Best Test Kit Brands for SPS

[Sabellafella]

What make you say they put salifert to same?(nyos)

Basically the price and quality thats all, personally i dont believe any test kid becausr i own about 4 different brands for each parameter and they all get different reading, (in my mind) i dont even believe triton lol but as for accuracy they seem to be the same

 

[Greenstreet.1]

Ok did you find it easier you use or more accurate ?

 

[Sabellafella]

Its like the new era/version of salifert, look into them there acually pretty simple

 

[Greenstreet.1]

I was thinking about giving them a try but will stick with what works for me. Thanks for the info.

 

[Sabellafella]

Ok did you find it easier you use or more accurate ?

As i thought salifert is as easy as it gets, nyos is just so simple and there test kits i acually enjoy doing, i cant compare accuracy with any test kit because there all off but nyos redsea and salifert seem to be all in the same ballpark

 

[Greenstreet.1]

Red Sea is the worst for me. Me and Red Sea just not friends bro.

 

[Sabellafella]

Red Sea is the worst for me. Me and Red Sea just not friends bro.

Haha tell me about it, i was just cant stand it, their k test kits a real pain but people have their preferences , but yea give nyos a shot there simple , prefer elos tho

 

[Brandon McHenry]

So it seems like there are lots of mixed results. The poll is showing salifert followed by Red Sea and Hanna. However the comments are showing slightly different results. I guess what would be the most beneficial is to post which test kit you prefer for which parameter like some people have already done.

For example:
Calcium-
Alkalinity-
PO4-
NO3-
pH-

I assume the pH will usually be the probe but if you have a kit you like please feel free to add it.

 

[Sabellafella]

Alk -hannah is a must nd elos
Calc-nyos professional nd elos
Mag-nyos salifert nd elos
P04- both hannahs or elos professional everything else is just a waste of money imo
N03 nyos is awesome but i use redsea for low range
K- elos
Strontium- salifert

 

[Brandon McHenry]

Alk -hannah is a must nd elos
Calc-nyos professional nd elos
Mag-nyos salifert nd elos
P04- both hannahs or elos professional everything else is just a waste of money imo
N03 nyos is awesome but i use redsea for low range
K- elos
Strontium- salifert

I've never heard of Nyos before this thread. I see they are from Germany. How long have they been on the market?

 

[KingTriton]

My Alk Hanna checker isn't fully consistent or reliable ime esp when I get near the end of the solution bottle. Also I can test much quicker and accurately with my Salifert. I always recommend having two though for safety precautions.

API actually works well for me. Salifert Ca isn't the easiest kit for this one.

Mg Salifert. My Red Sea wasn't accurate or reliable.

 

[Sabellafella]

I've never heard of Nyos before this thread. I see they are from Germany. How long have they been on the market?

Not sure , i ordered a few from marine depot about 2 months ago but i think they are considerably new

 

[FlyinBryan]

Hannah, salifert. Though elos has in interesting set that's just out.
With salifert just watch exp date. If its within a year, for me, I toss it.

 

[Brandon McHenry]

My Alk Hanna checker isn't fully consistent or reliable ime esp when I get near the end of the solution bottle. Also I can test much quicker and accurately with my Salifert. I always recommend having two though for safety precautions.

API actually works well for me. Salifert Ca isn't the easiest kit for this one.

Mg Salifert. My Red Sea wasn't accurate or reliable.

How do you define reliable? I'm just curious.

Not sure , i ordered a few from marine depot about 2 months ago but i think they are considerably new

You seem to be a Nyos/Elso fan with a few exceptions. Any particular reason why? And if you own so many test kits for each parameter, which one do you base your decisions off of?

Hannah, salifert. Though elos has in interesting set that's just out.
With salifert just watch exp date. If its within a year, for me, I toss it.

Hanna for Alk and PO4? And what do you mean within a year? A year before expiration? A year after?

 

[Sabellafella]

How do you define reliable? I'm just curious.


You seem to be a Nyos/Elso fan with a few exceptions. Any particular reason why? And if you own so many test kits for each parameter, which one do you base your decisions off of?


Hanna for Alk and PO4? And what do you mean within a year? A year before expiration? A year after?

Nyos really isnt my go to test , it is elos Nd its only because i personally never got bad reagents or off readings they are very very reliable. im very much never changing my mind when it comes to elos , i always test twice , dont get me wrong red sea test are ok, but if you screw up 1 droplet of water your readings are way off, the people at red sea cant even tell u the right color change for alk nd thats the only test you cant play around with, as for decisions. I use hannah for alk, people say they give a 1 dkh higher reading but then again thats based off a red sea test, calc and mag i use elos but then again nyos comes out to be about the same nd nyos is easyer, i use red sea for tuning in my nitrates while carbon dosing but honestly its stupid i juss let then range from 3 to 12 on the nyos simple to read color change, p03 nd p04 i use both hannahs but usually convert from ulr , the elos professional is the best and yes the best phosphate test kit were you can see the color change and its all low range , for potassium elos to me is the easyest, redseas k test makes me want to jump off a bridge, nd i test iodine nd strontium with an old salifert

 

[Sabellafella]

Another thing yea people say hannah alk is unreliable but thats testing error, i use my own syringe with the 10 ml and 1ml reagent (regardless if the syringes are not exactly the right mls )so i kno its exactly the same every single time i test, i dont think ive even touched the glass corvette with my fingers before , nd the red sea magnesium is another one that if u add a droplet more or less the test is extremely off

 

[Flashy Fins]

[HASHTAG]#Sabellafella[/HASHTAG] - thanks for all the input. I've been using a Red Sea kit and find the alk test impossible. The calc and mag tests aren't much better. I'm going to give the Hanna alk checker a try. I looked up the nyos tests for calc and mag and think those would be easier to interpret than Red Sea, so I'll try those, too. I'm someone who never tests anything, because I can't work the tests. Likely user error, but I need the simplest to read, easiest to repeat results, or else the test kit stays on the shelf till it expires, as is the case with my Red Sea kit.

 

[Sabellafella]

[HASHTAG]#Sabellafella[/HASHTAG] - thanks for all the input. I've been using a Red Sea kit and find the alk test impossible. The calc and mag tests aren't much better. I'm going to give the Hanna alk checker a try. I looked up the nyos tests for calc and mag and think thise would be easier to interpret than Red Sea, so I'll try those, too. I'm someone who never tests anything, because I can't work the tests. Likely user error, but I need the simplest to read, easiest to repeat results, or else the test kit stays on the shelf till it expires, as is the case with my Red Sea kit.

Thank you , yea i was a red sea guy for so long nd for the longest time was comparing them batch by batch andthey were all off, i think the alk oxidizes or stays orange or w.e it does, the calc always gives me a 10 to 20 ppm lower reading then everything else and the mag isnt bad, its all about the 2ml sample , it has to be perfect everytime to get the right reading

 

[Brandon McHenry]

Its funny. Ive always been able to utilize Red Sea with no problem. Not saying they are great or anything just saying that Ive never experienced any issues. I do agree that the Mg test is a bit tricky if not extremely careful. Im fairly certain however that I will be going Hanna for Alk and PO4 (not sure about ULR Phosphorus or Low Range Phosphate still undecided). I am still stuck on Calcium Magnesium and Nitrate now. I still have a significant amount of my Mg test kit left from Red Sea so that might not be a priority. Calcium and nitrate however are scraping the bottom of the reagent so I need to make a decision soon if I'm going to be ordering online.

 

[KingTriton]

How do you define reliable? I'm just curious.

Just not as consistent. Ive had my numbers vary on multiple occasions. That said its ''generally'' accurate for me. Even if it was accurate though its more time consuming than salifert. I find salifert much easier and more accurate which was a no brainer for me. I still use the Hanna for cross checking though.