Which Test Kit?

[Spishkey]

ok so im about to order a saltwater test kit...anyone got any recommendations?

ive been looking at the tests by API (i like these test kits, i have the freshwater liquid test kits for my tropical tanks but unsure if these can be used on saltwater???) but am confused as to what the difference is between the reef master test kit and the saltwater master test kit.....??

i have lots of live rock with 'things' growing, but also fish, seastars, hermits, crabs and snails...so which is better to go for??

 

[Donya]

ive been looking at the tests by API (i like these test kits, i have the freshwater liquid test kits for my tropical tanks but unsure if these can be used on saltwater???) but am confused as to what the difference is between the reef master test kit and the saltwater master test kit.....??

I never bothered with the sets of kits because I was able to migrate a bunch of my fw kits over into what I use for my sw tanks, so I don't know what's in which set. Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and high-range pH are the bare minimum you need - all work on fresh and salt. Some complain that the API ammonia results are hard to read on salt because of the cloudy appearance, but if you have any doubts just test against newly mixed water you know has none for comparison. API Nitrate is another one people complain about giving bad readings. What I have seen is that you mainly have to really shake the second reagent a lot and sometimes bang it on a countertop a few times to make sure its mixed thoroughly before using it. This is true for both fresh and salt though, so if you are already confident with using the kit on fw there should be no difference except for the color scales.

Beyond the bare minimum, which I would imagine is partly where the difference lies between the two sets of kits, KH, Calcium, and Phosphate are useful both as diagnostics and if you plan on keeping any more finicky animals. If you already have kits to cover the basics for fw, then you probably just need to pick up whichever ones you're missing and don't need one of the big sets.

By the way, all of this is coming from a long-standing API fan. There are a lot of people on the salty side who have a strong dislike of the API kits for various reasons and will advise going Salifert-only. As getting a hold of more-or-less any Salifert kit in my area seems to run as much as a set of API kits, I'm obviously not in the Salifert boat, but you may want to look at them too as an alternative if you can find them on the cheap.