Test Kits

[TropicalFuse]

Do you have a test kit ?


If so do you use them every day?


Whats in these test kits ?

 

[Teelie]

LOL... everyone should have the "3 basics" which are ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. They should be used at least every two weeks. Other good kits to have are pH, GH, KH and if you're really anal about the conditions there is phosphate, copper, oxygen levels, CO2 levels (mostly good for heavily planted tanks) and numerous others.

The rest aren't really a concern unless you have fish that need a certain type of condition, like soft or hard water with a high or low pH or if you're trying to breed some fish.

 

[TropicalFuse]

what is pH, GH, KH ?

Can you buy these in the same kit?


If so how much do they mostly cost?


You check for thses every 2 weeks?

Breeding you do this eveyr day or so?

 

[Teelie]

There are all in one test kits for pH, GH, KH and others that either do them all at once (usually dip strips) or come in packages with seperate test kits (liquid or tab drop kits) and pH is the acidity or base of the water, gh is the amount of alaklinity and kh is the hardness.

When breeding, you set up the water conditions first and then monitor them for however long the process takes. Since different fish have different breeding behaviors and requirements there's no way to really give you any specific advice on that.

 

[angel_eyes0857]

i never had a test kit.. but i was going to the LFS evry other day and i think they were getting tired of seeing me. i bought my own kit, i'm in canada...
it has high and low range pH
kh
gh
ammonia
and nitrite

i dont yet have a test for nitrAtes.. as to not sure where to find one. but they help, that way you know what is going on with your fish and your water. they come in handy at the same time as making you worry about every little change
pros and cons to everything though right

 

[Dakota Ice]

I have ammonia and Ph test kits. I dont really use them either..

I guess I'm too lazy or something, but I dont see the point of test kits in a well established aquarium that gets frequent water changes. The only reason I see fit for bringing out those test tubes is if any fish is sick.

I understand you may need to use the kits for the cycling process, but those kits are NOT cheap at all, and I wasnt exactly up to pissing my parents off more by asking for more stuff. Especially stuff I wont even use after the cycle.

I hope no one jumps on me for this, and I hope I dont loose my credibility, but its the truth.

Dakota

 

[ajhainey]

I have a 'master' kit - ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and two kinds of ph (high specific and low specific). I need to track down KH and GH and some of those 'quick strips' as the dropper tests are a pain....

I use my test kit twice a day when cycling a tank (as I am now) and about once a fortnight on my established tank - as it hasn't shown any problems for months I tend to be a bit blase about testing it...If the fish look sick I do but otherwise not

As far as I know lfs in the uk don't offer the 'bring me your water' service? Certainly none of mine do, test kits for the basic three (ammonia/nitrite/nitrate) are pretty cheap anyway, compared to a tank/fish/plants/filter/lights etc...

aj x

 

[Teelie]

The kits are useful for an established tank because they can show signs of a problem before they become a problem and starting making fish sick or dead. Of course not everyone does that and some get away with it, some don't. In the end it's up to personal preference though no matter what, you should have the kits on hand even if you don't use them often.

 

[TropicalFuse]

Thanks you guys

 

[angel_eyes0857]

my kit with high ph, low ph, ammonia, nitrItes, gh and kh was only 29.88 plus tax. was on sale from just 34.99
not too bad if you ask me for all that stuff

 

[appleblossom]

As far as I know lfs in the uk don't offer the 'bring me your water' service?

Have you asked? I would have thought that they wouldnt mind testing your water if you were thinking about buying fish from them, or had ill fish so that they could best reccommend a solution.

I buy my test strips from ebay as the shops round here only sell the individual kits which works out a bit expensive, or as you are in the US you could try these from Petsmart.
"These strips make it easier than ever to monitor the water quality in your aquarium. All-in-one strips test for pH, nitrate, nitrite, hardness and alkalinity. Just dip and read for fast, accurate results in seconds. 25 strips per package. " and $9.99 sounds like a good price

 

[Bol]

After a tank is established, I usually only check for nitrates, once a week.

Oddly enough, I find myself testing my tap water more often than my tank water.

... but that's another story.

 

[WheelmanCA19]

I bought a back of those test strips @ petsmart. Then I heard they weren't so accurate and when ahead and got Ammonia, Nitrate, and Nitrite liquid tests. My tanks cycling right now so I was testing every other day and now that I'm in a Nitrite spike I'm testig close to twice a day because I really want it to be ready to add fish to it.

 

[Teelie]

I don't see the point in testing every day, even during a cycling. It's not going to go down or up dramatically in the course of a day. Maybe every 2-3 days I tested my tank and the cycle went fine in about 27 days.

 

[WheelmanCA19]

^There isn't a point other than I'm impatient.