What test kit do you use?

I use API liquid test kits, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH, high range pH, and GH & KH. I got these separate from the master set, which I probably should just have gotten in hindsight, lol.

 

Same as you guys, I use API master test kit and API GH and KH test kit.

 

I use the API master test kit

 

API master test kit

 

I rarely test water....if I do its with Tetra strips. I have honestly not found them to be any less accurate than API liquid and when you have 12 aquariums on days you do test it is much easier to dip and wait than mess with vials.

 

Its good to here another method, and to here something good about the strips for once. I want to give them a shot just to see why they get a bad rap.

 

Use the apI freshwater master test kit plus the kh kit. So I bought apI test strips to test gh &kh, also because colors are hard to read I found out I could use a spare swimming pool kit I had (not used on pool yet). The color was way easier to read.

 

IMO...testing the water should confirm what you already know. If your tank and fish are thriving periodically testing the water to confirm that things are fine...you won't need precision. Honestly and API kit is no more accurate than the Tetra strips it comes down to user error and acceptance of ballparking readings. If you are very anal and need to know exactly what X level is...there are lots of high end test kits and probes out there. However for most of us...a ballpark idea is all we need. If your fish are sick, stressed, and things are not going well any sort of testing method will confirm what folks should know is that parameters are off and do WCs.

Waterchanges will in all honesty solve most aquarium related issues. This hobby is not rocket surgery

 

I rarely test water....if I do its with Tetra strips. I have honestly not found them to be any less accurate than API liquid and when you have 12 aquariums on days you do test it is much easier to dip and wait than mess with vials.

That's their attraction. It would take over an hour to API test all my tanks if I did it the same day. Tetra strips get a bad rap because API can't make a decent strip. The ability to test ammonia makes the API wet kit a winner though.

 

API Master

 

API liquid master test kit.

 

Test strips are actually more expensive than using a liquid test kit, if you do the math.

But I have seen firsthand how test strips are inaccurate. Bringing a water sample to petco and seeing the results of the water being different than what my liquid test says is all the evidence I need.

 

API strips really are not great. Tetra ones do work just fine IME; they also make a separate one for ammonia so you can test for it all with Tetra strips.

Cost isn't everything when you have limited time and a fish room to check up on. You can also cut your test strips in half lengthwise to save some money or get all your tanks done with only a few strips left. lol

 

No offense but if you don't have the time, mabee its time to cut down on the number of tanks.

 

I use a digital tds meter ($14) to keep track of my basic water. I have a pH kit somewhere.
I do weekly 30% changes in established, planted, filtered tanks. None of my filters use cycle killing cartridge type media, so I don't have ammonia worries. I also have clean municipal water, with no ammonia in it.
I don't use the kits to decide about maintenance - I use the testing time to do water changes instead.
It's a luxury, but with established tanks, if I start a new one, I double up a filter for a few weeks on a cycled tank, and put it on the new tank. It's ready for instant use.
I've never done a fishless cycle, and don't expect to - the experiment doesn't seem interesting enough to bother. As long as you start with a cycled tank (or have a friend with one) and have a little patience to let a filter grow in, it's easy to avoid the hassle.

 

I use the API master, and API KH + GH, though none have been touched in months. I test my tap maybe every 3-4 months at most, and only out of curiosity, but my parameters never change.

My 75 gallon planted has a sump packed full of media that is literally years old. I never have to cycle tanks as I always have massive amounts off seeded media on hand, so new tanks or even a quickly set up fry tank won't be tested.

I've never used test strips, just off what you hear/read. I've only heard of the liquid test kits being inaccurate when they are expired.

 

API Master test kit. Like others have stated, I rarely use it.

 

No offense but if you don't have the time, mabee its time to cut down on the number of tanks.

Why waste time when you don't have to?

Besides I could invest the hour or so it would take messing with vials into doing larger WCs or enjoying the fish.

 

API strips really are not great. Tetra ones do work just fine IME; they also make a separate one for ammonia so you can test for it all with Tetra strips.

Cost isn't everything when you have limited time and a fish room to check up on. You can also cut your test strips in half lengthwise to save some money or get all your tanks done with only a few strips left. lol

What would the cost per test be for tetra strips if cut in half? I have no intention of getting rid of my API liquid, but the option to do nitrate tests on three or four tanks in a hurry would be nice. I try to keep tanks understocked but when you are raising fry and need grow out tanks nature doesn't always cooperate. I would test water more often if it wasn't an hour process.

 

I recently bought a 100pk of the 6in1 strips online for around $25...so if you cut the strips each time you would wind up with 200 tests for $25...so around .12 to test your tank for chlorine, nitrate, nitrite, general hardness, alkalinity and pH. Really; I can't see this being that much more expensive if at all.

I think you can get packs of 25 strips for around $10...if you cut those it would be 50 tests for $10...so around .20 to test for those 6 items.

When I managed a LFS while in college...I started using these strips to test the store tanks and customer samples. I would randomly check them against a conventional liquid kit and the results were always similar. But again...none of these basic test kits give you precision therefore we need to take it for what it is. If you need precision the only way to achieve that is high end(not API) test kits or probes. For the time you save IMO the strips are where it is when you only need back up confirmation of what is going on.

 

IMO...testing the water should confirm what you already know. If your tank and fish are thriving periodically testing the water to confirm that things are fine...you won't need precision. Honestly and API kit is no more accurate than the Tetra strips it comes down to user error and acceptance of ballparking readings. If you are very anal and need to know exactly what X level is...there are lots of high end test kits and probes out there. However for most of us...a ballpark idea is all we need. If your fish are sick, stressed, and things are not going well any sort of testing method will confirm what folks should know is that parameters are off and do WCs.

Waterchanges will in all honesty solve most aquarium related issues. This hobby is not rocket surgery

You are second person ever for me to hear saying Rocket Surgery