Test Kit

[yanranicm85]

What test kit would you recommend? I currently have API but I'd like something better. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

[cemyth]

Salifert all the way

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

What parameters are you buying kits for?

[hilgert]

A few words...

You will, of course, get a lot of answers (some of them almost "religious") on this much-asked (and much-answered) question. You DID search before posting, right? :)

With regard to API, my experience is that API is not a bad kit...I actually like/use API a lot, and if you understand APIs limitations I would say it's actually one of the better kits (for KH and Ca). "Inexpensive and easy" does not always mean "cheap and crappy".

I have found API kits for Alk (KH) and Ca to be very reliable, repeatable, and if used correctly, accurate. With API (at least for Alk and Ca) the individual drops can create large swings in interpreting the result (one drop for the Alk test, for example, is 1 dKH, or what I call "nuclear bomb accuracy"). However, I use my API Alk test very frequently (so much that it's actually the only thing I leave outside of my tank cabinet...I sometimes "grab and test" when I walk by). It lets me know if I'm "way off"...and I've developed a sense for the color changes so that I can determine the reading "in between" the drops.

If I want to be more accurate with API, I do this: High Resolution API KH Test Kit (http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1787607). I've found this to be VERY accurate and repeatable...and still occasionally use it.

I find the API Ca kit to be moderately accurate, and somewhat repeatable. Problem with Ca tests is that they can have a wider "swing" in results (test error from the kit itself). But since I *never* adjust doing based on Ca (I adjust based on Alk), I test Ca less often, but when I do I use several kits and average"ish" the results to see if I need to make corrections to my balanced Alk/Ca dosing scheme (kalkwasser, nature's underappreciated gift to reefers). To be very clear, with any Ca kit don't chase Ca readings...you will be chasing ghosts.

For a "better" kit I use Red Sea kits (Alk, Ca, Mg) every few weeks for Alk and Ca (maybe), and every month or two for Mg. I find them to be accurate *if you follow the directions exactly*. Many folks whine about the Mg kit, but I've found if follow the directions the results are accurate when compared with other kits like Salifert.

I used to use Salifert (Salifert users tend to be fairly religious...and I agree...their kits are pricy, but accurate). I would find it hard to ever say anything bad about Salifert kits, at least for The Big Three (KH, Ca and Mg). I would have no issue using their Mg kit, and I in fact have one to compare to my Red Sea kit (sadly there is no API Mg test kit).

I've since found that Red Sea kits are close enough for me for the "better than API" kit, and between Red Sea and API I have developed a "sense" for where the readings should end up. For example, if I get a reading from either kit that was way off from my expectations/experience, I would suspect testing error (me) or an old kit before I would suspect the design of the kit itself (reagents in kits do have a shelf life, especially after you start using them).

I tend to get about 1/2 way through a kit and then toss the reagents (or the whole thing in APIs case), and then order replacements (you can replace all of the Red Sea reagents without having to buy new kits).

You can find API KH and Ca kits at most pet stores (including PetCo, PetSmart) as well as online...very inexpensive.

You can find Red Sea test kits at many LFS, but they might be more expensive than buying online, and I would worry about reagent life due to poor stock rotation. I would only buy kits online from Bulk Reef Supply (http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/testing/red-sea.html (http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/testing/red-sea.html). BRS also carries Salifert. I just like BRS...a couple of guys that love the hobby, and you can actually call them up or chat with them online almost any time. BRS also has some awesome videos on how to do almost everything in the hobby.

In the end you can use almost any kit regardless of cost if it is accurate (or you know how to make/interpret it thusly) and repeatable. There are guys that use only API with better tanks than those those use the most expensives tests.

Note that some tests, like PO4 and such, depend on color comparison, and therefore depend *highly* on proper lighting and the "eye of the beholder". I've never been impressed with PO4 tests myself (but Red Sea comes close).

An interesting "poor mans study" was done by DFWMAS awhile back. In the conclusion they were "surprised" at how well API did (which did not surprise us fans of API at all). http://dfwmas.org/files/Test Kit Analysis (http://dfwmas.org/files/TestKitAnalysis.pdf)

In the end, testing boils down to:

Man
Methods
Materials

I've found that most often the first two often have a much larger effect on results than the last.

There...that was just a few words, right?

[tmz]

API kits a fine IME. there are other good kits too. FWIW, I've used either Salifert or API for most things with a pinpoint monitor for pH for a long time.

[MrSkumFrog]

I like the Red Sea test kits for Calcium, Alk & Mag. They're easy to read. You add drops until you get a color change. You compare how many Ml's you used to the chart and then you're done.

I'm not a fan of the Nitrate kit by Red Sea though. For Nitrates, I use API. In either case. Both Nitrate tests involve a color interpretation chart. Color interpretation is not one of my better qualities.

Phosphates? I have an electric Hanna Checker. I don't like it. I rarely use it. You add a small packet of reagent for the test and it's cumbersome.