Best test kit

Hanna for alk i do use api for calcium since it doesnt need to be precise just stabile it works fine but the hanna alk checker is nice for sure
 
"Best" well I prefer Hach, but it's well over the top.

For everyday testing API ALK and CA work great. Salifert MG is hard to beat for accuracy at a low price. Nitrate the best I found was Lamotte 3110-01.
 
jrpark22000 said:
"Best" well I prefer Hach, but it's well over the top.

For everyday testing API ALK and CA work great. Salifert MG is hard to beat for accuracy at a low price. Nitrate the best I found was Lamotte 3110-01.
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I've got a Hach DR3900 in my lab it is pretty nice
 
I wish I had one at home...someday when I have a nice big fish room! The 3900s are pretty nice. The new TNT test kits are so simple a monkey could do it and each different test vial has a bar code so you don't even have to setup parameters in the spectrophotometer. You just put the vial in, it scans the barcode, and then selects the appropriate parameters and boom result!
 
Spartanman22 said:
I wish I had one at home...someday when I have a nice big fish room! The 3900s are pretty nice. The new TNT test kits are so simple a monkey could do it and each different test vial has a bar code so you don't even have to setup parameters in the spectrophotometer. You just put the vial in, it scans the barcode, and then selects the appropriate parameters and boom result!
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Sounds great. $4k for the meter alone, then matched glass prices puts it far too expensive for home aquarium testing. Factoring in the reagents cost too, it's almost a break even with long term use of mail in labs, http://uniquecorals.com/triton/trit...t-single-test-vials-with-return-shipping.html. The main negative I see is the large use of cadmium (nitrate reduction) used at home. I'd likely not perform the test if I had kids.

sorry for the tangent [MENTION=162]onepoorreefer[/MENTION] These really aren't test kits we're discussing.
 
Yes you're totally correct very impractical for a home based testing routine and the use of cadmium reagents poses a safety concern. All of the reagents require a significant pH adjustment prior to disposal.

Anyways back to affordable test kits...I personally use mostly salifert Test kits
 
I wish that I could even thing about spending 4k on something like a spectrophotometer, but a middle class boy like myself is satisfied with my red sea test kits
 
Colors blend to easy for me so API was just terrible. Had to get a Hanna to make it easier for me. Worth the money for how easy it is.
 
redline10000 said:
I wish that I could even thing about spending 4k on something like a spectrophotometer, but a middle class boy like myself is satisfied with my red sea test kits
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I do too! I don't have one for personal use I just have one in my lab at work. someday when I win the lotto my fish room will have something fancy like this
 
I use inexpensive API for calcium because I'm not that concerned about precise Ca readings. I'll also use API for a quick nitrate check but will use the Red Sea nitrate when I want accurate low measurement. I use Hanna for phosphate and Salifert for both Alk and Mg. Salifert is easy and accurate, imo.
 
API calcium test gets the job done ..

For nitrate and phos I use Red Sea which is good but I stopped chasing those numbers ..

Alk I use Hanna .. This is the Only thing I check these days
 
Anybody here read the long threads other places bashing Hanna Calcium checkers?? The people complaining seem to have numbers way too high or way too low. Well, for me, Im getting API=340, HANNA=445. Numbers arent crazy like other peoples but still would like to know which one to believe. Wish there was a better way to be certain.
 
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