fry_lover
Fred and the Fredettes
Okay, well two disclaimers first
1. I know test kits can be unreliable in general, especially nitrAte ones
2. I know some people view any nitrAte level under 50 or even 100 mg/l (ppm) to be acceptable and therefore don't really bother with nitrAte testing
3. The prices are based on my experience of prices in the LFS, you can get them cheaper on e-bay and other on-line sources (but you got to factor in postage too)
Well i love the testing side of fish keeping and i definitely think my obsessive traits are exposed here
Over the last year i have used four different types of NitrAte test kit and i want to give my feedback and conclusions
Starting with the one i favour least is Nutrafin which i have used many times, from many different actual kits, mostly as i end up buying the Nutrafin "master kit" whenever Maidenhead Aquatics have it on sale. The cost of this test kits purchased on its own is usually about the £7.50 mark and it does 80 tests, making it about £0.09 per test. I don't like it because....
The colour chart i find is the least helpful of all four Nitrate kits i have used, and in my experience, compared to the other 3 kits, it tends to "exaggerate" slightly the reading going by the chart (i.e. it would be easy to think you have 20mg/l) when the other kits would tell you, its 5-10mg/l. I learnt this from testing my tap water with various kits.
The colour chart also goes; 5,10,20,50,100 mg/l and as most of our readings are going to be in the 10-80 mg/l range i would like it to be a bit more specific and there is VERY LITTLE difference in the colours between a reading of 10mg/l and 50 mg/l.
So i say don't bother with the Nutrafin NitrAte test kit, i certainly would never buy it again as a stand alone NitrAte test. Although it does work out quite cheap per test.
My favourite test kit for NitrAte is JBL, but at my local LFS its £13 for 50 tests, which makes that £0.26 per test. Its my favourite because the colour chart breaks the readings down to 1,5,10,20,40,60,80,120,160 and even up to 240 mg/l and its very easy to tell the difference between a reading of 10mg/l and 40mg/l (unlike the Nutrafin colour chart). The powder you use is also easier to use than the Tetra test kit (see below) and you only have to use x2 different reagents (one powder and one liquid)
The next best one and very close to the level of JBL for me is the TETRA kit, it also uses a powder and seems to give more detailed and specific results than the Nutrafin one. The only reason i actually prefer the JBL one is that the TETRA one includes x3 Reagents and also managing the portions of powder you use is a little trickier than the JBL one. It generally costs about £11 for 45 tests, making it £0.24 per test
The other kit i have used loads is the API one, which is non-powdered and has x2 reagents. This is certainly more reliable in my experience than the Nutrafin (non-powder kit) but not quite as good as the two mentioned above, JBL and TETRA. The chart is definitely easier to read than Nutrafin and it generally costs about £8 for 90 tests, making it £0.09 per test
CONCLUSIONS
- NitrAte kits that include a powder seem to be better
- You get what you pay for, with my two favourite kits costing about 24-26p per test and the others costing only 9p per test.
- If you want a decent economical kit go for the API one, if you want to aim for slightly easier to read (and possibly more accurate results) go for JBL or Tetra one.
1. I know test kits can be unreliable in general, especially nitrAte ones
2. I know some people view any nitrAte level under 50 or even 100 mg/l (ppm) to be acceptable and therefore don't really bother with nitrAte testing
3. The prices are based on my experience of prices in the LFS, you can get them cheaper on e-bay and other on-line sources (but you got to factor in postage too)
Well i love the testing side of fish keeping and i definitely think my obsessive traits are exposed here
Over the last year i have used four different types of NitrAte test kit and i want to give my feedback and conclusions
Starting with the one i favour least is Nutrafin which i have used many times, from many different actual kits, mostly as i end up buying the Nutrafin "master kit" whenever Maidenhead Aquatics have it on sale. The cost of this test kits purchased on its own is usually about the £7.50 mark and it does 80 tests, making it about £0.09 per test. I don't like it because....
The colour chart i find is the least helpful of all four Nitrate kits i have used, and in my experience, compared to the other 3 kits, it tends to "exaggerate" slightly the reading going by the chart (i.e. it would be easy to think you have 20mg/l) when the other kits would tell you, its 5-10mg/l. I learnt this from testing my tap water with various kits.
The colour chart also goes; 5,10,20,50,100 mg/l and as most of our readings are going to be in the 10-80 mg/l range i would like it to be a bit more specific and there is VERY LITTLE difference in the colours between a reading of 10mg/l and 50 mg/l.
So i say don't bother with the Nutrafin NitrAte test kit, i certainly would never buy it again as a stand alone NitrAte test. Although it does work out quite cheap per test.
My favourite test kit for NitrAte is JBL, but at my local LFS its £13 for 50 tests, which makes that £0.26 per test. Its my favourite because the colour chart breaks the readings down to 1,5,10,20,40,60,80,120,160 and even up to 240 mg/l and its very easy to tell the difference between a reading of 10mg/l and 40mg/l (unlike the Nutrafin colour chart). The powder you use is also easier to use than the Tetra test kit (see below) and you only have to use x2 different reagents (one powder and one liquid)
The next best one and very close to the level of JBL for me is the TETRA kit, it also uses a powder and seems to give more detailed and specific results than the Nutrafin one. The only reason i actually prefer the JBL one is that the TETRA one includes x3 Reagents and also managing the portions of powder you use is a little trickier than the JBL one. It generally costs about £11 for 45 tests, making it £0.24 per test
The other kit i have used loads is the API one, which is non-powdered and has x2 reagents. This is certainly more reliable in my experience than the Nutrafin (non-powder kit) but not quite as good as the two mentioned above, JBL and TETRA. The chart is definitely easier to read than Nutrafin and it generally costs about £8 for 90 tests, making it £0.09 per test
CONCLUSIONS
- NitrAte kits that include a powder seem to be better
- You get what you pay for, with my two favourite kits costing about 24-26p per test and the others costing only 9p per test.
- If you want a decent economical kit go for the API one, if you want to aim for slightly easier to read (and possibly more accurate results) go for JBL or Tetra one.
