Best Nitrate and Ammonia Test kit!?!

Blitheran

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Hello you very knowledge reefers! I am currently looking to test nitrate and ammonia. I will need to test nitrate precisely as I will be running an SPS dominate reef. I currently am looking to make a purchase a purchase on BRS, but would like some input. I have looked through them all red sea, salifert, etc! I am open to ideas
 

brandon429

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can I possibly sell you on not buying the ammonia kit, its not needed testing in reefing bc ammonia is 100% predictable without the test, based on tank details. how were you going to use the ammonia kit
 
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Blitheran

Blitheran

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can I possibly sell you on not buying the ammonia kit, its not needed testing in reefing bc ammonia is 100% predictable without the test, based on tank details. how were you going to use the ammonia kit
I have been using API ammonia test it, but I feel it is not accurate. I have had 1ppm ammonia since the start. Im on week 7ish at this point and feel my ammonia kit might be faulty.
 

brandon429

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that's precisely why I wanted to get off testing for it unless you buy a seneye, and that's using $$ to measure a param we can always predict without a test kit. Not trying to flood you with a large link, but this thread thoroughly describes your ammonia level based on seven weeks underwater. submersion timing is so reliable, we have a 17 page no test cycling thread. we have collections of 8 ppm persistent ammonia for 7 weeks which turned out not to have any ammonia the whole time.


the second example in the thread is a disagreement between API and Salifert, and they're both wrong lol.

Ammonia testing without seneye is a waste of time, and paying for a seneye is like paying for a $250 oil change indicator on my car. I can also just go off 3 k miles and call it good. we do that with # of days underwater and it cannot fail, we show (along with all google cycling charts, none are seven weeks in duration for a reason)

all the tanks in there, both dry and live rock skip cycles, done without a single test of ammonia. People still provide the tests anyway to calibrate our readings claimed, and the tests always come back as predicted= with a false sustained low level reading.


Post pics of your tank


its certain your tank is already cycled due to number of days underwater.

Any further ammonia testing is only to discover if a dead fish is in the tank...you can build an accessible tank where a carcass can't hide, then still not need ammonia for the rest of the tank.

the top two unneeded tests in reefing are in order: nitrite then ammonia.

there's a part on page one called cycle umpire, that whole section is this formula: find a stalled cycle thread. discern if its been wet longer than thirty days. be the only one to call the cycle done and leave lol.

you can tell by the # of tanks we turn out not dead, we're onto something special. we are free from getting ripped off.
B
 
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Blitheran

Blitheran

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Here some pics of the tank 10 gallon nuvo fusion. I have added some live rock to help establish a strong beneficial bacteria to eat away at this ammonia.

A6A771AD-B0EA-4FA1-83C9-6C75C715EE98.jpeg 32A606D6-1F1D-4B6F-849D-2B9EB2B3FE40.jpeg
 

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Both my fresh and saltwater API kits read .25 at the lowest. They seem decent for monitoring a cycling tank, but are useless if you want precise numbers.

I use an ammonia alert badge to test my tank if I suspect something is up, and to monitor QT when it is running. The badge only monitors very low levels, but if you max out the badge on a cycled tank, something is very very wrong already.
 
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Blitheran

Blitheran

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that's precisely why I wanted to get off testing for it unless you buy a seneye, and that's using $$ to measure a param we can always predict without a test kit. Not trying to flood you with a large link, but this thread thoroughly describes your ammonia level based on seven weeks underwater. submersion timing is so reliable, we have a 17 page no test cycling thread. we have collections of 8 ppm persistent ammonia for 7 weeks which turned out not to have any ammonia the whole time.


the second example in the thread is a disagreement between API and Salifert, and they're both wrong lol.

Ammonia testing without seneye is a waste of time, and paying for a seneye is like paying for a $250 oil change indicator on my car. I can also just go off 3 k miles and call it good. we do that with # of days underwater and it cannot fail, we show (along with all google cycling charts, none are seven weeks in duration for a reason)

all the tanks in there, both dry and live rock skip cycles, done without a single test of ammonia. People still provide the tests anyway to calibrate our readings claimed, and the tests always come back as predicted= with a false sustained low level reading.


Post pics of your tank


its certain your tank is already cycled due to number of days underwater.

Any further ammonia testing is only to discover if a dead fish is in the tank...you can build an accessible tank where a carcass can't hide, then still not need ammonia for the rest of the tank.

the top two unneeded tests in reefing are in order: nitrite then ammonia.

there's a part on page one called cycle umpire, that whole section is this formula: find a stalled cycle thread. discern if its been wet longer than thirty days. be the only one to call the cycle done and leave lol.

you can tell by the # of tanks we turn out not dead, we're onto something special. we are free from getting ripped off.
B
On my build thread I have pretty much everything listed on my tank to help get a better understanding on my tank! I really appreciate that thread
that's precisely why I wanted to get off testing for it unless you buy a seneye, and that's using $$ to measure a param we can always predict without a test kit. Not trying to flood you with a large link, but this thread thoroughly describes your ammonia level based on seven weeks underwater. submersion timing is so reliable, we have a 17 page no test cycling thread. we have collections of 8 ppm persistent ammonia for 7 weeks which turned out not to have any ammonia the whole time.


the second example in the thread is a disagreement between API and Salifert, and they're both wrong lol.

Ammonia testing without seneye is a waste of time, and paying for a seneye is like paying for a $250 oil change indicator on my car. I can also just go off 3 k miles and call it good. we do that with # of days underwater and it cannot fail, we show (along with all google cycling charts, none are seven weeks in duration for a reason)

all the tanks in there, both dry and live rock skip cycles, done without a single test of ammonia. People still provide the tests anyway to calibrate our readings claimed, and the tests always come back as predicted= with a false sustained low level reading.


Post pics of your tank


its certain your tank is already cycled due to number of days underwater.

Any further ammonia testing is only to discover if a dead fish is in the tank...you can build an accessible tank where a carcass can't hide, then still not need ammonia for the rest of the tank.

the top two unneeded tests in reefing are in order: nitrite then ammonia.

there's a part on page one called cycle umpire, that whole section is this formula: find a stalled cycle thread. discern if its been wet longer than thirty days. be the only one to call the cycle done and leave lol.

you can tell by the # of tanks we turn out not dead, we're onto something special. we are free from getting ripped off.
B
On my build thread you can see how my ammonia has been high and how not dropped. I have life all over this tank. It’s annoying how the ammonia is still high
 

brandon429

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good looking nano start. you don't have any free ammonia, as its not possible to have any consistent low level reading in reefing unless you are talking in the thousandths ppm level which our testers cannot indicate with titration/color checking.

to have free ammonia in reefing it must, by rule, be changing every 12 hours. that's how we know your test is wrong and there is no free ammonia. it must be either compounding or decreasing, measurably.

it cannot hold at 1 ppm for weeks and weeks, or .5, or .25, that's why in the cycle umpire section of that thread it takes two seconds to fix a supposed stalled cycle, cycles cannot stall.

when surface area is present that has been underwater this long, it eats ammonia every half day or faster, it will never leave some on the table unoxidized while a small portion remains unready, cannot happen.

that notion is caused solely by basing our cycle science on wrong test kits, so in the thread we show how to manage ammonia and never get it wrong and never pay anyone for a kit to help us.

we are in the process as we speak of you letting go of ammonia testing I hope, its made you think you had ammonia when indeed you didn't.

you would have cloudy water, that smells bad, if you did. your tank is cycled.
 

brandon429

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***what good is making astounding claims if we cannot back them up **

I love this portion of work. we've already collected about eight of these, here's nine.

How to make your testers work correctly so you can see its ready~

you do have a way to make your ammonia kit work, its not in the current arrangement because you are testing wastewater. To make your kit work, this is the only possible way:
change out all your water.
refill with .023 all back to normal, and take a reading on the api and take a picture. this is calibrated zero no matter what the color shows, right now you're working with no calibration.

you dose liquid ammonia from dr tims ONLY until the tester indicates the slightest possible color change, take a pic for us of that, then stop.

retest in 24 hours, its back to calibrated zero and we proved your cycle is done. no other form of testing will clear you, only add confusion further.
-
 
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Blitheran

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good looking nano start. you don't have any free ammonia, as its not possible to have any consistent low level reading in reefing unless you are talking in the thousandths ppm level which our testers cannot indicate with titration/color checking.

to have free ammonia in reefing it must, by rule, be changing every 12 hours. that's how we know your test is wrong and there is no free ammonia. it must be either compounding or decreasing, measurably.

it cannot hold at 1 ppm for weeks and weeks, or .5, or .25, that's why in the cycle umpire section of that thread it takes two seconds to fix a supposed stalled cycle, cycles cannot stall.

when surface area is present that has been underwater this long, it eats ammonia every half day or faster, it will never leave some on the table unoxidized while a small portion remains unready, cannot happen.

that notion is caused solely by basing our cycle science on wrong test kits, so in the thread we show how to manage ammonia and never get it wrong and never pay anyone for a kit to help us.

we are in the process as we speak of you letting go of ammonia testing I hope, its made you think you had ammonia when indeed you didn't.

you would have cloudy water, that smells bad, if you did. your tank is cycled.
This is great news. You have been very helpful. It is crazy to think how I have been waiting for an ammonia to drop to finally put fish in the tank. Also just did the math. I am actually 9 weeks into the fishless cycle. So would it be safe to put some fish in the tank?
 

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for the ammonia component yes it was ready for fish weeks ago, but, that opens a whole new issue in that quick fish addition means we forego the only known current method of keeping marine fish alive/free from disease, which is fallow tank transfer quarantining. You have to wait 76 days to add fish using that method, and if you skip that method, posts in the fish disease forum show how often we can skip QT and keep fish alive past three months.

its ideal to change all the water out before adding items, its how we account for various amounts of ammonia added or metabolites that will feed algae just by starting fresh. the bac are forever stuck to your rocks even if you drain the water, I have a video of my 13 yr nano reef being drained in the air for 33 mins with full corals nearly dried, harmless. back open next day, and Ive done it 200 times or so.
 

brandon429

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also

that's not an extremely high surface area tank, lacking sand as it does. that's good for cleaning though, you'll be able to keep detritus low accumlations

is that live rock portion in a sump area
 
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Blitheran

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also

that's not an extremely high surface area tank, lacking sand as it does. that's good for cleaning though, you'll be able to keep detritus low accumlations

is that live rock portion in a sump area
That was my exact concern when I designed this tank. Surface area is low. So I installed a vertex 2.0 reactor, which is full of dry rock and a little live rock, which is teaming with life! And then I threw in some new live rock in the back second chamber so I would say there is about 10-11 pounds of rock in this tank all together.
 
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Blitheran

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That was my exact concern when I designed this tank. Surface area is low. So I installing a vertex 2.0 reactor, which is full of dry rock and a little live rock, which is teaming with life! And then I threw in some new live rock in the back second chamber so I would say there is about 10-11 pounds of rock in this tank all together.

2709D0C3-31A2-4E9A-9C2E-4F8482550F5A.jpeg 69943CEA-0AA3-42F2-97D1-86319F8330CA.jpeg
 

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hey you have designed a really well thought out reef that's sharp :) really it is. very stable for long term coming up
 
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Blitheran

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hey you have designed a really well thought out reef that's sharp :) really it is. very stable for long term coming up
Thank you sir! You have very helpful and awesome! I made sure to not leave any doors un opened this tank is high tech as you may call it haha..
 

brandon429

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hey you did something really cutting edge: the truth is we all usually grossly and vastly overdo surface area and that's why wrestling nitrate and po4 into compliance is so hard.

surface area is a double-edge sword. its retentive, requires cleaning, surface area doesnt clean itself or large zoos/aquariums wouldn't have to backwash filters.

retained items in a reeftank vs throughput= algae and accumulations and N and P imbalances (most tanks) however we need just enough surface area to manage a predicted bioload, and you have that. we need protein in/degraded stuff out action, your tank will convey that.

Your surface area right now runs any fish load you want, and you have cleaning space for removal/throughput of bad stuff out clean water in that's why its so well done.
B
 
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Blitheran

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hey you did something really cutting edge: the truth is we all usually grossly and vastly overdo surface area and that's why wrestling nitrate and po4 into compliance is so hard.

surface area is a double-edge sword. its retentive, requires cleaning, surface area doesnt clean itself or large zoos/aquariums wouldn't have to backwash filters.

retained items in a reeftank vs throughput= algae and accumulations and N and P imbalances (most tanks) however we need just enough surface area to manage a predicted bioload, and you have that. we need protein in/degraded stuff out action, your tank will convey that.

Your surface area right now runs any fish load you want, and you have cleaning space for removal/throughput of bad stuff out clean water in that's why its so well done.
B
My next question would be as I plan on doing SPS dominate reef. I know nitrate is very important and phosphate but I already have the Hanna checker. What would you recommend for nitrate testing to keep a low precise number for higher end corals that require better establishment
 

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the truth is I wouldn't even test for it if that was my tank (others would, this is just how ive adapted to reefing no test)

I would simply change water regularly and make up for testing that way. If you'll get a precise nitrate and P setup, then you can work less on export and keep your balances.

But the reason I wouldn't need any testing beyond salinity and temp even if that was packed with sps, I wouldn't need calcium and alk either, is because I'm simply willing to change out half the water every two weeks and call it a day like its 1995 ha lol.

All I would have to do is pump cheap instant ocean water into that bad boy, the best frozen and live reef feeds we have, keep it clean, and all params align always.
 

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So few actual answers to the OP's question in this thread.

I like the Red Sea Ammonia and Red Sea Nitrate tests.
I've tried most tests of most major brands and these are the most useful for me.
The Red Sea Nitrate tests can also be used with modified techniques and Hanna checkers, for increased precision.
You can find details on this approach in other threads on this forum.
There are the only Red Sea tests I'm currently using. The rest are a mix of Hanna and Salifert.
 

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