Api tests reliable?
- Thread starter Reef.Blue
- Start date
- Tagged users None
tharbin
5000 Club Member
No it is not true. API gets bad rapped because it is inexpensive. The issue with the API tests are precision. Many of today's tanks run much lower numbers than some of the API test can differentiate. It can also be a little hard to learn to read the tests.
Get better tests for those things that need more precision as you need them. The only one I would say you absolutely need a better (more precise) test for in a reef tank is phosphates.
API kits:
Ammonia & nitrite - Good enough for cycling a new tank. After that, there isn't much reason to use any kind of kit.
Nitrate - Fine for cycling. After that, let's you know if nitrate is less than 20 ppm. Range isn't very useful in our reefs.
Phosphate - Like most phosphate kits that aren't Hanna ULR checkers, the range isn't low enough to be useful.
Alk - Good. Fast, accurate enough, precise, cheap. The resolution is only 1 dKH, but you can double your test volume and get to 0.5 dKH resolution.
Ca - Great. Fast, accurate, precise, cheap. +/- 20 ppm resolution, which is plenty good enough.
Ammonia & nitrite - Good enough for cycling a new tank. After that, there isn't much reason to use any kind of kit.
Nitrate - Fine for cycling. After that, let's you know if nitrate is less than 20 ppm. Range isn't very useful in our reefs.
Phosphate - Like most phosphate kits that aren't Hanna ULR checkers, the range isn't low enough to be useful.
Alk - Good. Fast, accurate enough, precise, cheap. The resolution is only 1 dKH, but you can double your test volume and get to 0.5 dKH resolution.
Ca - Great. Fast, accurate, precise, cheap. +/- 20 ppm resolution, which is plenty good enough.
tharbin
5000 Club Member
All they really explained was the accuracy and the consistency of the testers, not the test kits. All colormetric tests, including Hanna, are subject to interpretation and the precision of the testers methodology is the largest factor in the accuracy of the results.
GARRIGA
2500 Club Member
Here's an idea. API for weekly holistic monitoring. ICP every three to four months to identify issues that need addressing. No hobby kit I know provides the latter without possibility for errors. Even Hanna checkers lose calibration.
BTW, one YouTuber sent out same water samples to three different ICP labs and received three different results. Goes to show. No guarantee even ICP is exact. Best observe the tank and it's inhabitants. Might provide better clues than tests.
Side note: My phosphates on the API test run below 0.25 ppm. How do I know that? Because it's always lighter than 0.25 and darker than 0.00. Day I see 0.00 (I have post PhosGuard treatment), day I feed more. Problem solved.
Should I use a Hanna checker often validated against a known reference? Probably but only if inhabitants are SPS. Don't have GHA. Had but dissipated quickly. Very little surface algae. Glass gets cleaned every other week. Back wall is left alone. CUC needs to eat and as such I'm often adding supplemental feedings. Have had a bad surface algae outbreak few weeks back due to extended light duration and at max setting. Really need a PAR meter. Had diatoms early. All good now. I don't need precision. Just a general confidence my tank isn't headed for a crash or serious issues.
Hobbies tend to push participants to be on the cutting edge because often that's were profits multiply quickly.
Crazy final thought. No sump. No skimmer. No mechanical detritus removal other than GAC and floss to keep the water crystal clear. Don't do water changes, either. I know. Crazy...
BTW, one YouTuber sent out same water samples to three different ICP labs and received three different results. Goes to show. No guarantee even ICP is exact. Best observe the tank and it's inhabitants. Might provide better clues than tests.
Side note: My phosphates on the API test run below 0.25 ppm. How do I know that? Because it's always lighter than 0.25 and darker than 0.00. Day I see 0.00 (I have post PhosGuard treatment), day I feed more. Problem solved.
Should I use a Hanna checker often validated against a known reference? Probably but only if inhabitants are SPS. Don't have GHA. Had but dissipated quickly. Very little surface algae. Glass gets cleaned every other week. Back wall is left alone. CUC needs to eat and as such I'm often adding supplemental feedings. Have had a bad surface algae outbreak few weeks back due to extended light duration and at max setting. Really need a PAR meter. Had diatoms early. All good now. I don't need precision. Just a general confidence my tank isn't headed for a crash or serious issues.
Hobbies tend to push participants to be on the cutting edge because often that's were profits multiply quickly.
Crazy final thought. No sump. No skimmer. No mechanical detritus removal other than GAC and floss to keep the water crystal clear. Don't do water changes, either. I know. Crazy...
