Test Kits

[chris 1]

How about starting a poll of which test kits we use. I think it would be good to compare ease of use, accuracy, how easy they are to read etc?

[hfjacinto]

I recently purchased the Aquarium Pharmancuticals test kit. This is my 4rth kit (in 10 years) and they made changes which in my opinion reduced its accuracy. I don't recommend buying it.

My PH ratings are very consisent (around 7.6) The AP ranges from 7.2 to 8.4. I seriously doubt the PH has that much of a range since Union water is so freaken hard, if I wanted to keep cichlids I doubt I would need salts. There is so much buffering capacity that I used to go through a 10 lb (4.4kg) bag of Peat in a month just to soften the water to around 7.0. I am so happy I don't worry about PH any more, it makes fish keeping so much easier.

The ammonia kit I don't beleive is very accurate either. It always reads .25 parts per million. When I took it to LFS an hour after I measured at home, he stated it was 0. No reaction at all. I also took the water to another LFS and again it was 0.

My recommendation is to get another test kit.

[chris 1]

Hi hfjacinto

Thanks for the reply. Exactly what I needed in fact.

I too have the Aquarium Pharmaceuticals freshwater master test kit, and have doubted its accuracy for a while. When comparing results with two different kits the readings have never been the same.

Any thoughts on which is best? How do tablet tests compare with liquid tests?

[hfjacinto]

I have only used Aquarium Pharmacuticals. I have never purchased anything else. Does any one have another recommendation?

[Gozza]

I have used the hagen mini master kit, which has tests for ammonia, nitrate, nitrite and pH. it seems fairly consistent but one thing to make sure of is that the test tubes are well rinsed other wise you can get worrying results pH of 14 for example! I have also used the Tetra test sticks, they test nitrate, nitrite, KH, GH and pH all on one plastic stick. They're dead handy for a quick test but I'm not entirely convinced about their accuracy. Partly because the water round here is so soft that the test barely registers a result and that the results indicated change over time usually within a few minutes of testing. I feel more comfortable with the liquid tests. Does anyone have experience with the permanent test kits the ones that you stick to the inside of your tank?

[hellocatfish]

I have used the Aquarium Pharm master test kit with good results for several months. I rinse the test tubes and the caps in the tank water before I conduct the tests. (This is of course after they had time to dry after a tap water rinsing after the prior round of testing). You do HAVE to rinse the caps in the tank water or your results will definitely be skewed.

Time marches on and takes its toll, too...

The ammonia test used to match well with what my Mardel hang-in-tank monitors were telling me. Lately, my Mardel monitors would not change from 0 but the API test would show ammonia at measurable levels. At first I thought it was the Mardel meters that were faulty but I've switched out the meters numerous times and the results were the same. I've also at times had nitrite measurements that for all the world should have indicated a tank full of miserable or dead fish--but there they were, hale and hearty and looking fantastic and the filters looking beautifully dirty with nitrifiying bacteria. I can only conclude that the test kit now has aged and declined in accuracy. Probably. It may be time to pony up for a new test kit.

I would have thought, though, that an aged out kit would be giving false negatives, not false positive results, as that seems to have been the case for other people who have commented on defective test kits.

[chris 1]

Have to disagree on this one hellocatfish, paid for two new test kits and still getting different results!!! Tank still cycling so no real problems, nothing is suffering! Curious as to whether tablet tests are accurate as both liquid tests read the same. All test kits are fairly new???

New API Master Test Kit
New Tetratest Ammonia Test Kit
Both read the same.

Interpet Tablet Test Kit reading way lower than other two.

Obvious answear is to ignore tablet test but as all are new-ish is this right?

[hfjacinto]

Hello Catfish,

I have used the Aquarium Pharmaceuticals test kits for almost 10 years and never had issue, but the latest test kit that I purchased is giving me different readings for the same tests. I used the PH low test kit which should give me a reading of 7.6 to 7.8, it was giving 7.2. The PH High test kit should give me the same reading, it was giving me a reading of 8.4. Both test tubes were cleaned out. The PH of the tap water (according to the Water company) is around 7.7 and of course the biological action of the fish waste causes PH to drop. Since the water buffering capacity is high (high carbonate hardness) the PH rarely fluctuates. Usually going from 7.8 to 7.6 just prior to a water change.


Every AP test kit I ever had measured the same (after I stopped trying to change the water parameters). The latest AP test kit is not giving these readings on a consistent basis, which questions its accuracy.

I still have the old test kit and the PH rarely moves (7.8 to 7.6), the new one has given me ratings of 7.2 (too low) to 8.4 (too high). I have actually done the PH test 3 times in less than 10 minutes and the value is not consistent 8.0 to 8.4 on the high or 7.4 to 7.6 on the low. I wonder if the reagents used are not mixing well (when I shake the bottles the PH reading gets closer to what I expect it to be. The low PH seems to be more accurate than the high, the high PH is measuring just too high.

The other concern I have is that the Ammonia test kit looks like there is always ammonia present. I liked the original test kits as if the water was clear, no ammonia, the latest test kit the water is yellow to see no ammonia, when I look at the charts, is it light yellow or medium yellow. If it?s light yellow than I have 0 PPM, if it?s medium yellow I have .25 PPM. I keep thinking the reading is medium yellow. When I measure for Nitrite it is 0 so I am wondering is the ammonia test accurate or am I not reading it correctly.

So the latest AP test kit is either not very accurate or the colors are so close that making a match is very hard to which is my opinion does not make a good test kit.

[Iporangensis Headach]

I let my tank maintenence slip a bit so i decided to buy a Test Kit and get it back in shape,

i got the Nutrafin Mini Master Kit and a separate GH/KH kit.

Here are my results on saterday,
PH 6.5mgp/L
NH3/NH4 0.0mgp/L
NO2 0.0mgp/L
NO3 6.5mgp/L
GH 100mgp/L
KH 70mgp/L
Temp 26deg

[hellocatfish]

Color matching IS very difficult with the API test kit. The color cards just aren't calibrated finely enough. There have been times where I can see enough of a coloring change from the 0 mark that I know there is some ammonia or nitrite present, but the color variation isn't enough of a match to the next color up on the chart. So I have to guess at the readings, as you do.

I have an even worse time matching the colors of the liquids to the colors on the reference cards for high range pH and nitrate. I know for example that my water consistently reads somewhere between 7.4 and 7.8, with occasional spikes up to 8.0. But where it exactly is at any given test time, I can only guess. Same with nitrates. I just know that if I even suspect them creeping past 10, it's time to change the water. I don't like nitrates going past 5 because then I start to get algae. I'm still learning about what water gets like post-cycling and just starting to get a handle on how to manage things besides nitrites and ammonia, like excess phosphate.