Which test kit works the best

[reefmaster]

MARINE DEPOT CARRIES THEM. RATHER PRICEY, EVEN FOR THE SINGLE KITS.
but I think I might give them a try after I update 600 watts of lighting.

 

[Jan]

I get them from Marine Depot. I find them to be on a par, price wise, with Salifert, only better quality.

 

[Scooterman]

I've used many kits, LaMott does very well but you better be prepared to get involved LOL, Saliflert is a little simpler to use even with issues I think you can figure it out good enough to see If your on target, lets face it, after your initial testing, you will test ALK, MG & CA most often, so you can get cheaper kits for the rest & maybe splurge on LaMott If you feel better about it on those three?

 

[Boomer]

LaMott does very well but you better be prepared to get involved LOL

Yes, that is for sure and its the same with other "lab" grade kits. Lots of conversions, as it is std in the water field to give them as CaCO3.

 

[DonW]

LaMott does very well but you better be prepared to get involved LOL

Yes, that is for sure and its the same with other "lab" grade kits. Lots of conversions, as it is std in the water field to give them as CaCO3.

Boomer what is your opinion on using AWT to check just ca, alk and mg to get a sort of standard for test kits? Ive been using spectra for this but AWT may be useful?

Don

 

[Boomer]

I think Don to be sure send a sample to each of the same sample. Me thinks things are not well over there at AWT. People have had their ca, alk and mg levels be way off at times but that may be the reefer and not them, hard to say. Give AWT a shot but test the sample yourself with your kit/s for a comparison. There are two things to remember with these test, same for Spectra, so ask her.

1. Ca++ and Mg++ more than likely are done with ISE probes, AKA PinPoint Calcium monitor, using a ISE probe. Spectra more than likely uses ICP, don't know so ask. It is much better.

2. Alk is a different beast and is done by titration only. What many do not know, so ask Spectra, are they titrating their sample to the Alk seawater pH end-point, which is lower than the FW end-point of Alk. If not you Alk is actually ~ 10 % higher. Seawater is ~ 4.2 and FW ~ 4.5 pH

 

[Scooterman]

I think one of the issues I see with test kits is reading them, another is doing them right, Lab grade kits can be intimidating & lengthy to get results but I haven't had to guess myself once I got the LaMott or Hatch results but understanding the instructions & learning how to read them I had to question that for some time & probably would need a refresher next time I get one. I know the Warner Seachem ammonia, nitrate/nitrite kits almost seem silly with the little yellow dots to read results but it seems to work from what I've seen so far.

 

[thetedinator]

Tropic Marin Test Kits

Has anyone tried any of the Tropic Marin test kits?

Thanks,

Ted