Water Parameter Testing

[dayzofspeed]

i am looking at getting the necessary testing kits soon and just started browsing that well known internet auction site when i discovered that api produce 2 differing master kits i want to stick with api as i used them for my fw tank and was always happy with them. it seems strange to me to have 2 different master kits to me master implies its got all you need but apparently not. so do i go for the saltwater master or the reef master (as most here will know i have no livestock/coral in the tank at the moment, just rocks with various micro fauna) and could some kind soul reply with a list of the required tests in order of importance as i may have to resort to getting 1 master and then individual tests in order of importance.

ps i forgot i do have livestock, i have 1 extremely lazy hermit crab

 

[fishy55599]

go saltwater-i did- it has ammonia, nitrite nitrate and ph
reef has-phos,calc, mag and ?

 

[dayzofspeed]

go saltwater-i did- it has ammonia, nitrite nitrate and ph
reef has-phos,calc, mag and ?

thats what i was thinking was the obvious way forward too, but then what about the other tests in the reef master, whats their order of importance

 

[fishy55599]

if you only have soft corals not worth it.
but yu might want to get a salifert phos kit?

 

[dayzofspeed]

if you only have soft corals not worth it.
but yu might want to get a salifert phos kit?

whats wrong with api phos test?

 

[fishy55599]

nothing but didnt think you could get them seperate?

 

[lewiss]

word of waning API arent very accuate. People normally struggle with reading the ammonia reading.

 

[dayzofspeed]

word of waning API arent very accuate. People normally struggle with reading the ammonia reading.

i never had any probs with them in fw lewis and would rather stick to a brand i know unless i was told to stay away coz its total rubbish (and not wanting to start another world record breaking fighting post i dont require scientific proof)

 

[lewiss]

Haha dayz you do make me laugh! No, not saying def don't use them, I use them but they are hard to use and a lot of people struggle with them. Once you get what the readings are then your fine but it took me a few months to get it, and that resulted in the death of some fish to start with cos of misreading!! Other brands are more accurate in the sense of they're easier to read.

Just a warning, I wouldn't say they were so bad not to use them but there is a noticeable difference if you use a better test kit - but hey! API are the cheapest and that's why I use them!! I have never kept FW but I think several people say it's worse with salt, but that's just from memory!!

I'll try and dig out the old post if I can find it where someone was having difficulty! I posted examples of 0 levels in the tubes - it might help when you get it!

 

[StandbySetting]

I tested the API and Salifert phosphate kits against each other using known reference solutions and digital testing equipment, the accuracy of both kits is pretty much the same on average, the precision is pretty much the same too, go for which ever you can find cheapest, both are pretty crap compared to the D-D kit.

The Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate kits however are terrible from API, fairly bad accuracy and precision, the Salifert kits show high precision and medium accuracy, but the Saliferts are definitely the better of the two (Applies to both freshwater and saltwater). Not to mention the difficult to read scale on the API ammonia kit as afore mentioned, especially in salt water, where ammonium chloride partially precipitates if ammonia/ammonium is present which gives a funny colour on the reading.

 

[dayzofspeed]

do salifert not do a master kit, just did a search on ebay and came back with zero results

 

[StandbySetting]

No they don't, it's no real effort buying them separately though, the Ammonia, nitrite and nitrate kits along with a bottle of triarylmethane can be bought for the same price as the API all in one, triarylmethane has a pH range of 7.2-8.8, for your freshwater set up (presuming you have one) you could use bromothymol blue if your PH is in the 6.0-7.6 range.

 

[lewiss]

That might help

 

[lewiss]

Has anyone used seachem tests? Are they good?

 

[woody88]

Thanks for the pic of your urine sample!

Have you been on the lucozade again?