test kits

[pyron88]

A little advice please. I'm needing to get a new test kit. I'm sure there are some comments on them. This is a really great part of this site to me. Plenty of advice. I wish we would have had this when I started keeping FLR tanks in 1980! I had to go to the Dallas Aquarium and ask questions of the staff and then subtract by tank size, about 80,000 to 1.

[Fly Guy]

Get Salifert, OR Salifert, and dont forget to give Salifert a chance. ; )

I dont recommend buying a PH kit however.......get a pinpoint PH monitor and you will know at all timnes what your ph is. Its good to always know that as you can catch some problems before they have a chance to become serious problems.

[DevilBoy]

Originally Posted by Fly Guy

Get Salifert, OR Salifert, and dont forget to give Salifert a chance. ; )

couldnt have said it any better myself....

[whatevva]

I, on the other hand, recommend Salifert, or if you can't find them, get Salifert.

[mitchelWB]

There's this one brand... but I can't think of the name... everybody that uses them really likes them.... oh, bugger... what's their name?

[Nyles]

If you have to order them online but hands down the best.

[wharyat]

Salifert. :thumup:

Hache is considered even more accurate/better than salifert, but they come at a price.

[Fly Guy]

http://www.geocities.com/hans1976/Salifert.html

[pyron88]

I looked at the Salfert kits buty had not seen the Hache. Guess I'll look at them. Not pressed as still have some tests left. I would like to have this computer tester I saw. I think it was $1800, but it did take fish blood pressure temp.

[Fly Guy]

I dont know how much more the haches are but i got to believe the saliferts are plenty accurate for our purposes.

Out of curiousity.......how much more ARE the haches Wharyat...anybody?????

[kalkulon]

http://www.hach.com/ Most kits are pricey but their phosphate test kit has the lowest resolution and is supposed to be the best.

[hng]

Everybody always talks about salifert kits, but just for fun, are there any other kits that are OK? Surely, all the other brands can't just be worthless?

[Mike01z]

Ill probably get flamed but I am using the mastertest stuff from the LFS and it seems to be pretty accurate, I have measured my own water with nitrates vs new water with no nitrates as well as ph in which my own water is 7.8 to 8.0 and the new water is 8.2 so I feel that as far as the nitrate and ph tests go they are pretty easy to read as well as accurate,

The amonia and nitrite ones came with it but I haven't tested enough different water to form an opinion on those yet.

[PelagicMagic]

I just stick my finger in the tank and then stick my finger in my mouth, I can tell just by taste. I owe this to many years living in the bush. No really get a salifert kit

[Fly Guy]

I think you can get away with things like nitrate and ammonia, nitrIte with cheaper kits as it isnt so important to have a perfect reading. If there is any ammonia or nitrIte, your tank is either simply not ready or something has died. Nitrate within a few points doesnt matter, i think most people simply stop testing for those things anyway after a while.

I am actually interested in the Hache phosphate kit after what ive read here as Saliferts range doesnt go low enough IMO.