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twentyleagues
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I will take a different stance on API tests mostly because I used them pretty much excessively from 1998-2008 maybe a salifert in the mix and from 2002-2008 when I purchased my first Hannahs I had a pretty large system with many fish and corals. API are not bad but, they dont have the "pinpoint" accuracy of something like a Hannah. With any test its possible to get a bad reading adding too much reagent or not enough water. Then there is the color "scale" some cant tell the difference or when that happens. With certain tests I think we put too much emphasis on a particular number, Yeah alk and salinity need to be pretty accurate, but do you need to know if you have 11ppm nitrate or is not 0 and not 40ppm good enough? If you are dosing ammonia you'd probably want something pretty accurate, but an api will show you maybe .25ppm on any given day thats most likely 0 and should be of no concern. If it shows 8ppm in a reef tank that has been running for more than a month its probably incorrect and either user error or the reagent went bad. I'll use them for calcium and alk but I do use a Hannah for alk also and red sea for calcium to double check or if I feel I want a more precise number. On the alk test from api its about control of the drops and watching the color change, when it starts to change thats your number. So if 8 drops and it changes a tiny bit but 9 drops gets it to change completely it closer to the 8 mark than 9. Hannah is nice because it tells you on the screen 8.3 or whatever but the reagents are very expensive and they do go bad faster than api.
I will take a different stance on API tests mostly because I used them pretty much excessively from 1998-2008 maybe a salifert in the mix and from 2002-2008 when I purchased my first Hannahs I had a pretty large system with many fish and corals. API are not bad but, they dont have the "pinpoint" accuracy of something like a Hannah. With any test its possible to get a bad reading adding too much reagent or not enough water. Then there is the color "scale" some cant tell the difference or when that happens. With certain tests I think we put too much emphasis on a particular number, Yeah alk and salinity need to be pretty accurate, but do you need to know if you have 11ppm nitrate or is not 0 and not 40ppm good enough? If you are dosing ammonia you'd probably want something pretty accurate, but an api will show you maybe .25ppm on any given day thats most likely 0 and should be of no concern. If it shows 8ppm in a reef tank that has been running for more than a month its probably incorrect and either user error or the reagent went bad. I'll use them for calcium and alk but I do use a Hannah for alk also and red sea for calcium to double check or if I feel I want a more precise number. On the alk test from api its about control of the drops and watching the color change, when it starts to change thats your number. So if 8 drops and it changes a tiny bit but 9 drops gets it to change completely it closer to the 8 mark than 9. Hannah is nice because it tells you on the screen 8.3 or whatever but the reagents are very expensive and they do go bad faster than api.
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