Test kits and equipment

[robert.smith2888]

Hi guys and girls I hope you can help me.
first of all let’s start by saying I’m from UK and carnt get a lot of your nice cheaper bits you have in us and to ship to UK is a no no lol.

so Iv not started to put any thing together yet but Iv got a few things in place on setting up my tank if that makes sense.

so testing equipment
What shall I get? I don’t want the cheapest but then I don’t want to spend a fortune, where would be good to start.
what do I need to test for ( sorry still trying to lea
also Iv seen the 6 in 1 digital water testers are they worth it?
also Iv been reading a ato is a must.
again don’t wanna break the bank if it makes a difference my tank is 300l with a 80l sump.

any help will be much appreciated
Thank you in advance
Smithy

 

[Gtinnel]

Once your tank is finished cycling IMO you will need to regularly check nitrate and phosphate, then once you get corals add alkalinity, calcium, and magnesium to your testing schedule. For nitrate I'd use Hanna HR, salifert, or nyos test kits. Phosphate almost has to be Hanna, and the other 3 can be several (salifert, red sea, etc) but for alkalinity the Hanna is really nice.

All of this is in addition to the obvious temp and salinity testing. For salinity an optical refractometer does a good job and is affordable.

 

[elysics]

No "x in 1" stuff. Not worth it.

Read up on the different ways to measure salinity (hydrometer, refractometer, electrical) and pick one

Alkalinity, calcium, magnesium, nitrate from salifert, might even be cheaper than in the us

Hanna phosphate checker if you want to do it right the first time, but a cheap test will probably suffice for now until you are in the right ballpark, no need to waste expensive reagents

 

[robert.smith2888]

Am I right in saying that there are different hanna checkers?
I think there about £60/£70 I don’t mind buying them if there gonna last me
Even if I have to buy 3/4 different ones.

 

[elysics]

There are hanna checkers for almost anything. At least 3 different ones for phosphate, the good ones are hi774 and hi736, at least for low levels of phosphate.

Hi772 is the one for alkalinity, it is nice too but you are mostly paying for convenience there, the salifert ones work perfectly fine, matter of personal preference

 

[elysics]

Keep in mind recurring costs of buying reagent too. Most kits last a year if you just test every week, the Hanna refills are mostly half that

 

[robert.smith2888]

Is something like this kit worth it?

Hanna Reef Kit at Kraken Corals

Make sure your marine tank or even a natural reef is in perfect health with the Hanna Reef Kit.

krakencorals.co.uk

 

[elysics]

Is something like this kit worth it?

Hanna Reef Kit at Kraken Corals

Make sure your marine tank or even a natural reef is in perfect health with the Hanna Reef Kit.

krakencorals.co.uk

The calcium one is... not great. The opposite of convenience really. The other ones in the set are good if electrical is the way you want to go for salinity

 

[robert.smith2888]

The calcium one is... not great. The opposite of convenience really. The other ones in the set are good if electrical is the way you want to go for salinity

Im open to suggestions as I’m very new to this lol.
What would you start of with knowing what you do.

 

[elysics]

Im open to suggestions as I’m very new to this lol.
What would you start of with knowing what you do.

Already said, salifert (or red sea,nyos, etc, but salifert is cheaper and not worse) for alk, calcium, magnesium, nitrate.

As for salinity, I personally like hydrometers, the one from tropic marine is good, no need to calibrate them, but that's personal preference again. Electrical like the Hanna, or refractometers are more convenient, but need to be calibrated often.

Phosphate from salifert sucks, most people use Hanna for that, though some other normal test kits are supposed to work well too, I don't know about that.

 

[homer1475]

Honestly starting out, salifert is cheap and repeatable.

Hanna checkers are nice, but they are a convenience.

 

[robert.smith2888]

Already said, salifert (or red sea,nyos, etc, but salifert is cheaper and not worse) for alk, calcium, magnesium, nitrate.

As for salinity, I personally like hydrometers, the one from tropic marine is good, no need to calibrate them, but that's personal preference again. Electrical like the Hanna, or refractometers are more convenient, but need to be calibrated often.

Phosphate from salifert sucks, most people use Hanna for that, though some other normal test kits are supposed to work well too, I don't know about that.

Thank you so much
mill start making some list and getting some bits together

 

[Chrisv.]

I've been screwing with color comparison charts for more than 25 years and I have no good reason for never doing Hanna checkers before. Needless to say, this summer I switched and I am never ever going back. It can be done without them, but they really take out a lot of the guess work. I suggest a cheapo test for ammonia and nitrite because you will not use them after you cycle. Honestly you could probably even use one of those seachem ammonia badges in place of testing during your cycle.

The Hanna low range phosphate, high range nitrate and alkalinity tests are just a game changer. But if I was on a tight budget I might start with phosphate and nitrate (harder to read on the old school test at low ranges), then all, which is more of a luxury, since the old school alk tests are easy to read. I like the red sea test for calcium.

I strongly suggest that you look on your local forums for a used aquarium controller (e.g. Apex). While not essential, they have saved my butt so many times.

ATO is a great plan.

 

[Chrisv.]

I also really think you should borrow a par meter from your local club. I was shocked the first time I used a par meter to map out the par zones of an led tank.

 

[Chrisv.]

The other thing about Hanna is that they are not THAT much more and the refills are way less than traditional refills.

 

[robert.smith2888]

I also really think you should borrow a par meter from your local club. I was shocked the first time I used a par meter to map out the par zones of an led tank.

Not gonna lie had to google what that does lol.
hopefully the light I have is more then enough as i got it from the same person I got the tank and other bits from.

 

[Chrisv.]

Not gonna lie had to google what that does lol.
hopefully the light I have is more then enough as i got it from the same person I got the tank and other bits from.

Oh I actually think it's a bigger risk that you will set it too high. It's so counterintuitive, but because there is a lot of high par light outside of the visual spectrum, it's easy to set your light based on what looks good and accidentally fry your corals. I really recommend you look up YouTube videos from bulk reef supply related to par meters. They are useful.

 

[elysics]

The other thing about Hanna is that they are not THAT much more and the refills are way less than traditional refills.

Eh, that's not really true. One alk refill from Hanna (25 tests) costs about as much as one salifert box (100tests). Especially outside of the US. That's less pronounced with the other test categories, but there two hanna refills are still equivalent to one testkit more or less

 

[robert.smith2888]

Oh I actually think it's a bigger risk that you will set it too high. It's so counterintuitive, but because there is a lot of high par light outside of the visual spectrum, it's easy to set your light based on what looks good and accidentally fry your corals. I really recommend you look up YouTube videos from bulk reef supply related to par meters. They are useful.

When you say set it to high do you mean as in height or as in to many lights on at once.
mad the light I have mounts on the sides of the tank. And I’m assuming where it has been in the same place a while the actual height adjustments have seized
Hopefully the picture is attached
I carnt find the make of the light all I know it’s programmable and also have different season settings I take it that’s for the day and night cycle

 

[Chrisv.]

So, led lights are typically variable intensity. If you set them to 100% power you may photobleach your corals. We use a par meter to know how intense the light is and basically adjust the dimmer switch accordingly. In the worst case you may need to raise or lower, or even adjust the placement of certain corals in your tank to accommodate their needs.