what tests to have/perform

[Kendramc]

i currently have API 5-in-1 test strips. i've been told that they aren't particularly accurate and am thinking i will get some of the liquid tests. i'm not sure i can find anything other than API in my area and am wondering what tests are worth having on hand.

my tank is fully cycled, so i don't think i need to worry about ammonia or nitrites. my water is really hard so (in my experience so far) hardness tests aren't very helpful. does pH change often enough to be worth testing? i figure nitrate is a good one to have on hand, but are there others?

and what frequency do people recommend testing at? every water change? or just when things seem off?

i figure if things get weird i can always take a sample in to my local store for testing too.

thanks.

 

[Boundava]

Just get the API master kit. You will use them even if you think you won't.

 

[seangee]

Everyone will tell you you need the master kit. Used mine in all my tanks when I bought it. Then it sat in a cupboard until all the reagents went out of date. Tanks are cycled, pH doesn't change, hardness doesn't change and if you do decent water changes weekly nitrates don't change. My first response to an emergency is a 75% water change - maybe I'll buy a test one day if I feel I need it.

 

[GaryE]

I use no test kits. I do, however, have a strict preventative routine - 30% water changes weekly. I don't overstock, and a test kit would serve no purpose.

Since I breed fish, I check the tds with an electronic meter, just make sure that element is stable.

Strips are as good as reagent kits, if they are kept properly. Hobbyists endlessly repeat that the strips aren't good, but when I've tested them side by side, both are equal. API has done some effective marketing there. Test strips tell you more, but are also extremely expensive comparatively. I only use them for streams and lakes if I am collecting fish, as they are very portable.

 

[Essjay]

The main downside with strips is that some of them have a relatively low upper limit for GH and if, like the OP, the water is off the top of the scale strips with a lowish upper limit are no use.

I agree with the previous posters - testers are useful when setting up a tank, or for someone new to the hobby until they feel more confident, but once past those stages they are rarely used.

 

[10 Tanks]

Hello Kendramc. The Easy Strips from Tetra will test everything you need. Get the strips that have the six tests. They're pricey, so I recommend using them to test the water in a new tank setup only. After the tank has has been up and running for several weeks and you've established an aggressive water change routine, by removing and replacing most of the tank water every week, there will be no need to test the water.

10 Tanks (Now 11)

 

[Kendramc]

ok, thanks everyone for the input. since my tank has been up for several months i'm going to just take a sample to my local store to see if they can get me a better read for hardness and not worry about having anything on hand. i can always get things as need arises, but it sounds like that is rather unlikely to happen.

again, thanks for the info.

 

[seangee]

If or when you do ask them for the numbers. Most shops just wave a strip at it anyway and give a totally meaningless answer like your water is fine

 

[TwoTankAmin]

When I set up my first tank in 2001 My well water pH was 7.3, GH 6 and KH 5 dg. 12 years later My tap was dead neutral pH and the GH and KH had each dropped 2-3 dg. The TDS which were running about 83 ppm for some time got as low as 53 ppm during periods of extended heavy rain. In the past year the numbers have begun rising. It looks like the tap params have moved back towards where they started 23 years ago. I have a pair of hand held TDS meters as well as the continuous monitor.

Tap water is not constant over decades for sure. I know what is going on because I run a continuous monitor on one tank where I alter the parameters. The probes are in the tank 24/7 except for when I batch the changing water. Then the probes go into the big can so I can target the params of the changing water. I can see how the tap changes since the weekly mix must also change accordingly.

The tests I consider essential would be Ammonia, pH, GH and KH. If you also tend to set up new tanks, then add the Nitrite kit. I cannot remember the last time I used my nitrate kit. Because I do occasionally set up and run a bio-farm, I use all 4 kits off and on and the digital TDS as well.

If you think your water paramers cannot change with time, you are fooling yourself. Water companies change them all the time either via chemicals or by changing the source of the water. Drought conditions or flooding can and do cause parameters to change.

Consider this. The time you will most need to have test kits but don't will be when things go bad and the stores are closed or do not have what you need and online takes time to come. I would rather have the kits and not use them than to need them and not have them.

The only way to know how toxic any ammonia reading might be is if you also know the pH and temperature of the water being tested.

 

[On_a_dishy]

I couldn’t understand why my pH had dropped; I blamed it on the substrate. My LFS then told me that at this time of year the pH in our area does drop.
i always have tests to hand. It’s only a matter of time before I forget to add the water conditioner and crash my cycle - and forget that I forgot to add the dechlorinator and so wonder what on earth has happened.

 

[Byron]

One obvious conclusion from the posts so far in this thread is that they are from quite experienced aquarists, and I think that is significant. Doing certain tests regularly when establishing a new aquarium if you are relatively new in this hobby is beneficial. Second, how often do these members ask for test readings when someone posts about sick or dying fish? There is good reason. Tests should not only indicate good numbers, they should be consistent over months and even years, with the caveat being what @TwoTankAmin mentioned with wisdom. I tested nitrates and pH ad hoc for months, and found that with my source water remaining the same all this time [I regularly checked the water authority to keep a better eye on this] and given my consistent maintenance (water changes, and lots of plants especially floating) the nitrates always tested below 5 ppm, and the pH never varied between water changes by more than two or maybe three decimal points. This is stability and consistence, for 12+ years. I gave up testing after a couple of years, but at the first sign of any trouble out came the tests just to eliminate (or confirm) "x" factor.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

One more factor to consider re all of this. I am sure most here have heard of old tank syndrome and we all know about cycling. But how many know that the cycle itself is acidic and over time will cause the pH of water to drop?

Nitrite and nitrate in water both create some amount of acid. Acid lowers pH. With old tank syndrome this is clearly obvious as one of the symptoms is a significant drop in the pH.

NO2 reacts with water. Being the conjugate of a weak acid, the nitrite ions will accept a proton from water to form nitrous acid (weak)...
NO3 can create nitric acid in water. This is why in old tank syndrome where no water changes have been done in a long time, the pH of the water can become extremely low.

The above is one more good reason for doing regular water changes. Also, the rate at which nitrite and nitrate can acidify water is a function of the KH of that water. The higher the KH, the more acid it requires to crash the pH.

 

[threecharacters]

What tests you need depends on what you want to do, and how complex you want to get.

If you just want to keep freshwater fish. You may be able to get away without test kits. You will need to test ammonia and nitrite when cycling, but assuming you're doing large weekly water changes you really don't need to test the water regularly.

If you want to grow plants, especially the higher maintenance plants. You will probably want nitrate and phosphate test to monitor fertilization levels in your tank. You might want some other tests too (like potassium, etc.) if you are very serious about hitting specific plant fertilization goals and you're mixing your own fertilizers.

If you run CO2 injection for plants, you will need KH and pH tests to monitor your pH drop during CO2 injection. You need a large enough drop to make a difference for the plants (KH used to with a KH-pH table to monitor CO2 levels in the water) while avoiding too much of a drop that you suffocate your fish. You may even want a CO2 titration kit.

If you want to keep saltwater fish and corals you will want nitrate, phosphate, KH, salinity, pH, calcium, and magnesium tests.

In my long established planted tank, I monitor pH, KH, nitrate, and phosphate with some regularity because I use liquid fertilizer and DIY CO2 injection. In my reef tank, I monitor nitrate, phosphate, KH, salinity, pH, calcium, and magnesium regularly, especially KH which I usually test weekly.

I've been doing so much testing (I've been having problems with bottomed out nutrients (NO3 and PO4) and dropping KH in my reef tank) that I may end up running through my liquids before they expire.

Of all the tests I have, I use the ammonia and nitrite tests the least.

Edit: I forgot to add, but if you are keeping freshwater crustaceans (like shrimp) you may want to have GH and KH tests, and possibly even copper tests. People tend to think that their tap water is the same all the time, but it does change throughout the year and from year to year.