What is a good all round test kit ?

irishindoexpat

New member
Hi guys so what is a good all round test kit for everything for a reef aquarium. preferably something i could pick up on amazon :)

thanks
 
I bought the basic ATI test kit and it was a waste of money. Would read 0 ammonia on RO water but may tank water said i had a little. Read high nitrates too. I took my water to the LFS and they said no ammonia hardly any nitrates. I bought a red sea test kit for phosphate and nitrate and it shows < 10 nitrate while ati still shows 40ppm
 
Man that's pretty bad, I just bought the API reef master kit and used it 2x this week and broke like 3 of the 4 little test tubes... Think I would go either salifert or motte test kits next time, although they are considerably more expensive.. If not the Hanna color testers.
 
I have the red sea test kit and when I tested the DT it read 20 ppm changed 90 gallons out of a 255 gallon system and still read 20 ppm
 
I don't use anything other than Sailifert kits. You have to buy each seperate, but you only have to buy what you actually need. Not at all difficult to use, and very accurate if used correctly.
 
For manual test tube style kits, I too find Salifert kits to be the most accurate available. However, I have had good results with the API Reef Master Test Kits and Salt Master Test Kits. The test tubes are a bit flimsy - but even if you buy additional tubes the cost of the kits is very inexpensive and I find them easy to read and relatively accurate (except the phosphate test - which does not provide a low enough range in my opinion).

Unlike others, I do not like the standard Red Sea test kits. They seem less standardized to me (some use 6ml of tank water, some 10ml, some else) and I find them difficult to read by looking down through the tube as opposed to the side of the tube like API. Red Sea does offer a professional series of kits, which are priced similarly to the Salifert. Thus, I haven't tried those yet as Salifert has been very reliable.

Just my opinion. All the "reef specialized" kits available today will be relatively accurate and similar to use. Avoid kits not made specifically for reef/marine environments.
 
Elos,
Red Sea,
Salifert
Hanna instrument

these are the test kits worth spending money on, the rest of it, dont bother ! they are just not accurate enough ! and istance betwen each step is too much ...
 
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