Advice on test kits

[gopsal]

Can anyone give me some recommendations on Saltwater aquarium test kits. What are the best ones to buy, manufacturer, approx. price etc. and which ones to avoid. Any info would help. Naturally I want to test the basics but I would also like to hear about the more elaborate kits available.

Thanks in advance.

Gerry

[cesar]

I use The Saltwater Master Liquid Test Kit from Aquarium Pharmaceuticals. I purchased mine from www.liveaquaria.com and I think it works great. It comes with 4 test tubes, instruction book, color chart (for test results), and test solution bottles for 4 saltwater tests. High range pH, Ammonia, nitrite and Nitrate. I really like it IMO. I paid $16.99 for it and it was delivered to my door in 5 business days.

[jiggly75]

Can anyone give me some recommendations on Saltwater aquarium test kits. What are the best ones to buy, manufacturer, approx. price etc. and which ones to avoid. Any info would help. Naturally I want to test the basics but I would also like to hear about the more elaborate kits available.

Thanks in advance.

Gerry

The best and most accurate test kits are Salifert.

[ricksreef]

i picked up my salifert test kits at fishsupply. they were the cheapest
place i found & for hobbyist grade, salifert is the most consistant & accurate.

http://www.fishsupply.com/cgi-bin/f2...nuf&comp_id=SF

[Ninong]

I have several different Salifert test kits and not all of them are accurate. I have yet to find a Salifert boron test kit that works. The president of Salifert himself promised (twice!) that he was sending me a current boron test kit but I never did receive it. In his last communication he asked if he could simply wire me a refund. I got a refund for both stale (more than 6 years old!!) Salifert boron test kits from the online vendor and they informed me that they were unable to get replacements or refunds from Salifert.

I have a Salifert iodine test kit and I can only get readings on iodide. I have never been able to get a reading on iodate. The president of Salifert insists that this is due to "interferences" and that they are working on developing an iodine test kit that will be less susceptible to "interferences." So I have no way of knowing if my Salifert iodine readings are accurate or not. I usually measure between 0.06 - 0.20 ppm iodide. I have never added any iodine supplements because it is obvious that the food that I feed the fish is more than sufficient to maintain iodine levels at or above 0.06 ppm total iodine (iodide/iodate) in my system (0.06 ppm is NSW concentration of iodine).

I have a Salifert ammonia test kit but it doesn't even claim to be capable of measuring total ammonia (NH3 + NH4) below 0.50 ppm. I guess it's useful for measuring ammonia during an initial tank cycle but not much good for anything else.

I have used Salifert's phosphate test kit and their copper test kit but I can't say for sure if the readings are accurate or not. I have never had detectable readings of phosphate or copper in my tank. Obviously I did not expect any detectable copper results but I always wonder if the phosphate results are completely accurate. Maybe a more sensitive test would record a low level of phosphate.

I use Salifert's magnesium test kit and I'm not sure if I trust the results or not. I may look for a higher quality brand next time to compare test results. I have used Salifert's strontium test kit but I am not confident in the results, especially considering that the unit of measurement is 5 ppm and NSW is only 8 ppm Sr. I have used Salifert's activated carbon test kit to see if my GAC needs to be changed or not and I always get a result telling me that it needs to be changed, even when I test brand new carbon! I switched brands of GAC a few weeks ago and I will try testing the new stuff to see what happens. So either the test kit is unreliable or my carbon sucks.

I use Salifert's nitrite and nitrate test kits. I am reasonably confident that they are reasonably accurate. However, I intend to switch to LaMotte kits when I use up my present supply.

I use LaMotte kits for calcium and alkalinity and I am completely satisfied with them.

I have no experience with any other test kits.

[patsfan1130]

I have several different Salifert test kits and not all of them are accurate. I have yet to find a Salifert boron test kit that works. The president of Salifert himself promised (twice!) that he was sending me a current boron test kit but I never did receive it. In his last communication he asked if he could simply wire me a refund. I got a refund for both stale (more than 6 years old!!) Salifert boron test kits from the online vendor and they informed me that they were unable to get replacements or refunds from Salifert.

I have a Salifert iodine test kit and I can only get readings on iodide. I have never been able to get a reading on iodate. The president of Salifert insists that this is due to "interferences" and that they are working on developing an iodine test kit that will be less susceptible to "interferences." So I have no way of knowing if my Salifert iodine readings are accurate or not. I usually measure between 0.06 - 0.20 ppm iodide. I have never added any iodine supplements because it is obvious that the food that I feed the fish is more than sufficient to maintain iodine levels at or above 0.06 ppm total iodine (iodide/iodate) in my system (0.06 ppm is NSW concentration of iodine).

I have a Salifert ammonia test kit but it doesn't even claim to be capable of measuring total ammonia (NH3 + NH4) below 0.50 ppm. I guess it's useful for measuring ammonia during an initial tank cycle but not much good for anything else.

I have used Salifert's phosphate test kit and their copper test kit but I can't say for sure if the readings are accurate or not. I have never had detectable readings of phosphate or copper in my tank. Obviously I did not expect any detectable copper results but I always wonder if the phosphate results are completely accurate. Maybe a more sensitive test would record a low level of phosphate.

I use Salifert's magnesium test kit and I'm not sure if I trust the results or not. I may look for a higher quality brand next time to compare test results. I have used Salifert's strontium test kit but I am not confident in the results, especially considering that the unit of measurement is 5 ppm and NSW is only 8 ppm Sr. I have used Salifert's activated carbon test kit to see if my GAC needs to be changed or not and I always get a result telling me that it needs to be changed, even when I test brand new carbon! I switched brands of GAC a few weeks ago and I will try testing the new stuff to see what happens. So either the test kit is unreliable or my carbon sucks.

I use Salifert's nitrite and nitrate test kits. I am reasonably confident that they are reasonably accurate. However, I intend to switch to LaMotte kits when I use up my present supply.

I use LaMotte kits for calcium and alkalinity and I am completely satisfied with them.

I have no experience with any other test kits.

I am with Ninong on this one. I use Salifert for Ammonia,Trate,Mag & Phosphate and am relatively pleased with them but I use Lamotte for Ca & Alk