API reef test kit

[dawson reynolds]

are they any good?

 

[mta_morrow]

are they any good?

IMO they are good for when you start a new tank. Once you decide to start adding corals or more sensitive inverts like anemones, you will need much better tests for nitrates, phosphate, alkalinity, calcium, and magnesium.

Once the tank is up and fish have been in a while, most people rarely if ever check again for ammonia or nitrites.

I have used API for 2 tank start ups and they are just fine for that.

 

[Hitman]

I agree they are ok to use while cycling your tank but after that I do not feel they are accurate enough for normal use. I prefer Salifert kits as they seem to be the best combination of high accuracy and ease of use.

 

[AdamNC]

I’ve personally found API is fine to cycle through a tank. But sooner rather than later you’ll want to pick up some other kits like Red Sea, Hanna or Salifert for more accurate test results.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Not the best or reliable in many cases. Buy it once by acquiring a reliable name. Cost and ease of use are often sought after. Nyos, salifert and hanna are most user friendly

 

[Ron Reefman]

I always laugh at people who say API test kits aren't as good as others. And I know lots of people will disagree with what I say here.

Soapbox mode: ON

I use API and I have used Salifert and Red Sea as back ups for a long time. In my personal experience I've found API to be just as reliable as the others. I'll do a test with an API kit and if I get a result I think is off (I've been doing this for 15 years now, I know a bad result when I see one) I test again. If the bad result is replicated, I'll pull out the Salifert or Red Sea test kit and run another test. And more than 99 times out of a hundred, the Salifert or Red Sea will give me the same result as the API. I only set up this 'back up' idea because so many people trash API. IMHO they are wrong. I think they equate finer gradations in the results chart and higher cost for the test kit with accuracy and that's just not true.

As for accuracy, none of them are really that good. And just because Salifert and Red Sea use finer scales or gradations, that doesn't make them more accurate. The test itself can still be wildly inaccurate and just shows the result on a finer graded chart. That isn't what accuracy is.

Our local club did a test kit test a few years back. More than 30 people brought their personal test kits to the meeting. Then we all did tests from the same sample of water and an additional sample was sent out to a professional lab for testing. The results did NOT show any test kit to be significantly better or worse than average, including API, Salifert and Red Sea. There were just a couple that were really off the mark but they were dip strip kits. The biggest take away from the test was that personal human skill at doing the tests was as important, if not more important, than which kit you used! There were users of Salifert and Red Sea that had bad results (high and low) just as often as the API users.

Soapbox mode: OFF

 

[Waters]

I really don't think any is better than another (although some have the ability to ready lower numbers which is definitely helpful....some are also easier to perform the testing) You can get by with any test kit.....it is more about watching for trends and changes in the numbers from one test to the next.

 

[Gareth elliott]

My personal experience with api test kits.

Ammonia and nitrite are accurate enough for cycling.

I HATE their nitrate test. When they say shake rigorously, they mean rigorously(accurate enough between 5ppm-80ppm though)

Calcium test is accurate, but not the cheapest considering how much you use from bottle 2. Also a bit of a pain to count drops tbh. But got similar numbers to my other tests.

Have used their alkalinity test kit for low ph tank breeding tanks to try to ensure i had a particular buffering capacity. Was not accurate for this particular usage. But this was far from a reef tank to say its not suitable for normal marine dkh range.

 

[Aquavaj]

What I hate about this test kit is that the caps to the test vials leak. They have all these warnings about the test solutions being caustic but will leak it all over your hands cause their equipment is so crappy. So wear gloves or use a towel to hold the vials when shaking them.

 

[Super Fly]

they are ok to get ur feet wet for testing however not precise when it comes to Nitrate (leaks during test), Phosphate, Alk (messy) & Calc measurements. Would recommend starting w API then move up to more "advanced" precision kits. Love my hanna alk & phosphate kits for ease and preciseness.

 

[Jesterrace]

are they any good?

No. Among their faults:

1) The occasional false-positive for Ammonia
2) Cheap caps on the vials that don't seal and leak all over when you shake them, API is the only test kit I have seen that doesn't have screw top lids/vials. Nothing like having nasty caustic chemicals splashing all over the place.
3) Nitrate test is a joke (can't really tell the difference between 10-20, 40-80)
4) Color chart is on the back of instruction manual and isn't water proof (which is a real concern given the aforementioned leaky caps problem)
5) Test vials are long and narrow, making them a pain to clean out properly
6) The 5mL measurement mark on the vials is often inaccurate and there is no syringe included in the kit to directly extract desired amount of water for testing directly from the tank

These are all the faults I noticed when comparing my API Kit to my Red Sea Test Kit.

 

[Steve Jewell]

I ordered the Sera test kit and it has worked well for me. I had an abnormally high Mg and decided to order the Red Sea kit. Same results. Red Sea is more precise for Kh but otherwise everything in ball park. I'm guessing its the same for API. What I like about the Red Sea is the ease to do the test. Color change is dramatic. I add one or two drops to be sure. So really the take from this is have a backup when you start getting lots of fish and coral. It's better to be safe, than sorry!