Ca, Ph testing kits

[DS5000]

Planning on getting first corals, and looking to get Ca, Ph, maybe Mg testing kits. I currently have the Red Sea NH4, nitrate/ite testing kits, and the Hanna Alk tester, and like them.
I was looking at the Hanna testers, vs Redsea or Salifert.
I know everyone probably has their favorite, but being new to the hobby I wanted to inquire about general pro/cons of these testers. I dont mind spending the money on the Hanna's if they are worth it.
Thx

 

[Albertan22]

You are missing the most important of the test kits which is alkalinity. That’s the one you test the most (daily at some points when you dialing in dosing). I like Salifert for Calcium, Magnesium, and nitrate. I use Hanna for alkalinity because it is quick and makes life easy, and also phosphate because it’s the only test that gives reliable readings at low levels. I don’t test ph because I have an apex with a probe so can’t comment on those test kits.

 

[DS5000]

Thx Albert, - i should have mentioned I already have the hanna Alk tester, and do love it

 

[Chuk]

I like the red sea Ca test and hate the hanna Ca. The hanna Ca test only uses 0.1mL of sample which leads to small testing errors causing large reading variations.
The red sea Mg is hit and miss for me I have a hard time seeing that color change so I get a lot of 1600 ppm readings because I keep waiting for it to go blue form purple but I really just missed the change. I've had better luck with the salifert Mg test.

 

[SPR1968]

I’ve tried numerous and settled on:

Alkalinity Hanna
Phosphate Hanna
Nitrate NYOS
Calcium NYOS
Magnesium NYOS

The NYOS kits are very simple to use and accurate against ICP testing

Ive found with the Red Sea magnesium, you may as well just pick a number yourself it’s that inaccurate and the test is a pain as well. The NYOS for example is just so simple.

 

[BlennyTime]

I really like the Red Sea calcium test kit. Some batches of Red Sea alkalinity test reagents are better than others as far as color change in the reaction, but it’s a really simple test. I use the Red Sea nitrate rest and it’s fine. I like it better than the old API test kit I used. Does take 9 minutes to develop though.

 

[Bogie]

Salifert they are always consistent.

 

[GSnake]

I just noticed my mg redsea is testing 300~ higher than my salifert kit. and im currently looking for more information regarding this, otherwise alk, cal, nitrate and p04 i would prefer redsea. it seems mg for salifert is correct. my ph is done with API.