Best BUDGET but ACCURATE Test Kits

[Ocean’s Piece]

I have all of those in Salifert, (I have the alk in both Salifert and aqua forest both measure the same.

I wouldn't pay extra for Red Sea, Salifert is very good in those tests.

Did the math and its about the same if I just buy all of those Saliferts individually. So now, It would be salifert for alk, cal, mg, nitrate, and Hanna ULR Phosphate

 

[Ocean’s Piece]

I have all of those in Salifert, (I have the alk in both Salifert and aqua forest both measure the same.

I wouldn't pay extra for Red Sea, Salifert is very good in those tests.

Ok super excited. Found a combo of alk, cal, and mg in salifert on amazon for $53. Now were talking.

 

[Reef.]

Ok super excited. Found a combo of all, cal, and mg in salifert on amazon for $53. Now were talking.

for the same price go Red Sea, the quality of the kit is much better and the tests are good, I just wouldn't pay more for them but for the same price definitely worth getting those over the salifert...sorry for confusing you.

You will find you either take to a test or not, so it's a good idea to try a few brands, BRS videos are good but they do tend to low ball some tests for daft reasons such as the instructions card is made of paper instead of plastic. So don't discount a test just because it wasn't rated the best by a reviewer.

 

[Ocean’s Piece]

for the same price go Red Sea, the quality of the kit is much better and the tests are good, I just wouldn't pay more for them but for the same price definitely worth getting those over the salifert...sorry for confusing you.

You will find you either take to a test or not, so it's a good idea to try a few brands, BRS videos are good but they do tend to low ball some tests for daft reasons such as the instructions card is made of paper instead of plastic. So don't discount a test just because it wasn't rated the best by a reviewer.

Ok. Gotcha. Yeah I have been ignoring some of BRS' petty excuses for something being bad and I have also been aware that it is a marketing video at the same time.

 

[Reef.]

Ok. Gotcha. Yeah I have been ignoring some of BRS' petty excuses for something being bad and I have also been aware that it is a marketing video at the same time.

Funny thing is i don't think it is for marketing with BRS, the amount of times I hear them say a certain product isn't very good and not to buy it but they stock it...I think they just get carried away with the video and need to fill a 20 minutes slot so end up coming up with daft reasons why one test is better than another, I would think most people are only bothered if the result is accurate not what the instructions card is made off lol

I guess the quality of the kit needs to be mentioned but the results should only be based on accuracy not quality.

 

[ChiCity]

That combo test pack looks like a good deal for all three of those. I'll have to look into how accurate they are compared to others.

just get the salifert master kit on amazon...
think i paid like 80 bucks a few months back for:
No3
Po4
Kh/Alk
Ca
Mg
pH

i know you don’t like salifert po4
but you can use it as a backup for redundancy

 

[Ocean’s Piece]

Funny thing is i don't think it is for marketing, the amount of times I hear them say a certain product isn't very good and not to buy it but they stock it...I think they just get carried away with the video and need to fill 20 minutes slot so end up coming up with daft reasons why one test is better than another, I would think most people are only bothered if the result is accurate not what the instructions card is made off lol

Absolute Facts.

 

[elysics]

If you take into consideration the long term cost the reagents are cheaper for Hanna, so it starts to even out after the initial cost of the checker it's self. I use Hanna for Cal,alk, po4. & I love the nyos for nitrate. I started with the salifert for everything still use salifert if I need ph, ammonia,nitrite, mag.

I'm curious, what do hanna reagents for alk and what do salifert alk tests cost in the US?

The absolute cheapest over here is around 9-10€ for 25 Hanna tests vs 6-7€ for 100 salifert tests. Salifert is 5 times cheaper in the long run over here

 

[Reef.]

just get the salifert master kit on amazon...
think i paid like 80 bucks a few months back for:
No3
Po4
Kh/Alk
Ca
Mg
pH

i know you don’t like salifert po4
but you can use it as a backup for redundancy

$80 for that is expensive, the salifert PO4 is next to useless, I could only get a reading I could see if my PO4 was too high, unreadable under 0.1 and the OP says they don't need ph yet, so $80 seems a lot for the 4 tests he needs.

 

[Reef.]

I'm curious, what do hanna reagents for alk and what do salifert alk tests cost in the US?

The absolute cheapest over here is around 9-10€ for 25 Hanna tests vs 6-7€ for 100 salifert tests. Salifert is 5 times cheaper in the long run over here

Hanna in the USA is a lot cheaper, but for alk the main reason IMO for buying that one is how easy it is to do the test, it's definitely not a cost thing.

 

[dedragon]

I agree with all your choices apart for the Hanna for alk, Salifert and Aqua forest are very good, they are accurate but take a couple extra minutes to carry out the test, no need to spend the extra on the Hanna, the Hanna PO4 I would say is definitely work

lol, said the same thing except red sea and salifert, reefs. Hanna is hard to justify except that po4

 

[dedragon]

Hanna in the USA is a lot cheaper, but for alk the main reason IMO for buying that one is how easy it is to do the test, it's definitely not a cost thing.

idk if you have used the red sea pro alk yet but i have both the salifert and red sea one but i prefer red sea because it is just 1 solution for the whole titration. easier and faster than my salifert one

 

[Ocean’s Piece]

idk if you have used the red sea pro alk yet but i have both the salifert and red sea one but i prefer red sea because it is just 1 solution for the whole titration. easier and faster than my salifert one

Ok should be the final decision for what I'm getting:
Phosphate: Hanna Phosphate ULR
Alkalinity/Calcium/Magnesium: Red Sea Foundation
Nitrate: As of now, Salifert (Still need to do more research)
Yall have been so helpful so I appreciate everyone's input.

 

[dedragon]

prob dont need to say this but you dont use a swing arm hydrometer right?

 

[dedragon]

saw your build and i hope if i dont win the hanna contest you do, lol, i just want them to compare some results and make sure they are all perfect

 

[Ocean’s Piece]

prob dont need to say this but you dont use a swing arm hydrometer right?

Getting a Tropic Marin Highly precise or whatever hydrometer with the order I'm about to put in. Supposed to be extremely accurate. Haven't looked at other options but I definitely will.

saw your build and i hope if i dont win the hanna contest you do, lol, i just want them to compare some results and make sure they are all perfect

Thanks for checking out the build thread. Yeah we both need the luck! They still haven't posted the results. Crazy.

 

[MaxTremors]

Personally, I cannot stand trying to read the color charts, regardless of the brand, so much of it just seems like guesswork or approximations. Which is probably okay for a lot of tests. I used Salifert for years, but have recently decided to start switching over to Hanna as I run out of reagents for all of my Salifert tests. I currently have then Nitrate, ULR phosphorous, and Alk Hanna kits, and while they’re a little more convoluted than the Salifert tests (especially the Nitrate), getting an exact measurement is a million times better than trying to read color match tests. And the thing is, a quality test kit is around $30, so for $20 more you can get the Hanna (for which the refills of reagent are like $15, so one refill essentially pays for the difference in price). I will say though, that if I were testing more than two tanks, I probably wouldn’t go with the Hanna Nitrate test, just because it would be too time consuming, one test takes me around 15 minutes, so with three or four tanks, that could end up being 45min to an hour just to test nitrates, so that may be something to consider.

 

[Ocean’s Piece]

Personally, I cannot stand trying to read the color charts, regardless of the brand, so much of it just seems like guesswork or approximations. Which is probably okay for a lot of tests. I used Salifert for years, but have recently decided to start switching over to Hanna as I run out of reagents for all of my Salifert tests. I currently have then Nitrate, ULR phosphorous, and Alk Hanna kits, and while they’re a little more convoluted than the Salifert tests (especially the Nitrate), getting an exact measurement is a million times better than trying to read color match tests. And the thing is, a quality test kit is around $30, so for $20 more you can get the Hanna (for which the refills of reagent are like $15, so one refill essentially pays for the difference in price). I will say though, that if I were testing more than two tanks, I probably wouldn’t go with the Hanna Nitrate test, just because it would be too time consuming, one test takes me around 15 minutes, so with three or four tanks, that could end up being 45min to an hour just to test nitrates, so that may be something to consider.

If I had the money and desire to spend a few hundred on Hanna test meters, I would, but testing is not what I live for for this hobby so I just need something that works and well. But I don’t blame you for going to accuracy route rather than the cost effective route because it’s just what works for everyone

 

[MaxTremors]

Getting a Tropic Marin Highly precise or whatever hydrometer with the order I'm about to put in. Supposed to be extremely accurate. Haven't looked at other options but I definitely will.

Thanks for checking out the build thread. Yeah we both need the luck! They still haven't posted the results. Crazy.

Get a refractometer or the Hanna salinity checker, a hydrometer, no matter the manufacturer, just isn’t as accurate. For a fish only aquarium, a hydrometer is okay, but for a reef tank you really need something more precise (and a good refractometer is only maybe $10 more than a good hydrometer). If you do get a refractometer or the Hanna checker, make sure to get calibration fluid as well.

 

[dedragon]

color charts i agree with, but the titration color CHANGE* test is easy to tell, it is also just a more basic titration test just like one would do in a college chemistry class. even slight color change indicates end of a titration, not complete color shift. Albeit one shouldnt have had to take a chemistry class to understand an aquarium test kit, which some prob assume people have