Alk mag cal test kit
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TX_Punisher
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Happy with my saliferts.
Lloyd Williams
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SPR1968
No, it wasn’t expensive dear....
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I use Hanna digital for alkalinity (and phosphate) which is very quick and easy, and Red Sea for Calcium/Magnesium
I would however take a look at NYOS and Ive changed to NYOS for nitrate already and will try these kits for calcium/magnesium when I need them replacing
I would however take a look at NYOS and Ive changed to NYOS for nitrate already and will try these kits for calcium/magnesium when I need them replacing
Instigate
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I use the Red Sea Pro line for Alk, P04, and N03 and Salifert for the rest. Might try the NYOS for N03 when I run out of the Red Sea Pro stuff. Would also like to try the Hanna Alk and P04 units but I'm pretty happy with the Red Sea Pro kit for Alk, the P04 kit works well but has a 15min wait so the Hanna Po4 is pretty temping.
Ron Reefman
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Tampa Bay Reef Keepers
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I have used the inexpensive API test kits for Ca and alk for many years. I use Salifert for Mg. I have Salifert kits for Ca and alk as well, but I rarely use them. The API kits are, IMHO, more than good enough for most systems. I know lots of reefers here will talk about how inaccurate they are, but the reality is, none of the test kits available are really accurate.
Unless you have a very specialized tank or have very sensitive creatures in your tank, any test kit will do the job. And the job you want done is NOT high accuracy, even though that's what everybody says they want. What you really want is fast, easy and more than anything, reliable and repeatable results.
Our local club did a test where everybody brought their test kits to a meeting. The water used to test was supplied to everybody from one tank. Everybody tested the water and submitted their results at the meeting. A sample of the same water was sent to a lab for 'professional' testing. The results were amazing! People using the same brands of test kits had some wildly different results from each other, not to mention different from the professional test results. The common kits that people used were API, Salifert and Red Sea, but some others were used as well. The take away from this test is that none of them is any more accurate than any other and the difference between how each individual user does the test has more effect on the test results than the brand of the kit.
Buy your test kits and try to do your test the EXACT same way every time. That way you get reliable and repeatable results. And those can, over time, show you trends in your tank. And using 2 different brands isn't a bad idea either. I use API 98% of the time. If I get a wild reading that I think is out of line, I repeat the test. If I get the same wild result, I switch to the Salifert kit and do the test again. And 99 times out of 100 the Salifert kit gives me a result that is very, very close to the API result!
Unless you have a very specialized tank or have very sensitive creatures in your tank, any test kit will do the job. And the job you want done is NOT high accuracy, even though that's what everybody says they want. What you really want is fast, easy and more than anything, reliable and repeatable results.
Our local club did a test where everybody brought their test kits to a meeting. The water used to test was supplied to everybody from one tank. Everybody tested the water and submitted their results at the meeting. A sample of the same water was sent to a lab for 'professional' testing. The results were amazing! People using the same brands of test kits had some wildly different results from each other, not to mention different from the professional test results. The common kits that people used were API, Salifert and Red Sea, but some others were used as well. The take away from this test is that none of them is any more accurate than any other and the difference between how each individual user does the test has more effect on the test results than the brand of the kit.
Buy your test kits and try to do your test the EXACT same way every time. That way you get reliable and repeatable results. And those can, over time, show you trends in your tank. And using 2 different brands isn't a bad idea either. I use API 98% of the time. If I get a wild reading that I think is out of line, I repeat the test. If I get the same wild result, I switch to the Salifert kit and do the test again. And 99 times out of 100 the Salifert kit gives me a result that is very, very close to the API result!
