OoooDRAGONoooo
New member
Hi,can anyone give recommendations on accuracy of different makes of test kits,my api kh kit reads 10 and the sera kh kit reads 7. Which is to be more trusted? Ty
Test kit reliability
- Thread starter OoooDRAGONoooo
- Start date
homer1475
New member
Ive been using salifert and red sea pro kits. Salifert are nice because you get an actual number and not a color match. The red sea kit is easier to use IMO. Both give the exact same results. The API kit I originally got was way off from what the other 2 kits were giving me. After doing some reading on here and other reef forums, the general consensus is the API kits, although great for FW, are horrendous for SW.
AZRippster
Diver & Reef Aquarium Nut
I have tried Elos, Salifert, Red Sea, SeaChem, NYOS and API. Most of the time the Salifert produces the most consistent results. The Red Sea Magnesium is very good however and I love their titration setup. The NYOS was by far the worst. It consistently measures on the heavy side, and by quite a bit.
scooter31707
New member
Salifert and Red Sea are the best kits out there. You get what you pay for when it comes to saltwater equip. API is not accurate at all.
OoooDRAGONoooo
New member
Ty all
Peter Eichler
New member
The calcium and alkalinity for API are pretty good kits and are more accurate than a lot of other kits that have been on the market. They're both plenty accurate for our needs. Most of the people that put down the API kits have never even used them and are just repeating what they "heard".
To the OP, I would trust the API before the Sera.
Peter Eichler
New member
Nonsense, with salifert and red sea you get overly complicated (for no good reason) kits for a lot more money. I switched to API exclusively for alkalinity when I had three different Salifert kits giving me totally different readings. I've gone through probably 20 API kits since and all have given results very close to one another and match reference samples.
Last edited:
I agree, API kits are fine and have used them; it's popular to diss them becasuost less but not realistic,ime.Some times you get what you pay for ;sometimes you just pay more. I haven't used API for alk in a while but may use them again next go round on a kit purchase.
My current prefernces are;Salifert for calcium, alk, magnesium and nitrate ;an American Marine pinoint monitor for pH;a Milwaukee digital refractometer for salinity: a hanah checker for alakinity .a hanah 713 colorimeter for PO4 and a few others. Preference often comes down to ease of use and ease of reading the result with older eyes.
My current prefernces are;Salifert for calcium, alk, magnesium and nitrate ;an American Marine pinoint monitor for pH;a Milwaukee digital refractometer for salinity: a hanah checker for alakinity .a hanah 713 colorimeter for PO4 and a few others. Preference often comes down to ease of use and ease of reading the result with older eyes.
Last edited:
AdamNC
New member
IMO API is good for the first few months of setting up but you will want to get into the more pricey/accurate test kits. Currently I use Red Sea test kits with good success. The API Alk test will get you in the area but thats not what you need. You need as close to Lab grade as you can get. For hobby test kits Red Sea and Salifert seem to be the most accurate.
I haven't used Sera or API test kits. The Salifert and IO kits have worked well for me, but there are varying reviews on all the test kits. I probably would get a third opinion, and hope it is close to one of the kits you have.
As a general warning, kits with liquid reagents will tend to read lower levels as they age. Some of the water tends to dissolve, leaving the reagents more concentrated.
As a general warning, kits with liquid reagents will tend to read lower levels as they age. Some of the water tends to dissolve, leaving the reagents more concentrated.
Peter Eichler
New member
I disagree, I've used nothing but API for calcium and alkalinity for several years. The great thing about API is how easy they are to use, I can get my alkalinity level in about 20 seconds. You can't even get the Salifert and the Red Sea out of the box in the same amount of time. They are every bit as accurate (if not moreso) as those kits in my experience. The alkalinity doesn't have the resolution that the others do, but knowing your alklinity to the tenth degree dKH is pretty worthless. .5 dKH increments is the most anyone would ever need. Beyond that, once you get the hang of the kits you'll be able to judge closer to actual from the way the color change takes place.
I use Salifert for Calcium, Alkalinity and Magnesium. From my experience, the Salifert test kits have been consistent. For alkalinity which I was testing quite a bit for awhile, I was on my last test and compared results with a new box and the results were spot on so I'd say results are consistent.
shred5
Premium Member
I use hanna checkers and double check with readsea..
Salifert is horrible I have had several Salifert test kits that dont even read close to each other.
I stopped using them a couple of years ago now. Stinks because they are easy to use too.
I always save my last test kit so I can test against the new ones to make sure they are on because I have had test kits off before.. Well I got a new one from Foster and Smith and it was way off from my old one so they sent me a new one and this one was different too. So I had 3 salifert kits all reading different and so different it could nuke a tank. This was the second time this happened too.
My red sea measured right in the middle of the 3. So I got a hanna checker and it read right in the middle and only slightly different than the red sea.. I then tried several other test kits and they also read in the middle and a little of from each other.
Hobby grade test kits are not always accurate and it is better to actually be stable..
Salifert is horrible I have had several Salifert test kits that dont even read close to each other.
I stopped using them a couple of years ago now. Stinks because they are easy to use too.
I always save my last test kit so I can test against the new ones to make sure they are on because I have had test kits off before.. Well I got a new one from Foster and Smith and it was way off from my old one so they sent me a new one and this one was different too. So I had 3 salifert kits all reading different and so different it could nuke a tank. This was the second time this happened too.
My red sea measured right in the middle of the 3. So I got a hanna checker and it read right in the middle and only slightly different than the red sea.. I then tried several other test kits and they also read in the middle and a little of from each other.
Hobby grade test kits are not always accurate and it is better to actually be stable..
i was just about to ask what people though of the Hanna Checker testers.
More expensive than the others, but looks really easy to use and accurate (no color charts to try to compare..)
.
I used the Salifert kits for years and got consistent results, but liquid reagents will lose water over time, leading to lower readings. The IO kits worked well enough for me, as well. The Checkers seem okay, but I'm not convinced that they are any more accurate. The limits given by the manufacturer are rather broad, although not having to make a color comparison is a definite plus.
