I had a question for you all, and I am sure it may have been asked before, but…
What test kits do you all use to test water parameters, like Ca, Alk, Mag, Iodine, Potassium, Iron? I have been using the Salifert kits, but while up at TFP this weekend, I saw a couple of Red Sea kits that looked very nice. Looked like they worked similar to the Salifert kits and were a little bit cheaper as a master kit… here are the links:
I have these kits. While they do test for level much more exact than the standard “master test kits” they used to sell. I don’t like these.
The main reason is they us e a color wheel to determine your levels (at least for PH, Phosphates, Nitrates, etc.) the problem is the wheel is round and the correllating number (ppm) is in between 2 different colors with no key to tell you which color it is, and they don’t necessarily “graduate” in color intensity either.
I think it was the nitrate wheel where you couldn’t tell if you were at .10ppm or 60ppm. Great in concept - horrible in execution.
I’m happy with my kits… I use api for everything but Mg, and i use salifert for that one.
Heard good things about the new Red Sea test kits. The ease of use, end color comparison easy to read. As for accuracy, I haven’t heard it being off either. Maybe Rosti can chime in, he uses the new Red Sea kits.
I’m still waiting for mine. Right now it the good o’l API, except MG, it’s Salifert.
Yea, right now I have the Salifert kits for Nitrates, Mag, Calcium, alk/dkh, and the API kits for ammonia, Nitrites, and PH. I’ve just heard some differing reports about the Salifert tests saying that they aren’t as reliable as they used to be… Plus, I am just about out of solution for those kits and trying to decide which route I am going to go.
If you tested element X and got a reading of 560ppm, but had no idea where you should be or what the effect on your animals would be then you wasted your time running the test and your money on the kit.
I test potassium, but I know I need to run tests because I use a Zeolitic material in a reactor which depletes potassium. If you are not using this media and you use a good brand of salt then you may not need to test. Additionally if you know your animals enough that you know certain pigments in your corals become less intense as the levels drop or if specific corals are particularly sensitive to over doses then you may not need to test.
Keep this in mind as well. If you are supposed to keep a certain element between 900-910ppm(with 920ppm = overdose that will harm your animals) and you buy a test kit that has a resolution of 100ppm… wasted your money. Or if the range of your kit is from 500ppm to 800ppm and the element in natural salt water and aquariums should be from 900-910ppm… wasted your money.
Instead of asking what others test for a good idea would be to pick up a good book. Brightwell’s marine chemistry is a good read. Otherwise with out understand what you are testing and what the results mean you could really be wasting your time and money.
The Phos and Nitrate use a color wheel but they are also two sample test with one being your own water as the baseline and then the one with the reagent to match the color, it really is a easy to read test, I find them easier and readings are for Phosphate are .02ppm , .04ppm, .08ppm, .16ppm, .36ppm, .64ppm.
for the Nitrate they go for 0ppm - 1ppm in .25ppm increments then jump to 2ppm and 4ppm.
These test are for low nutrient systems to compare Salifert Phosphate test starts at .03ppm and then the next one is .1ppm thats a big jump.
And API Phosphate starts at .25ppm
For Nitrates the API kit goes from 0ppm to 5.0ppm as it’s starting point and new Red Sea Pro kit does not even go up to 5.0
IMO the new Red Sea Pro Program is the best test kits for a low nutrient systems next to digital testers.
But if you are reading .5 or above for Phosphate or above 5ppm for nitrate then these kits will not be of much use to use.
I also use the Alk, MG and CA kits and they all use the ml syringe titration method and you can see demos of the test here http://www.redseafish.com/index.aspx?id=4225
I am not really asking what they test FOR, I am asking, when they test what brand of kits are they using or what brands are they avoiding like the plague because of bad results.
I have always assumed that Calcium, Alkalinity, Magnesium (among ammonia, nitrates, nitrites, ph, and salinity) are things that most reef owners are testing for because of their affect on corals and the success of your tank. So, with everyone’s experience, I wanted to know what they thought of the Red Sea kit that I posted links of, and was also hoping to get others chiming in saying they liked the Elos kits, or that they swear by Salifert.
For right now, I am testing Calc, Alk/dKh, and Mag (plus the basics) on a weekly to bi-weekly basis using the Salifert kits. The problem is, I don’t have a true baseline to make sure that the results are accurate, or to at least set that baseline, except for Alk/dKh. That test comes with a test solution that says it should measure a specific level. When I first got the kit, I used that solution to set a baseline and found that kit to be off a bit (The bottle says the solution should be 7.3 +/- 0.3, and my readings, 2 times in a row were 8.4). So ever since I bought this round of tests, I have been questioning whether I am getting accurate readings from the rest of the kits that I have bought… Hence, why I am asking the question I am now since I am just about ready to buy new kits again.
I used Elos kits for Ca, Alk, and Mg, but don’t swear by the brand. Their ‘professional’ potassium test kit isn’t worth the space it takes up on the shelf. It’s resolution would tell you if you already overdosed or if you had so little they must have forgotten to add it to your latest batch of synthetic salt.
I’m very close to buying lab grade for a couple of parameters, but on the fence about it.
I would recommend against any Salifert products due to their lack of cusomter support in the past and more horribly off ‘bad batches’ of kits then any other brand of kits in the hobby. I would also recommend against RedSea’s Iodine test kit as it is similar to the Elos Potassium in that the resolution renders it worthless for reef aquarium purposes.
The differences in the brands aren’t just how many bad batches are produced or how easy they are to use, but some of the new test kits out which test elements reefers aren’t commonly used to testing aren’t really helpful. Seems to be that the majority of the club used Saliferts in the past and then got the attitude that they knew their tank well enough they hardly need to test any more. You may make a more informed decision on what to buy knowing what in natural levels, knowing what = overdose, and deciding what resolution kit is worth purchasing.
[quote=“ihuntinde, post:1, topic:4266”]
What test kits do you all use to test water parameters, like Ca, Alk, Mag, Iodine, Potassium, Iron? [/quote]
[quote=“ihuntinde, post:8, topic:4266”]
I am not really asking what they test FOR, I am asking, when they test what brand of kits are they using[/quote]
May consider changing your original question.
[quote=“Cdangel0, post:2, topic:4266”]
I have these kits. While they do test for level much more exact than the standard “master test kits” they used to sell. I don’t like these.
The main reason is they us e a color wheel to determine your levels (at least for PH, Phosphates, Nitrates, etc.) the problem is the wheel is round and the correllating number (ppm) is in between 2 different colors with no key to tell you which color it is, and they don’t necessarily “graduate” in color intensity either.
I think it was the nitrate wheel where you couldn’t tell if you were at .10ppm or 60ppm. Great in concept - horrible in execution.[/quote]
Cdangel0,
the number is between the colors but if you insert the wheel in the carrier that hold the two samples(one being the water you are testing and the other being straight tank water) and match up the colors the rreading should be at the tip of the carrier. The carrier has a pointer on the side that points to the value once you match up your colors.
Called RedSea directly and hassled them about their products. Asking the hard questions I found out that… there doesn’t seem to be a RedSea employee that has actually seen or used the RedSea test kits in the US. They usually call overseas for real technical questions they can’t answer based on the que cards they have of standard responses. Great news is one of the girls that works there will actually get chance to use them tomorrow and know what it is we’re talking about with all these questions. After being on hold for a while to talk to this “expert” I was not impressed.
[quote=“alemab3, post:10, topic:4266”]
[quote=“Cdangel0, post:2, topic:4266”]
I have these kits. While they do test for level much more exact than the standard “master test kits” they used to sell. I don’t like these.
The main reason is they us e a color wheel to determine your levels (at least for PH, Phosphates, Nitrates, etc.) the problem is the wheel is round and the correllating number (ppm) is in between 2 different colors with no key to tell you which color it is, and they don’t necessarily “graduate” in color intensity either.
I think it was the nitrate wheel where you couldn’t tell if you were at .10ppm or 60ppm. Great in concept - horrible in execution.[/quote]
Must have missed the arrow. I’ll have to look when I get home. Considering I liked everything else about them except not being sure what reading I was at maybe I’ll have to change my opinion.
Cdangel0,
the number is between the colors but if you insert the wheel in the carrier that hold the two samples(one being the water you are testing and the other being straight tank water) and match up the colors the rreading should be at the tip of the carrier. The carrier has a pointer on the side that points to the value once you match up your colors.[/quote]
i’m with john, saltcreep on them. api and salifert for mag. i orig used red sea for ph and ca, but did not like. for ca, their scale is 40 equals a drop, but api goes by 20. just more accurate.
[quote=“moliken, post:13, topic:4266”]
i’m with john, saltcreep on them. api and salifert for mag. i orig used red sea for ph and ca, but did not like. for ca, their scale is 40 equals a drop, but api goes by 20. just more accurate.[/quote] Is that the new Red Sea Pro kits ? that are part of their reef care program
Red Sea made a lot of changes to the new line of the reef care program from test kits to salt all new formulas and reagents
I think these are those new kits from Red Sea.
[quote=“ihuntinde, post:15, topic:4266”]
I think these are those new kits from Red Sea. [/quote]
The new kits work with a 1ml syringe and 1ml = 500ppm and the measurement is by amount of that 1ml used by scale not by drops, he has to be refering to the old kits
I have been using new RedSea kits for 4 month now, my favorite one is Nitrate/phosphate kit which has very good resolution as stated earlier in thread by Hudzon. Cal/Alk/Mag is horrible, I think Salifert is MUCH better for those. Trace elements kits are good because you use them in conjunction with reef care program.
I do have to agree with Gordonious on Redseas support. When I first started to use their new Alk/cal/mag kits my mag was reading over 1700, cal 500+. I retested with Salifert and old red sea and both were at 1400/420±, so I emailed redsea and got BS answer back saying that I should sanitize test tube to get correct reading. All I was trying to do is warn company of potential bad batch of their new kits, i was expecting from them to request this kit shipped back for analysis, anyway I returned it to TFP and continue using salifet until it runs out and get Hanna testers from now on.
So for nitrate/phosphate :
:
Cal/Alk/Mag BAD kits
btw John, i still owe you money for salt, and was looking for you at the meeting.