test kit...any good???

[str8clownr]

hey guys i just picked up a test kit today and would like to know if its any good..

API Reef Master Kit, it has calc, alk, phosphate and nitrates


only thing missing is PH

 

[Lifes A Beach]

That's what I use and I love it. No problems. And easy to use.

--Barbara

 

[carlosngloria]

Well i have api test kit and for some reason the only test that comes out bad is the nitrate test. Everything else seems to be fine.

 

[Young Frankenstein]

nitrate is off about 20 ppm less

 

[drpo21]

i have these tests and i cant seem to get any readings, ive tried many times and i just cant get any of the colors that its marked, i dont like them.

 

[Ding2daDong]

I just started using the API test kits and they are very good for the price. The color change is very noticeable vs. salifert but less accurate. I have heard many good reviews.

-Matthew

 

[smchais]

I have API, my friend has the salifert. I like mine because of the simplicity of it all. He likes his. This addiction is all about opinions though. I am actually looking for new test kits that are a lot easier to read. i am partially color blind and the only problem is telling the different shades to tell the levels. If anyone out there knows another way to test, please let me know. This way, I don't always have to ask my wife to read the results.

 

[thabet_2]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12124141#post12124141 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by 0 Agios
nitrate is off about 20 ppm less

first post on RC
I had been in reef tanks for almost 6 months, I have an API and for no known reason my nitrates reading on the API was always showing zero until one day it did the swing to 20-40 range, did everything I should to eliminate (WC, No bio-balls, etc) did not work, went to the sugar forum and did the reading, took me some time, and that did not take the nitrates down,
Now can it be that my API is giving me a wrong reading?
cannot get another test kit or get someone to test the water, I live in Jordan and if you think your LFS are not good, come and see what we have in here
Thanks

 

[smchais]

thabet welcome to RC

 

[Young Frankenstein]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12126284#post12126284 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by thabet_2
first post on RC
I had been in reef tanks for almost 6 months, I have an API and for no known reason my nitrates reading on the API was always showing zero until one day it did the swing to 20-40 range, did everything I should to eliminate (WC, No bio-balls, etc) did not work, went to the sugar forum and did the reading, took me some time, and that did not take the nitrates down,
Now can it be that my API is giving me a wrong reading?
cannot get another test kit or get someone to test the water, I live in Jordan and if you think your LFS are not good, come and see what we have in here
Thanks

Welcome !!! Nitrate measurement test kits are somehow inaccurate, the one I trust is salifert. Also when are you testing also plays a role, ex. after feeding, before etc.

 

[thabet_2]

I usually test 3-4 hours after feeding, but when you mentioned that the API is 20 PPM less, did you mean that if I had the result showing 20, my actual nitrates is 0 or 40?

Thanks

 

[ReefWreak]

I use the Hagen test kit for Nitrates, because that's what the LFS uses. Up here the guy uses the API and swears by them, but I've used them before and thought they were garbage and inaccurate, especially the nitrate. It always showed high nitrates on my tanks that had corals growing like crazy and had macro algae and xenia in them taking up the nutrients. Dunno.

Smchais, if you're colorblind and have a few bucks to spend (you probably don't but it's an option), you can always get photometers

I want the club to start using all those high $$$ membership dues to get some club photometers and flux/PAR meters so we can do precise measurements in our tanks. Maybe someday :/

 

[coralfragger101]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12127900#post12127900 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ReefWreak

Smchais, if you're colorblind and have a few bucks to spend (you probably don't but it's an option), you can always get photometers
:/

There "may" be photometers for all the parameters that you would want to test for but if you are looking at HANNA then the ONLY one that is known to work and work well for salt water use is the Phosphate Meter.

I found this out the hard way. I ordered a benchmeter and all the reagents to test for just about any parameter you could think of. Well over $1000. After opening up most of the reagents and getting weird results and several discussions with tech support at Hanna we finally realized the problem. With the exception of the phosphate meter, they do not or have not been tested for marine use.

Hanna agreed to a full refund (even on the opened reagents). I think this might have had something to do with me suggesting that if their website would simply add a FW or SW use indicator after each product that I would have only purchased the single parameter PO4 meter in the first place.

My PO4 meter is now on back order.

 

[coralfragger101]

Before someone "catches me". Let me rephrase one part.

The Hanna PO4 meter is NOT the only one that will work in a marine environment. The Dissolved Oxygen and the Nitrite test will work in a marine environment as well but not worth the price of keeping the entire bench meter and not worth the price of buying individual meters for those parameters either.

 

[ReefWreak]

Ohh that's interesting CF. I wouldn't have thought of it, because I would have assumed them to work, unless otherwise noted, like you mentioned. That was at least very nice of them to return all of the kits you bought!

And yea, Dissolved Oxygen is fine, but a rarely used parameter since it's not irrelevant, but nor is it important to watch fluctuate, as before you can test for it, if there is low oxygen content, you'll see negative effects on your inhabitants. But that's a whole other debate in itself.

And Nitrite is relatively useless, since you can test for ammonia and nitrate, as they are the two more important.

 

[Young Frankenstein]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12126456#post12126456 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by thabet_2
I usually test 3-4 hours after feeding, but when you mentioned that the API is 20 PPM less, did you mean that if I had the result showing 20, my actual nitrates is 0 or 40?

Thanks

I have found the API is 20ppm less than salifert, if you read zero with API your nitrate is probably 20 or more. But theres other problems in testing for nitrate that make it way more complex than testing for calcium or alk.

 

[NaCl+H2O Fish]

MY 2 Cents!

MY 2 Cents!

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12125527#post12125527 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by drpo21
i have these tests and i cant seem to get any readings, i've tried many times and i just cant get any of the colors that its marked, i don't like them.

str8clownr -
I am currently using the Seachem Marine Basic test kit and find it to be very accurate, sensitive and easy to read! See: Seachem test kits...
Not thrilled with adding a small scoop of powder for testing Nitrates, but love being able to read Nitrite and THEN adding the powder to the same sample for Nitrate! The kit also comes with "reference" samples to verify the kit's test accuracy! About $ 30.00..

Below are photos of the Free Ammonia (top cell) and Total Ammonia (bottom cell).
The tests and the results: the color scale is low precision on the bottom 10-15min. test and HIGHEST PRECISION on top scale after a 30mins...

Sensitive and easy to read IMO! I guarantee you'll get many other opinions! :lol:

smchais - Good luck my friend interpreting those color charts!!!
Kent a.k.a. NaCl+H2o Fish