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I have an aquarium pharm master test kit and my buddy is using one of the 5 in 1 test strips so today we tested 2 tanks with both kits to see what the differances were.

My tank with the master kit tested Ammonia at 0, NO2 at 3ish, NO3 at 10, PH 8. The test strip messure NO2 at 10, NO3 at 40, GH at 300, KH at 300, and ph at 8. So looking at the simular tests NO3 is a big differance of 10 or 40, and NO2 is eather 3 or 10. So which one do you belive? His tank tested with the same descripencys between NO2 and NO3.

Also I have tested my water for 3 week now and nothing seams to change much even after a water change. The reading are and have been.
PH 8.0
Ammonia 0
NO2 2 to 5
NO3 10 to 20

I guess I am wondering if these reading seam all right since they never seem to change? I know my PH is high, its at 7.6 out of the faucet and I kinda figured my GH and KH were high due to the high PH and hard water stains I get.

Anyway I have been wondering about my reading for the last week so I thought I would ask. All my fish seem active and eat like pigs. For tank info I have a 46 gallon, with around 20 inches of fish, Platys, Tetras, Rasboura, and Pictus.

So I went to enter the data into the logbook and came up with another question. It appears that the 5 in 1 test strip is finding Total hardness ppm and total alkalinity ppm not nesecalialy GH and KH. In fact it automaticaly entered a value of 16.9 GH into the data. Can anyone shed some light on this.

Thanks Jim S.

The general concensus on this forum is that dip strips are fairly inaccurate, with most if not all brands of liquid kits being superior. I have the same opinion myself- after testing many water samples with the strips, I seem to get the same results. It doesn't matter what type of tank a customer has, whether it be a typical community, African rift lake setup, or saltwater. Everything looks about the same. It is also very difficult to tell what the level of a certain parameter is. It may be just the one brand I've used, but I have heard similar stories from other people. The liquid chemical kits I've tried seem much more accurate.

About your water parameters, how long has the tank been set up? Just those three weeks? If not, I assume that it hasn't cycled yet. If the nitrite and nitrate readings constantly remain the same, have you tried a water change to see if that affected them? Ideally you should get rid of the nitrite, usually it is only present in uncycled tanks.

I don't understand the last question about the gH and kH, I'm not sure I can help you there.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

I concur with the general concensus that test strips are, by and large, inaccurate and liquid tests are much better. Keep in mind tho, that several variables are in play. Time of day, ambient lighting in the room, etc play major roles in how well your test will turn out. do not worry about the nitrite reading on the test. it does happen all the time. my ammonia reads always 0, my nitrite always turns the color just very slightly. How much light is in the room makes a difference how well you can interpret the results, as do following the directions very well.

Basically agreeing with previous statements and adding that Deutche Hardheits Graden (dGH and KH) is one way to measure the hardness in water, parts per million (ppm) is simply another way to measure it. Kind of like Celsius and Fahrenheit.

EDIT: Forgot the spell check so I hardly understood it myself!

Last edited by robbanp at 19-Jan-2006 13:06

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So here I am once more...

The best way to check the accuracy of the test kits is to have a sample of your water analyzed at your LFS or, my favorite, the local water softener dealer. As Brooksie mentioned, general consensus is that test strips are easy to use but essentially useless. The bad news is that test kit reagents go out of date so results should be verified every so often with an outside source.

16.9 ppm equals 1 degree of German hardness (dGH). It is another way to reflect the value. So 300 ppm is the same as 17.8 dGH (300/16.9). Both general hardness (GH) and carbonate hardness (KH) may be expressed in ppm or dGH.

The following is a nice link to a discussion of water parameters - http://www.chelonia.org/Articles/waterchemistry.htm

Last edited by Bob Wesolowski at 19-Jan-2006 13:20

__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

I'd have to suggets the water supplier, If you take a water sample to say, a lfs they will just dip a strip into it. I have had this done on a few occasions with variable results for the same water. Two lfs (both large chains) tested and used different test strips, obtaining different results.