Test kits

[Gietz]

Just wondering what test kits you guys use, I was think of using the API kit but I've heard some negative feed back.

 

[Zakk]

I use the hanna kits for alk and phos, and only salifert for everything else.

I had the API ones before and the nitrate and calcium ones in particular gave mixed results, and after less than a year, just started giving no result at all, who knows maybe I got some that had sat on the store shelf for 5 years, but it really put me off those.

cheap doesn't alwasy = good  ;D

 

[phi delt reefer]

i have salifert and seachem.

i'm still on teh fence as the to the reliabilty of the hanna handheld checkers but thats my opinion - lots of people use them.

the seachem master marine kit i have came with crappy ALK reagents so i'm slowly replacing pieces with ELOS/Salifert.

Lamotte is supposed to be the best for they are "labratory grade" = i saw that with a some hesitation for i am sure actual labs dont use "test kits".

 

[Gietz]

I was just looking at the salifert test and they don't come in a complete kit?? All the ones I seen where all sold separately. One master reef kit would be alot nicer to buy lol but then again it seems like easy thing are hard to come by in this world  Lol

 

[teebone110]

I think everyone has their favorite... The key is to know how to use the one you have and be able to notice any changes in your parameters. You can always cross reference your findings with others to verify the findings, but they are all pretty close.

 

[Zakk]

I think everyone has their favorite... The key is to know how to use the one you have and be able to notice any changes in your parameters. You can always cross reference your findings with others to verify the findings, but they are all pretty close.

I think when I started I had one of those 'all in one' tests, and I think there was a reagent in there that was used for more than one test, and if you ran out of that, most of the kit was useless.  I think I'll stick to ones I can replace as I go.  The Hanna are great because you just replace the reagent, not the whole kit. 

 

[Cal_stir]

I have used seachem, elos, api, hagen, salifert, and a hanna phosphate checker.
I found that seachem, elos, and salifert all gave the same result but salifert is easier and cheaper.
I like salifert the best, I'm going to try a red sea calcium.
I threw the hanna checker in the garbage.
I wouldn't get a master kit as the test kits have an expiry date and you won't use all of them

 

[Zakk]

I have used seachem, elos, api, hagen, salifert, and a hanna phosphate checker.
I found that seachem, elos, and salifert all gave the same result but salifert is easier and cheaper.
I like salifert the best, I'm going to try a red sea calcium.
I threw the hanna checker in the garbage.
I wouldn't get a master kit as the test kits have an expiry date and you won't use all of them

You obviously had a bad hanna checker, why you wouldn't return a $50 checker is beyond me.

Mine matches my salifert one within ~.05 every time which is good enough for me, in fact it was likely to err on the high side, which I would prefer rather than the low side.  So far praise of the hanna checkers is the norm on places like reef central.  You really should have just gotten is swapped for a working one, but hey, to each his own.

(for the record I complained to the hanna rep about the limited amount of reagents you get with their phos checker (6), and the fact the one I got at IA was missing the battery.  So I'm not a shill for the company  ;D

 

[Cal_stir]

bought it in the US online, not worth the shipping, brokerage, hassle, etc.
how do you prove it doesn't work correctly?
i researched reefcentral and a few other forums and the consensus i got was that they are junk.
if you like it, use it, but i'm convinced they are junk, there is no visible colour change in the sample, the eye can't see it so how does a cheap photo detector see it.

 

[Zakk]

bought it in the US online, not worth the shipping, brokerage, hassle, etc.
how do you prove it doesn't work correctly?
i researched reefcentral and a few other forums and the consensus i got was that they are junk.
if you like it, use it, but i'm convinced they are junk, there is no visible colour change in the sample, the eye can't see it so how does a cheap photo detector see it.

I'm not here to change your mind, however I researched them on reefcentral, and I do disagree that the consensus was that they were junk.  However, it's possible that you were looking for posts to validate your opinion that they are junk, and I was just looking to see what people thought of them before I forked out the money.  We each came to different conclusions.  I read the post you had, and I can say with some certainty that you had a faulty one, and I can't blame you at being pissed about it, I'm sure I would be too if I couldn't return mine and it wasn't working.  I was pissed that for $50 it should be able to do more than 6 tests before having to buy a refill, and that they should be sealed so dooshbags can't steal the batteries out of them.

FWIW I'm sorry you had a bad experience, it does suck when something we were looking forward to doesn't live up to expectations. 

That said, the salifert works well and I haven't tried the red sea ones...

 

[teebone110]

[quote author=Cal_stir link=topic=1281.msg8311#msg8311 date=1311713824
I like salifert the best, I'm going to try a red sea calcium.
[/quote]

I am using the new red sea pro kit for ca, alk and mg.
I like the titrator and the results are easily identified. The ca is consistent with the results I get with my sailfert, so I think its good. The alk measures consistently with another test kit. My Mg is testing high and there are some reviews that confirm this. I am keeping a close monitor on it.

 

[Cal_stir]

[quote author=Cal_stir link=topic=1281.msg8321#msg8321 date=1311716784]
bought it in the US online, not worth the shipping, brokerage, hassle, etc.
how do you prove it doesn't work correctly?
i researched reefcentral and a few other forums and the consensus i got was that they are junk.
if you like it, use it, but i'm convinced they are junk, there is no visible colour change in the sample, the eye can't see it so how does a cheap photo detector see it.

I'm not here to change your mind, however I researched them on reefcentral, and I do disagree that the consensus was that they were junk.  However, it's possible that you were looking for posts to validate your opinion that they are junk, and I was just looking to see what people thought of them before I forked out the money.  We each came to different conclusions.  I read the post you had, and I can say with some certainty that you had a faulty one, and I can't blame you at being pissed about it, I'm sure I would be too if I couldn't return mine and it wasn't working.  I was pissed that for $50 it should be able to do more than 6 tests before having to buy a refill, and that they should be sealed so dooshbags can't steal the batteries out of them.

FWIW I'm sorry you had a bad experience, it does suck when something we were looking forward to doesn't live up to expectations. 

That said, the salifert works well and I haven't tried the red sea ones...
[/quote]
I wasn't looking for reviews to validate what I was saying, I was looking at what the big guys had to say, Randy Holmes Farly, Calfo, Bertoni, HighlandReefer, the guys with degrees, phds, etc., not just the average reefer who thinks they're cool and great and fun to do.

 

[Blob-79]

not just the average reefer who thinks they're cool and great and fun to do.

ouch...

 

[Zakk]

[quote author=Zakk link=topic=1281.msg8322#msg8322 date=1311719113]
[quote author=Cal_stir link=topic=1281.msg8321#msg8321 date=1311716784]
bought it in the US online, not worth the shipping, brokerage, hassle, etc.
how do you prove it doesn't work correctly?
i researched reefcentral and a few other forums and the consensus i got was that they are junk.
if you like it, use it, but i'm convinced they are junk, there is no visible colour change in the sample, the eye can't see it so how does a cheap photo detector see it.

I'm not here to change your mind, however I researched them on reefcentral, and I do disagree that the consensus was that they were junk.  However, it's possible that you were looking for posts to validate your opinion that they are junk, and I was just looking to see what people thought of them before I forked out the money.  We each came to different conclusions.  I read the post you had, and I can say with some certainty that you had a faulty one, and I can't blame you at being pissed about it, I'm sure I would be too if I couldn't return mine and it wasn't working.  I was pissed that for $50 it should be able to do more than 6 tests before having to buy a refill, and that they should be sealed so dooshbags can't steal the batteries out of them.

FWIW I'm sorry you had a bad experience, it does suck when something we were looking forward to doesn't live up to expectations. 

That said, the salifert works well and I haven't tried the red sea ones...
[/quote]
I wasn't looking for reviews to validate what I was saying, I was looking at what the big guys had to say, Randy Holmes Farly, Calfo, Bertoni, HighlandReefer, the guys with degrees, phds, etc., not just the average reefer who thinks they're cool and great and fun to do.
[/quote]

If Randy and Bertoni are like every other academic I've ever met, maybe they don't have the money to buy expensive testers, they just steal raw chemicals from labs where they work!  ;D

 

[Zakk]

P.S. I'd like to be classified as a 'below average reefer'.  I just don't like to aim too high.  People expect too much from you if you do.

 

[Cal_stir]

I wasn't classifying you as anything, I don't want your opinion on anything, I don't care what you think or what you have to say. I'm entitled to my opinion and as far as I'm concerned the hanna phosphate checker is junk.
As for somebody who let a reef tank get as bad as yours, you are below a below average reefer.

 

[Zakk]

I wasn't classifying you as anything, I don't want your opinion on anything, I don't care what you think or what you have to say. I'm entitled to my opinion and as far as I'm concerned the hanna phosphate checker is junk.
As for somebody who let a reef tank get as bad as yours, you are below a below average reefer.

You will always be my hanna checker. 

 

[Blob-79]

I don't want your opinion on anything, I don't care what you think or what you have to say. I'm entitled to my opinion and as far as I'm concerned the hanna phosphate checker is junk.
As for somebody who let a reef tank get as bad as yours, you are below a below average reefer.

thats all fine and dandy...but if you dont want our oppinions, what makes you think we want yours? whats the point of an online forum if people cant voice their oppinions and or defend their point of view.

why is everyone so grouchy lately...I just dont get it.

By the way cal..I have been researching the hanna checkers since you started saying that they were junk. I cant seem to find anything...inluding from the PHD's you hold so high that really shows the hanna checkers are junk like you say. Could you please link some referances, would help out alot thanks.

 

[Gietz]

I didn't think that when I started this post it was going to get so heated WOW lol. But thx to all how helped me pick test kits and now for this arguement I think I'll grab a bag of popcorn and respectfully watch from the sidelines lol

 

[Zakk]

I like to hear opposing viewpoints, it makes the internet useful,  sorry to see people implode over something so silly.  Hell, I even thnk the hanna checkers could be junk.

Some of us admit our mistakes and put them out there for all to see, and some just hide them.  I'd rather be human than perfect, that's my life view