FishProfiles.com Message Forums

I bought these jungle test strips a few months back. My question is, are these any good?, as u dont get any actual numbers but rather just match colors to the back of the bottle. If this is fne then I'll use them up but if not what is recommended to get good test results of water parameters.

By all means marry; if you get a good wife, you'll be happy. If you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher.
Socrates-
I happen to have become a philosopher

Test strips are not very reliable. Go out and get yourself a liquid type test kit.

Aquarium Pharmaceuticals' Master Kit is a good buy in my opinion.

Also, if I'm not wrong, those test strips don't give you ammonia readings.

I would say get a liquid test kit, then test with both for a few weeks, then you'll get to see how good or bad they are. Usually you will use the liquid as the more accurate of the two.

These are what you want to test for in order of importance:

Ammonia
Nitrite
pH
Alkalinity (spelling???)
General Hardness
Nitrate

Ammonia is the most important since it can kill fish very easily. Nitrite is up there for the same reason, but ammonia is more toxic, so nitrite comes in second. pH STABILITY is what is more important rather than number. Most fish will be fine at any reasonable pH. Alkalinity is basically how stable your pH can be. The higher it is, the more stable your pH is will be. General hardness is like pH, you want stability more than proper. If you keep up with regular water changes, then nitrates are usually not an issue. However, high nitrates can be a sign of a needed water change.

With most test kits you are still going to have to base your conclusions on a color chart. I think pH and the one for alkalinity are the only two you can purchase that can come with a digital readout.

I too like the Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Master Test Kit. It's liquid, you can test the most important parameters, economical and readilly available.

I think Racso got slightly confused though. (I do that all the time Racso ) Testing your gH and kH tells you how well your water is buffered (stable). Alkalinity isn't normally an issue unless you are going to be using aquarium salt in your tanks quite frequently or you need to know the specific gravity for some reason. Once your tank is completely cycled the Nitrate test kit along with the pH test kit are the two that become most important. Ammonia and Nitrite are used more frequently with newly set up tanks or tanks you suspect of crashing. Then you could always test your pH to know if that is happening.

The Aquarium Pharmaceuticals master Kit comes with everything except the test for alkalinity.

If you are suspicious of the results you are getting, test your water then take a sample to the fish store and ask them to test it using their kits (as long as they use different kinds of kits) and see how close the two results are.

Last edited by Tammy at 11-Feb-2005 10:14

Actually tammy your the one that's confused. This site explains it pretty well [link=http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/CO2/hardness-larryfrank.html]http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/CO2/hardness-larryfrank.html" style="COLOR: #00C0C0[/link]

Alkalinity and kh are generally used interchangeably but alkalinity is the correct term. Gh does not buffer or control your ph. It is a measure of calcium and magnesium ions. Alkalinity is your buffer(calcium carbonate) that helps control ph.

Test strips only tell you 1 value and if your water is not that exact value the strips are completely worthless. Since few people have water at that value and the strips nitrate and nitrite measurements are usually too high to be of use the strips are almost always worthless. A liquid test kit will give you the value by increments sometimes down to 10ths of what your measuring. This is much more useful than the single value or broad unknown range of a test strip.

Well, I claimed to get confused at times now didn't I.... Silly me... Duh... I was thinking alkalinity=salinity

Dummy me....


I know the whole alkalinity and kH/gH interchangeable thingy. When I think of hardness (either temporary or permanent) I think of the kH/gH test kits. When I think of buffering I think of kH not alkalinity.

I'm sorry Racso!!!

thank you Sham... I think...




Last edited by Tammy at 11-Feb-2005 11:53

Well the test strips supposedly test for: Nitite, Nitrate, GH, Alkalinity, & PH. Apparently though, it seems like theres a consesus that they are worthless so I'll go out & look for the Master test kit. Thanx everyone.

By all means marry; if you get a good wife, you'll be happy. If you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher.
Socrates-
I happen to have become a philosopher

My brain was starting to sizzle when you said that Tammy... lol. S'ok, everything is strait now. We all make mistakes *pulls a piranha out of 10 gallon with neon tetras*

that was a joke...

Hi,
There are two major problems with test strips.

First, they are sensitive to the atmosphere. Exposure
to high humidity, high temperatures and light, will
throw off the readings.
To be accurate, they must be kept in a cool
dark place (in their containers). If they are
left open to the air, then the humidity and light
will get to the strips and ruin them.

Second, the readings they give are subject to
interpretation. By that I mean not all of us see the
various shades of colors that they can turn. Seeing the
difference between say, 7.0 and 7.2 can be nearly
impossible for a great part of our population. Add to that
that the colors, we see, also depend upon the light that
we view the exposed stips under (sunlight, house light,
etc.)

I prefer the ones that act through titration. That is, you
capture a given quantity of water in a clear vial and add
drops of dye to the water. Generally they tint the water
say blue, and progress to a deeper and deeper blue. You
count the drops, and suddenly, with the addition of a
single drop more, the deep blue changes to a bluish yellow.
That number of drops is the DGH or pH of the water. You
don't need to compair the shade of color to a chart,
instead you merely count the drops, till a reversal of color
begins to occur. To, me it is more accurate, not subject
to the problems of the strips, and the test and test
results can be duplicated.

The problem with the titration method, is that you should
have reagents that have not passed their expiration date.

Frank


Last edited by FRANK at 13-Feb-2005 02:00

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