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I am looking for opinions on which test kit for water parameters is prefered by the forum members.
I have been using the Aquarium Pharmaceuticals, Inc's Freshwater Master(liquid test kit) ..ok
I recently tried the "jungle" brand "quick dip" test strips .. also ok for the most part.

been reading about seachems test kits ..they have caught my eye particularly due to their ammonia test kit that tests for NH3 sepeately from NH4

any thoughts or opinions based on experience would be appriciated.

Hi,
I use the Master Test kit that you have. I find the ones
for KH & GH particularly useful and easy to "read" as the
color change is easy to spot as you titrate the sample.

Test strips are notorious for misreading as they are
affected by age, heat, moisture, and even light.

The more accurate ones are, of course, the most expensive.
One uses little "pillows," sealed packages, of dry
chemicals. You snip them open with nail clippers or
very sharp sissors, and dump the powder into a vial of
sample water.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

Another vote for the AP master test kit. I like them, they seem accurate although I haven't tested them against another test kit. They seem to have more tests for the money, than other kits I've looked at.

Test strips are rarely accurate and if you actually get a package that is then it doesn't stay that way for long. There are probably better test kits you can get such as the ones you use powder instead of liquid but for most purposes they aren't worth it. Aquarium pharm test kits are more than accurate enough for my freshwater tanks and don't cost a fortune. I do have seachem kits for my marine tank since I found aquarium pharms combination fresh/salt kits to be less than accurate for testing saltwater but the only one I've used on freshwater is the phosphate kit. The seachem kits I have are more accurate and detailed than aquarium pharm but also more complicated, time consuming, and harder to read.

As mentioned the strips are not accurate and certainly not worth the money even if they were free they still would not do a good job.

The more expensive ones are possibly the best some of these kits come in cases and can test for many things.

Make sure you can buy the replacements or top/ups as you use them.

I would also be looking for a reliable brand that I could contact if I had a particular problem.

To be honest I only have a PH test kit and when necessary take a water sample to my LFS and its free testing for regular customers.

Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info

Look here for my
Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos

Keith

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