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What is the best test kit out there? I am using mardel dip strips but people say there not reliable so I want to get a liquid test kit.

"A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man" Simpsons

When you state "Best" you are talking very big money these kits are usualled by professionals.

I think what you require is a good basic test kit am I correct?

Also how much are you prepared to spend?

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Sorry I should probably word that better. I want a good basic, user friendly, acurrate test kit for nitrAte and Ph.

"A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man" Simpsons

The aquarium pharm master kit is usually the best for your money. It contains most of the basics except for hardness tests. For the most part these tests are also really easy to read. Occasionally the higher amounts on the test kit are harder to read like if your nitrates are over 20-30ppm it will all look about the same but you don't want to let them get past that anyway so it doesn't really matter.

Hagen is probably the 2nd most common test kit I hear and is a bit more expensive. The master kit also includes things you don't necessarily need like a phosphate test. If you have some money and have a reason to test phosphates it might be worth it.

Seachem would be my 3rd choice if I could find them cheap but somewhat less accurate than the other 2. I haven't used or heard much about many of their tests.

Tetra tests are about the cheapest but I can't read them at all aside from the nitrate test. I was walking around the house asking people what they thought and holding it under different lights. They also aren't very accurate such as the ph test I used went by .5 for the first 2 values then by 1. I'd like to know more than that my ph is somewhere between 7 and 8. I think aquarium pharm goes by .2 increments. Tetra nitrate test is good if involved. You have 2 bottles of liquid and a container of powder to mix but it's the only tetra test I found that was really accurate and the colors for each value were easier to tell apart than the aquarium pharm test. Most of the time though I just need to know my nitrates are above 5 for my plants and under 20 which the aquarium pharm test can tell me.

Now the best way to test your tank would probably be pinpoint monitors or other types that use electric probes to measure the values but you better have a good amount of money to buy all those.

If i had to pick, i'd go with hagen next time i need a kit. I find them better quality than the aquarium pharm kits, eventhough they're harder to find.

I like my hagen kits and I also like the fact that I can easily get refils of the test solutions rather than needing to buy the whole kit all over again. I have also heard that the test strips are unreliable and have experienced this when trying to get warranty refunds on fish from my lfs. They only use and sell the 5 in 1 strips and they didn't show me the test results. My tanks had completed cycling but theirs had not! I have not bought fish from them since that debacle and I only buy supplies from them when I can't go to the city for whatever reason.
One question about hardness alkalinity tests, I had a friend pick me up a test and she grabbed the strips from Jungle Labs, how accurate (or un-accurate) can I expect this test to be? If anyone can tell me that would be appreciated.

"If you're afraid you'll make a mistake, you won't make anything."
-Family Circus

Test strips inthemselves aren't accurate. They sometimes can give you a ballpark, but don't judge anything about them until you can get results from a liquid or tab kit. Jungle is one of those "jack of all trades, master of none" kinda people. They make just about everything and they're usually decent, but nothing is extrodinary.