Test kits

[fl3xlinton]

I have api master test kit and it seems my tank is almost cycled. But A buddy of mine told me that the api kits can be wrong and now I am wondering what are good ones because there are many on the market. Thanks in advance

 

[brandon429]

Check this out it’s pertinent to your concern

Cant get rid of ammonia

I have a ammonia problem and can't get rid of it. I've tried everything and searched my tank for dead snails. Ive even cut back on feeding and still can't get rid of it. I have a 13g fluval all in one feed tank and I'm worried about my coral. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

www.reef2reef.com

the key is matching any claim about ammonia to what the tank looks like, not going solely off the test kit. If you want to be free from required testing for ammonia nitrite and nitrate, search out our microbiology of cycling thread and you won’t need the testers.

 

[ihavecrabs]

Salifert are great test kits. Relatively inexpensive per test and easy to perform. Probably one of the most accurate as well.

Hanna are great for ease of use, but the upfront cost can be an inhibitor for some.

 

[Dan_P]

I have api master test kit and it seems my tank is almost cycled. But A buddy of mine told me that the api kits can be wrong and now I am wondering what are good ones because there are many on the market. Thanks in advance

API test kits are not wrong, but they cannot detect the low concentrations of analytes (NH3, PO4, etc.) that we need to maintain saltwater aquariums. The ammonia test is particularly vexing for concentrations below 0.1 ppm. The background yellow color which the human eye sees very well makes seeing the slightly green color for a positive test nearly impossible to see. It is simply the wrong test kit to select for low concentrations.

Just about every other test kit manufacturer makes test kits that are more effective at detecting the low concentration of analytes we need.

 

[brandon429]

I never could tell why they have so much problems that’s good to know how about they work. For sure many posters can get them to read a hard yellow zero but my goodness we are swamped by false sustained low readings in the hobby. Not enough can get that for sure zero reading.


I can’t wait for seneye, thousandths-measure ability to become more widespread.

 

[fl3xlinton]

It’s a new tank I got into the hobby because of the g

 

[fl3xlinton]

Check this out it’s pertinent to your concern

Cant get rid of ammonia

I have a ammonia problem and can't get rid of it. I've tried everything and searched my tank for dead snails. Ive even cut back on feeding and still can't get rid of it. I have a 13g fluval all in one feed tank and I'm worried about my coral. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

www.reef2reef.com

the key is matching any claim about ammonia to what the tank looks like, not going solely off the test kit. If you want to be free from required testing for ammonia nitrite and nitrate, search out our microbiology of cycling thread and you won’t need the testers.

Sorry I’m new to this fellas. But I actually got into the saltwater game from the guy that asked about his ammonia lol but thanks for the advice guys I have a 40 gal aio and my ammonia is reading 0 and my nitrates and nitrates are way up so I’m currently in the cycle I was just wondering for future references if there were better ones thanks by the way.

 

[brandon429]

Curious to know how long your tank has been underwater, and did you use live rock with coralline and animals on it, or was it totally dry rock

welcome to reef 2 reef, home of cycle umpires ha nice

 

[Little_Red_Ryan_Hood]

BRS has videos ranking the best test kits for Calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium (links below). I have used Salifert test kits for Calcium, alkalinity, magnesium, and nitrate. They all work well and have a good price point.

As for cycling your tank, if I am reading your question correctly, you can always wait longer to add livestock. Patience with cycling your tank will save you money and stress in the long run. I would at least wait until you get consistent readings of nitrate. This video gives a decent explanation about the tank cycle.

 

[fl3xlinton]

Curious to know how long your tank has been underwater, and did you use live rock with coralline and animals on it, or was it totally dry rock

welcome to reef 2 reef, home of cycle umpires ha nice

It’s been about 3 weeks now but only 2 with an ammonia source. It was dry rock but I used live sand. And I know it’s probably not recommended these days from what I’ve read but my lfs recommended starting the tank with fish so I used a 4 oz bottle of turbo start and I got some clowns

 

[fl3xlinton]

I also got brown spots which I heard was normal

 

[brandon429]

100% of that is ok, your tank is cycled due to:
-fish that have lived longer than ten hours
-clear water after ten hours (ammonia tipping point events kill your tank within a few hours they never linger, free ammonia is a consequence we can see without a tester, clouding is one)
-you used bottle bac tested by Dr. Reef to cycle within 48 hours.
-it is a rule in microbiology that by the time you have any depositional organisms you can see (brown spots diatoms, maybe cyano, maybe a commingled mix with a lil algae, all expected) you already had filtration bacteria on your rocks.


lots of stuff in reefing online is safe zone calls. Calcium too high/low, alk too high or low doesn’t really have effects overnite so people are free to guess away

but not cycling, the whole tank dies overnite with any bad call.

above when I stated you are cycled, that means specifically you can change out 100% of your water and the tank still runs the fish. That remarks upon surfaces doing the work, you are cycled. You don’t have to bother testing that, we do it all the time in the MBC thread and your tank is the same as the ones we track.

a closed cycle is the date the system can endure a complete water change and still manage the intended bioload (water changes can never, ever undo a cycle even if you do twenty full changes a day every day)
its based on number of days underwater, we don’t need any test kit to tell us when an aquarium will cycle. The wet sand alone would likely instantly carry the bioload from the two fish in that many gallons.

 

[fl3xlinton]

should I still wait to add any more livestock? I was going to try to get a cleanup crew maybe Thursday and maybe a goby but I wanted all my readings to show 0 before I added anything else.

 

[fl3xlinton]

These are the clowns the lfs Let me get for my cycle. I got em for half off because he didn’t have any regular oscelaris clowns

 

[brandon429]

Our friend Lasse on the forum pointed out a neat idea once that stuck with me, the feeding we give to all the organisms is the hidden risk, not so much the animals. If we feed pellet food or protein meat chunks that aren't eaten but pile off to the side, they can overcome the system

It's ok to add animals but you are adding them slowly not due to lack of bacteria, or entry test kits that may or may not reveal accurate numbers, but so you can precisely feed and make sure not one pellet is wasted. If you add a few snails or crab, don't feed extra make them work off what you already feed the clowns. Occasionally offer the cuc a pellet but go easy on feeding for a while.

Research fish disease prevention options stickied up top in the fish forum, a tank of mixed lfs fish are 90% likely to die in six months.

 

[fl3xlinton]

Our friend Lasse on the forum pointed out a neat idea once that stuck with me, the feeding we give to all the organisms is the hidden risk, not so much the animals. If we feed pellet food or protein meat chunks that aren't eaten but pile off to the side, they can overcome the system

It's ok to add animals but you are adding them slowly not due to lack of bacteria, or entry test kits that may or may not reveal accurate numbers, but so you can precisely feed and make sure not one pellet is wasted. If you add a few snails or crab, don't feed extra make them work off what you already feed the clowns. Occasionally offer the cuc a pellet but go easy on feeding for a while.

Research fish disease prevention options stickied up top in the fish forum, a tank of mixed lfs fish are 90% likely to die in six months.

So if I buy fish from more than one lfs they will die in 6 months? But I figured the snails and crabs could eat the brown spots on the sand and rocks so I wouldn’t have to feed them for a while

 

[lapin]

In the future the main testing most people do is Alkalinity, Calcium, Magneisum, Nitrate, Phosphate
Hanna, Red Sea, Salfert make good basic test kits. Some are easier and quicker than others.
The BRS videos should have some info on each of these

 

[vetteguy53081]

If unsure about your water quality, Grab a nice amount of water from your tank and take to a trusted LFS to test and verify readings for you.

 

[brandon429]

The issue with marine fish is it doesn't work like freshwater.

Gotta read for one hour in the fish forum, sticky threads before adding any more. The lfs is selling fish chock full of disease and current best known ways to prevent loss are there in fish forum written by Humblefish. The fish don't look bad agreed, but to see the scope of marine fish disease from mixed lfs fish only two options exist-going through the loss within a year or preventative measures when the tank is new.

The fish always look healthy, but if they're marine fish from a lfs they're received and sold quickly, no time to implement the actions that stop disease transfer.

 

[BeejReef]

Congrats on your new fish!