Water testing
- Thread starter Braxton
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steelwrap
Valuable Member
I have a salifert test kit but really have a hard time matching the colors so I just guesstimate
Idoc
Getting lazier and lazier with upkeep!
I use Salifert for nitrates... low amounts are harder to distinguish the colors, but if you use the method for lower amounts (looking thru the side of the vial and dividing the result by 10), I think it's pretty easy to read.
Last edited:
PatW
2500 Club Member
There are three kinds of testers on the market.
One is you run the test and match the resulting color of your solution to a series of colors on a card. These can drive you kinda crazy. All of the nitrate, ammonia and nitrite tests I have seen are like this. For nitrate, I like Red Sea Pro.
Other tests are based on titration. You add Reagan’s to the sample drop wise until you get a color change. Sometimes the color change is pretty dramatic and stable. Other times it is gradual and a bit subjective. There always seems to be wobble in the end result. But on good ones, the uncertainty of the test is low enough to not matter that much. Tests like ALK and CA tend to be of this type. For ALK and CA, I like Red Sea Pro and Salifert is good also. For Mg, I like Salifert.
Finally, there are the Hanna checkers that give you a digital read out. I like the ultra low phosphate cheaper. Many people like their ALK, checker which I have not tried.
The API tests are more approximate than the above. But if you want quick and dirty, they are fine. If you are running a fish only system or a system with fish and soft corals or easy hard corals, they are probably fine.
If you are going SPS corals which like stability, I would suggest going with Red Sea or Salifert.
One is you run the test and match the resulting color of your solution to a series of colors on a card. These can drive you kinda crazy. All of the nitrate, ammonia and nitrite tests I have seen are like this. For nitrate, I like Red Sea Pro.
Other tests are based on titration. You add Reagan’s to the sample drop wise until you get a color change. Sometimes the color change is pretty dramatic and stable. Other times it is gradual and a bit subjective. There always seems to be wobble in the end result. But on good ones, the uncertainty of the test is low enough to not matter that much. Tests like ALK and CA tend to be of this type. For ALK and CA, I like Red Sea Pro and Salifert is good also. For Mg, I like Salifert.
Finally, there are the Hanna checkers that give you a digital read out. I like the ultra low phosphate cheaper. Many people like their ALK, checker which I have not tried.
The API tests are more approximate than the above. But if you want quick and dirty, they are fine. If you are running a fish only system or a system with fish and soft corals or easy hard corals, they are probably fine.
If you are going SPS corals which like stability, I would suggest going with Red Sea or Salifert.
