can you guys help me with a decision?

[chris_s918]

im thinking about buying a test kit for my new take i been letting sit for a month as the live sand populates the rocks, but for those who test paremeters vs having a neptune do it for you do you guys buy the test kits or buy the hanna digital rteaders? plus just wondering how long do u think it would take 20 pounds oflive sand to populate rocks in a 10 gal aquairum?

[eastlake]

I like the salifert test kits myself as I've had the Hannah checkers give me wildly different results doing back to back tests, not saying its a bad product just sharing my experience as I know there are a lot of people on here who love the Hannah checkers and swear by them. As for the cycle I'd say you're probably fine to start adding your first inhabitants.

[chris_s918]

ah thank you should i buy a all in one sets they have or individuals?

[Jon0807]

Read up on cycling a tank. I would not add anything until you went through the cycle and testing for it. Just adding live sand won't do it. There needs to be an ammonium source to wake up the bacteria

[JTL]

Lots of good info here.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=2558208

[chris_s918]

thats the thing i been putting fish food in there every week and done some water changes i wasnt thinking about putting anything in it untill the parameters were right but i was just wondering about test kits to

[Kaiser699a]

Hannah checkers are good if you keep finger prints and water off the outside surface of the test vials. Much quicker than titration test "dripping" too...

[mcgyvr]

Originally Posted by Jon0807

Just adding live sand won't do it. There needs to be an ammonium source to wake up the bacteria

Actually it would more than likely be sufficient..
"Live sand" is already "potentially" populated with bacteria and has sufficient dead/decaying organic material that will decompose into ammonia to start a cycle..

And depending on how "live" the sand was and how much death is on the rocks there may be no cycle.. Not likely there unless that live sand came straight from a tank but certainly possible..

[chris_s918]

the live sand was actually sitting now i think about it more then 2 months in the tank with the live rock ive only had it set up here a month i had to pore a 1/3 of the water out to transport the tank without breaking it myself.but after that its been siting up almost a month here

[sde1500]

it is most likely cycled then. As for testing, I have had no complaints with my Salifert test

[gareth.hubbarde]

Salifert tests are accurate and easy to use. Been using them for a couple of months as I'm new to this myself.

Sent from my SM-A520F using Tapatalk

[PatW]

I use Red Sea Pro for nitrate. It detects down to .25 ppm.
I use Red Sea Pro for calcium and alkalinity.
I use Salifert for magnesium. Red Sea Pro was a bit erratic.
I watch algae growth for phosphate. For testing the Hanna ULR is the way to go.

[mako61]

Hanna checker for ALK is great, very fast. I handle vial with care and clean every use. Even then it is till very fast. SO highly recommend. Hanna checker ULR for phosphate is nice also, but I dont measure that as often. I use red sea for everything else. Since I got multi test pro kits i sometimes compare red sea ALK and Phosphate to Hanna they are pretty close from what I have seen. I think I vary more than the tests.