Aquarium Test Kits

jokervueboi · Dec 24, 2013

What brand of test kit do you use for your tank(s)?

AsphaltPays · Dec 24, 2013

Red Sea Pro..Love them

jokervueboi · Dec 24, 2013

I haven't tested my 46g bowfront. since it isn't fully stocked. But since i am slowly adding more and more LPS. I was wondering what everyone is using for their test kits.

mike007 · Dec 24, 2013

Redsea seems to be the easiest and most accurate. Hanna Checkers can be very sensitive.

Reefing Madness · Dec 24, 2013

Should have made it a multiple choice, or least been able to choose more than one
API for some
Salifert for some

Fin · Dec 24, 2013

Elos. Have the Hanna Checkers and don't like how slightly deviating from the directions or having a smudge on the vial (if you even have enough time before it times out) can cause vastly varying results. I don't trust the them anymore. So, I am going back to all Elos kits.

JMSKI333 · Dec 25, 2013

AsphaltPays said:
Red Sea Pro..Love them

+1 same here

NC2WA · Dec 25, 2013

I use Elos for most tests, except I do use the Hanna Checker for PO4..

edsbeaker · Dec 25, 2013

I'm not sure how to vote. I use Red sea pro for Mag, calcium and nitrate. I use Hanna photometers for Phosphate and alk. I think there are a lot of us that use multiple test kit brands.

DaveMorris · Dec 25, 2013

Have always used Salifert. Love them. I use a Hannah colorimeter for PO4, the older one though, not the newer Hannah Checker.

Mike J. · Dec 25, 2013

Reefing Madness said:
Should have made it a multiple choice, or least been able to choose more than one
API for some
Salifert for some

I tried to check more than one box; it wouldn't let me. API and Red Sea, here.

glb · Dec 26, 2013

Salifert for ca, mg and nitrates. Hanna checkers for alk and phosphates. Have used Red Sea pro for mg and it's excellent but very cumbersome to use IMO. I found salifert to be much more user friendly.

nanoreef123 · Dec 26, 2013

Red Sea for cal,,Salifert mg and hanna checkers for phosphate and alk.. Always get accurate readings with this.

Treefer32 · Dec 26, 2013

Salifort for Cal, alk, and mg. I'm considering something for phosphates, not sure what, heard a lot of bad things about hana, and I'm terrible with color matching, I've tried Red Sea before and was completely unimpressed, didn't seem very user friendly, and the colors were impossible for me to tell apart. At least with the blue and pink in the salifort test kits it's very easy to know when the color change happens and to know where the value is at.. I've accidently added one too many drops of the reagent, etc, yet, the results are still good. based on doing it right once and wrong once, got pretty close to the same results, maybe around 10-20 ppm difference in calcium. I can handle that.

NC2WA · Dec 27, 2013

Tree,

have you tried the hanna checker? no need to color match, just add the reagent,shake and press button..wait 3 mins and results are digitally displayed (and accurate).

glb · Dec 31, 2013

NC2WA said:
Tree,

have you tried the hanna checker? no need to color match, just add the reagent,shake and press button..wait 3 mins and results are digitally displayed (and accurate).

I have the Hanna Checker. It's a little tricky to get right but if you do the test consistently it's reliable IMO.

mtnrunner · Dec 31, 2013

I used Hannah Checkers but had someone talk me into Salifert, saying they were more accurate. It appears my Hannah Ca was reading way high. The Salifert are quite easy to use.

One just has to be cautious with any test - they all can have issues, due to misuse or malfunction.

glb · Dec 31, 2013

mtnrunner said:
I used Hannah Checkers but had someone talk me into Salifert, saying they were more accurate. It appears my Hannah Ca was reading way high. The Salifert are quite easy to use.

One just has to be cautious with any test - they all can have issues, due to misuse or malfunction.

I use salifert for calcium as I've heard the same thing about the hanna calcium checker. I have the hanna alk checker and find it very easy to use.