are welcomed.

 

[dudley]

Welcome to AC!

I've always used the API Master test kit with the reagents and test tubes which comes with the low/high pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate tests. I also bought the KH and GH tests separately as they don't come in the Master kit.

 

[dougall]

The big $100 Sera water test box is good for a hobby level test kit.

Nutrafin is fairly well regarded too.

(I would hardly call the API test 'master' but it's the most popular by far)

But they are all useless if you don't test your water... It might be easier to just use test strips and make sure the reagents on them don't become too oxidized.

Maybe say specifically what you want to test. You already said you won't be keeping plants so CO2 testing won't be needed, and depending on fish nor would hardness (or pH)

Separate tests for ammonia and ammonium can be good especially if you have chloramine in your supply.. as can testing chlorine or chloramine for that matter..

Maybe getting a TDS and pH test pen would be worthwhile for you too.

It's all a question of what you need.

 

[fishorama]

Welcome to AC. I use API test kits like dudley does. I have used strips & while many here don't like them I found the results similar to API but more of a range than specific numbers. The 6 in 1 strips include ammonia (especially important when cycling a new tank BEFORE you get fish); the 5 in 1 strips don't include that. Don't forget to test your tap water too after letting it sit for 24 hours.

There are fish that are fine or actually prefer "room" temp. It'll depend on what fish you want to keep. A 60g will give you lots of options. You might want to list your possible fish before you buy & we can help you with nice stocking options.

Collecting local rocks & wood can be fun. But some areas have mostly limestone which can raise pH (probably others too, I'm no geologist).

Wood can be "iffy" unless you can tell what kind it is. Not many are "toxic" to fish (maybe yew? etc?) but softwoods like pine can be hard to waterlog enough so it sinks. Also if the wood has been in water you might have to remove any rotting soft parts. Last time I did that I found a 4+ft thick branch. By the time I removed all the squishy wood I was left with 2 16 inch much skinnier pieces, lol. It smelled sweet like fruit, maybe cherry. I'm not sure I actually used it in a tank...

I used to have a site saved about tanks & safe woods, I'm not sure I do any more. You can soak wood or rocks in storage tubs & test the water. Most people don't like the tannin colored water from newer wood & it can lower the pH for at least a while. Wood like maple, oak, apple are OK. I saw a recent AC post about bouganvilla wood, I have no idea...I bet not many do...Sometimes safer is less sorry. My motto, when in doubt, NO!

Where I live now (CA) manzanita is often used. It's often has many thin branches that will rot faster...& I'm too klutzy for that style, I'm sure I'd get my arm caught & destroy my tankscape sooner than later.

Beware lichens on the wood. I tried a cork bark tank once & I liked the few cool looking lichens, like a copper patina! But they played heck with my ammonia levels for a long while. I asked here & on several boards before I finally got an answer.

Bark can also fall off or cause problems, I prefer no bark on wood.

 

[dougall]

If you are going to collect wood and rocks from the wild, you can likely collect your fish too.

They will do well at ambient temperatures so not require a heater. Personally I'm not using a heater in 10+ tanks,one or 2 do have a heater in and I still have plenty of options.

I have wild Bettas, long fin white clouds, Aspidoras, pseudomugil, gourami, panda Garra, Akysis vespa, ornamental shrimp and likely others I am forgetting. Only Pseudomugil and licorice samurai gourami have heaters.

Knowing the water parameters needed by the inhabitants of the tank will be key, making sure they are all compatible may be a challenge depending how many you want

 

[Borrego]

I am greatly appreciative of the recommendations so far. A little more information:
I am in the Los Angeles area where the LADWP supplies the water. Driftwood was collected from a dry creek bed and was not submerged in water when collected. I had to submerge it in water for 7-10 days to get it to sink.
In the 60 gallon, the residents in it are set: oscars. Not sure of the clean up crew yet, but there will be a few snails in there for sure.
During a recent visit to Petsmart, the wife, who is not a fish person at all, dragged me by the arm to the juvenile tiger oscar tank and said they were the prettiest fish she had ever seen.
I have all the equipment and the empty 60 gallon, all I have to do is set it up and cycle it before purchasing any oscars. I am looking at 3-4 juveniles initially. Now, if I do it correctly with patience when they start to outgrow the 60 gallon, I can buy a tank 2 or 3 times that size without any approval needed.
Bottom line: I'm just trying to do the right thing for the oscars I will purchasing in the not too distant future.

 

[Adler]

like people have said API freshwater test kit is recommended, also if you find their glass test tubes kind of annoying specially for the nitrate test which requires reopening the tube you can try these plastic test tubes .

one that I do NOT recommend is the Seachem tests. none of the seachem test i bought worked, a week ago i was about to buy their phos test and store clerk himself told me not to buy it

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Here is the truth- if you want to do truely accurate testing then it will cost you many $1,000s. This is because you will need to get lab grade equipment. It is very rare that anybody not a researcher or a public Auqarium needs this level of testing.

As mentioned above what determine the kits you should get are the parameters you want to monitor. Most hobby kits wheather they use reagents we must mix into a water sample or they are test stips you dunk, the results are shown as a color. if you had lab grade equipment it would include a spectrum analyzer to determine the exact color. But we humant have subjective vision and the same sample result shown to three different fish keepers often elicits three different interpretations.

That said, most of us still test as needed. Like those above I do use the API test kits, However, I also have some digital testing equipment. I no longer test for certain things at all such as nitrite or nitrate. There are many things I do not now never have I ever tested either. Here is what I do use:

API Ammonia test for Total Ammonia (NH3 + NH4). (I just ordered a new one.)
API Normal Range pH. (My water has never been above 7.6 and is now neutral or below.)
API GH (I rarely use this but it is not never.)
API KH

Digital Equipment:
2 x HM TDS meters which read in ppm and also reads temp. in C. These I dip to test and they use a battery.
1 x Blue Lab Guardian continuous monitor. On one tank and for its changing water) Reads conductivity or TDS (2 dif ways), Temp. in F or C and pH. This device needs to be recalibrated every few months so I have pH 4, 7 and 10 calibration solutions. This device plugs into an electrical outlet.

Kits I have and have not used in many years (some may be expired):
API Nitrite
API Nitrite
API High pH

I owned two pH pens in the past. The tip needs to be stored in a special solution when not in use because once you use the probe, if it dries out it becomes useless. Both my pens crapped out pretty fast and it was really 3 as the 1st was replaced by the manufacturer.

I should say that for a number of years I have had to get a number of tanks up and fish safe for temporary purpose. One such are my outdoor summer tanks. Another is when I attend a weekend fish event as a vendor or doing room sales (where permitted). So, I need to have multiple cycled set-ups. Instead of cycling tanks, I cycle filters in a single tank. I am running a bio-farm. This has a heavy demand on ammonia testing plus KH, pH and TDS. This is not common for most in the hobby and is mostly when I use the API tests and the TDS meters.

 

[fishorama]

Well, it sounds like you have a good plan for cycling etc. Cichlids are a lot of fun, very people interactive! I'm not sure how fast oscars grow, I've never kept them. You might want just 3 in case things change, they often do. And to encourage your wife's sudden fish interest you might "let" her pick at least 1 or 2 fish with possible naming rights, lol. My husband & I have kept fish for 40+ years (almost as long as we've been married ). Over the years 1 or the other has been the "main fish person".

In SoCal you might not need a heater often, maybe winter nights? (I'm in NoCA) Go with a heater with a metal guard to protect it & your big fish. It'll only come on & use energy if needed so not much $$ beyond the initial investment.

What filter(s) will you have? 2 would be my choice. Get into early habits of big regular weekly water changes. If you miss a week sometimes it won't matter as much as if you're barely keeping up with maintenance (check nitrate, under 20 is good, under 10 better ). Big fish, lotsa food & poo need lotsa clean water. Use your test kit to help you decide on amounts until you get the hang of the tank. But, of course as fish grow you'll need to up your game.

& just so you know, we love pics of fish, tank set ups. & if you have cycling questions we can help there too.

 

[jake72]

hanna has some more expensive tests - they are a bit easier to read but they are not cheap.