Should I trust the Quick Dip water tests?

severum mama said:
Agreed, the strips are fairly worthless compared to the liquid kits.
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Thats like saying a dodge durango is fairly worthless next to a cadillac escalade ... when we both know (or should know) they both can do "about" the same thing.

Certainly the strips are not as accurate as the test tube/reagent kits, but IMO the strips work well enough to see drastic spikes or to be used as quick-alerts.

I use the API master kit, quick dip sticks, & seachem hangers and have found them all to function as advertised.

So while I wouldnt recommend anyone rely on the sticks alone, I see no problem with using them.
 
thing is though is that while they might show a drastic spike, what's a drastic spike ? Any increase in ammonia/nitrite and I want to be sure my test kit would pick it up.
 
Well it has been a while due to the fact that I work out of town but I just tested my water and i compared the quick dip vs. the API liquid kit.

Liquid API Quick DIP
Ammonia 0 Not Possible
Nitrate 5 20
Nitrite 0 0
PH 8.2 8

So not bad but i will say that i will trust the API liquid test. Thanks for the help.
 
Certainly the strips are not as accurate as the test tube/reagent kits, but IMO the strips work well enough to see drastic spikes or to be used as quick-alerts.
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Um... but they really don't work that well, and as they are exposed to moisture in the air, they work even less. Why would anyone bother wasting the money on both strips and a liquid kit? Is it really such a pain to run through the liquid tests? And furthermore, if the tank is established and you are keeping up on the maintenance, and you have a pretty good handle on what's going on, why would you even need a quick alert anyway?
 
zachjohnson65 said:
So i ordered API test kit from Fosters.
I thought that I read that Rainbow do not due well with alot of water changes.
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Not true, I do at least weekly 30% changes on my tank with rainbows, and I sometimes do as much as 60%, the rainbows almost always respond with breeding behavior and the males show off their breeding stripes, which meaning they're feeling good and ready for action! You may have read something about raising rainbow fry. In the first month of life, rainbow fry are very sensitive to changes in water temperature, so it's best to do minimal water changes for very young fry and match the temp precisely.
You don't have OTS, your tank hasn't been running long enough, and you've been doing the weekly w/c, it's actually more likely that the tank is still cycling from the addition of the rainbows a month ago, so bigger w/c are better.
 
Test strips..not in my house or tanks....
 
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