Best test kits?

[Wingman6]

Short of trying all test kits out there, I'm trying to find good kits for calcium, alkalinity, magnesium. I was using API kits but have heard bad things about them; mine were also old.

I recently got the red seamax pro calcium and it seems good. I also got the seachem alkalinity. Its OK but seems to read high. Tried red sea alkalinity (the normal one) but this only tells within a range.
.
Would love to hear your suggestions.

Thanks.

 

[matt frizz]

Salifert is all I use now. API kits are NOT super accurate and red seamax is OK. Salifert are quite accurate but pretty expensive. Worth the money IMO.

 

[FIREFISHPAT]

I brought all the New Red Sea test kits. I thought I was on the right track by buying a good test kits. I kept getting a phoshate reading in my tank of 0.08. I found that hard to believe because I had no hair algae and was feeding very little. But I added GFO to tank and kept running it. After a month readings was same. I than made new batch of salt water. Guess what reading was same 0.08. I was pulling my hair. How can this be. So I thought my RO/DI water was bad. I changed all filters and membrane and still reading 0.08. I had to buy TDS meter. Which was 0 reading. I said now my top off water has phoshate too. So I do I fix this. I trusted Red Sea and almost killed my SPS by running GFO THINKING THAT MY PHOSHATE WERE HIGH. I decide to buy Hanna PHOSHATE test and my reading was 0.03 in main tank and fresh mix was 0.02. Now my advise is pay a little more for something or pay later for going cheap the first place to fix it. Salifiert are good. I have both and the only ones I will buy are Hanna test.

 

[nanojg]

Ive tried api, elos, salifert and the new red sea pro kits, i like the red sea the best followed by elos.

 

[rtparty]

I brought all the New Red Sea test kits. I thought I was on the right track by buying a good test kits. I kept getting a phoshate reading in my tank of 0.08. I found that hard to believe because I had no hair algae and was feeding very little. But I added GFO to tank and kept running it. After a month readings was same. I than made new batch of salt water. Guess what reading was same 0.08. I was pulling my hair. How can this be. So I thought my RO/DI water was bad. I changed all filters and membrane and still reading 0.08. I had to buy TDS meter. Which was 0 reading. I said now my top off water has phoshate too. So I do I fix this. I trusted Red Sea and almost killed my SPS by running GFO THINKING THAT MY PHOSHATE WERE HIGH. I decide to buy Hanna PHOSHATE test and my reading was 0.03 in main tank and fresh mix was 0.02. Now my advise is pay a little more for something or pay later for going cheap the first place to fix it. Salifiert are good. I have both and the only ones I will buy are Hanna test.

Powder phosphate test kits are worthless. It doesn't matter the brand.

The red ses magnesium test kit is THE best I've ever used. I used to use stricly Salifert kits but eill to all red sea.

 

[jimrawr]

ELOS for Calcium and MG, Hanna for PO4 and Alk

 

[rich19020]

I own the RedSea, API, and Salifert tests. I just did KH, Mag, and Cal. Here are the results.
Water Temp= 77.7
PH= 8.23 (AmericanPinpoint)
KH: Salifert= 8.5, API aprox 8.5 and RedSea=7.5
Mag: Salifert=1500 (I know the chart only goes to 1500 but the water color actually changed at 1500) API= N/A and RedSea=1600
Cal: Salifert=420 API=380 and RedSea=370

I have no clue which one to use. I usually use the Salifert for dosing purposes and I usually use the API for quick tests. I had the RedSea but didn't use them because I felt that they took longer to use and received them as a gift.

 

[Habib]

I own the RedSea, API, and Salifert tests. I just did KH, Mag, and Cal. Here are the results.
Water Temp= 77.7
PH= 8.23 (AmericanPinpoint)
KH: Salifert= 8.5, API aprox 8.5 and RedSea=7.5
Mag: Salifert=1500 (I know the chart only goes to 1500 but the water color actually changed at 1500) API= N/A and RedSea=1600
Cal: Salifert=420 API=380 and RedSea=370

I have no clue which one to use. I usually use the Salifert for dosing purposes and I usually use the API for quick tests. I had the RedSea but didn't use them because I felt that they took longer to use and received them as a gift.

FWIW, let's say brand X is perfectly calibrated, you still could find a different result because there is also a handling effect and recognition of the color change.

Then there is the question of cross contamination; some hobbyists put back reagent A into the bottle of reagent B.

Having said that, a hobbyist did last year a comparison. I don't know how good he is in performing tests, albeit he is IIRC a scientist (and also they can do things wrong )

Comparison:

http://www.ultimatereef.net/forums/showpost.php?p=3982535&postcount=4

 

[Yogre]

I brought all the New Red Sea test kits. I thought I was on the right track by buying a good test kits. I kept getting a phoshate reading in my tank of 0.08. I found that hard to believe because I had no hair algae and was feeding very little. But I added GFO to tank and kept running it. After a month readings was same. I than made new batch of salt water. Guess what reading was same 0.08. I was pulling my hair. How can this be. So I thought my RO/DI water was bad. I changed all filters and membrane and still reading 0.08. I had to buy TDS meter. Which was 0 reading. I said now my top off water has phoshate too. So I do I fix this. I trusted Red Sea and almost killed my SPS by running GFO THINKING THAT MY PHOSHATE WERE HIGH. I decide to buy Hanna PHOSHATE test and my reading was 0.03 in main tank and fresh mix was 0.02. Now my advise is pay a little more for something or pay later for going cheap the first place to fix it. Salifiert are good. I have both and the only ones I will buy are Hanna test.

FWIW, I had the same experience with the Red Sea PO4 kit. I tested both my tank and water change water. They both tested 0.08 ppm PO4. I had just changed my DI resins in my RO/DI unit, so I suspected rottenness in Denmark. I tested the effluent of my GFO reactor shortly after I changed the GFO. It also tested at 0.08 ppm. Now, I don't believe for a minute that I've got that much PO4 in my freshly changed GFO's effluent.

I have to conclude the kit is junk.

 

[milkman55]

There was a dropper calibration issue with some of the Red Sea Phosphate tests. Check their forum, but basically you use 11 drops instead of 10 to compensate for the dropper miscalibration.

I switched to the Red Sea multi test kit for Alk, Cal, and Mag. I also bought the Algae Mgmt kit for No3 and Po4. I really like these kits and the ease of detecting the end points. The color wheel on the Algae Mgmt is very easy to use.

 

[Whitebeam]

FWIW, I had the same experience with the Red Sea PO4 kit. I tested both my tank and water change water. They both tested 0.08 ppm PO4. I had just changed my DI resins in my RO/DI unit, so I suspected rottenness in Denmark. I tested the effluent of my GFO reactor shortly after I changed the GFO. It also tested at 0.08 ppm. Now, I don't believe for a minute that I've got that much PO4 in my freshly changed GFO's effluent.

I have to conclude the kit is junk.

The RS PO4 kit is a frustration, 'cos it usually works perfectly for me* but always gives the 0.08ppm result for many other people. All I have been able to conclude is that either my eyes are better at picking up subtle shades of yellow or it's something about the light in which I test.

* Define 'perfectly'?

1) I have watched the levels in my tank slowly drop from 0.64ppm to between 0.02 and 0.04ppm over the year or so that I've kept the tank and I've learned to keep water, use GFO etc.
2) I've cross-checked against the Elos high precision PO4 kit (which generally gets good reviews) and my numbers agree.
3) Tank performance (algae levels etc) generally reflect what this kit tells me is so.​

FWIW, I am currently testing a range of Ca & Mg kits against a range of reference solutions. I still have a number of combinations to go through, but I'll post my results up within a week or so.

Peter

 

[doctorgori]

Powder phosphate test kits are worthless. It doesn't matter the brand.

The red ses magnesium test kit is THE best I've ever used. I used to use stricly Salifert kits but eill to all red sea.

yeah Ryan, I have the Red Sea Mag and I'm impressed...
The Hanna Checkers: Phosphate & Alk also seem very doable...

The Hanna Ca...meh, not so much

...I don't test for anything else thanks to Randys & other articles

 

[Yogre]

There was a dropper calibration issue with some of the Red Sea Phosphate tests. Check their forum, but basically you use 11 drops instead of 10 to compensate for the dropper miscalibration.

I switched to the Red Sea multi test kit for Alk, Cal, and Mag. I also bought the Algae Mgmt kit for No3 and Po4. I really like these kits and the ease of detecting the end points. The color wheel on the Algae Mgmt is very easy to use.

Thanks for the point-out on this, I completely missed it.

I'll try 11 drops of reagent A next time I try the kit for PO4. I'm pretty sure I don't have a lighting/color perception issue.

 

[rtparty]

yeah Ryan, I have the Red Sea Mag and I'm impressed...
The Hanna Checkers: Phosphate & Alk also seem very doable...

The Hanna Ca...meh, not so much

...I don't test for anything else thanks to Randys & other articles

The Hanna Phosphate meter is the ONLY way to check phosphates IMO. The powder kits are often wrong no matter what you do. I've never found a single phosphate kit that was worth a darn.

I have thought about getting the Hanna Alk meter but I actually like the old drip method. My Salifert kit is off by 2dkh though so I won't be buying them again.

 

[nanojg]

The hanna checker is good, but not for low range. If it says .04 then it could be anywhere from 0.0 to 0.08 with the 0.04 margin of error

 

[rtparty]

The hanna checker is good, but not for low range. If it says .04 then it could be anywhere from 0.0 to 0.08 with the 0.04 margin of error

We should only be aiming for a range IMO anyways. When I test my alkalinity I don't care if it comes back 8.6 or 9.6dkh. They are both within my range of acceptable. Once it gets over 10dkh, I am out of my range.

 

[Woodstock]

We should only be aiming for a range IMO anyways. When I test my alkalinity I don't care if it comes back 8.6 or 9.6dkh. They are both within my range of acceptable. Once it gets over 10dkh, I am out of my range.

I'm with you Ryan!

I've purchased different Brands of test kits to compare test kits.
they all test with in a range.
which one is correct? "I'm just saying":headwally:

 

[djkms]

I have pretty much tried them all except the red sea kits. Here is what I like:

Nitrate - Elos***
Phosphate - Hanna 736 (ULR Phosphorus)*
Alkalinity - Hanna 755
Calcium - API**
Magnesium - Elos***
Salinity - Hanna 96822

* - I like the phosphorus checker better than the phosphate one. I have owned them both and seem to get better results at the low ranges we test at with the ULR phosphorus. I get more consistent results with it as well. With the phosphate checker sometimes I would test at .12 or .14 on one test then I would test again because I knew it wasn't that high (I am usually in the .02-.04 range) and it would give me a much lower result. I haven't had to retest yet with the 736 as all my readings have been in the .02-.04 range.

** - Surprisingly API wins for me in the calcium test. I almost always get a full color change in 1 drop, if not always in 2 drops. The salifert CA test is horrible, the color change is way too gradual IMO, I never really know when its finished.

*** - Just recently got my hands on ELOS and I must say, so far I am very impressed with them and will for sure continue to use them for NO3 and MG.

 

[Rocky_Mtn_Reef]

Yeah...I threw my Salifert Phos test out after the first time trying to read it. I felt like an idiot running all around the house with the cup and color chart trying to find a spot bright enough. And even then I felt my eyes were seeing only what I wanted them to see.