Test kits?

[TheRockPlayz]

Im looking for recommendations on test kits, i have a 20.5 g aio tank and have 2 clownfish, a zoa, kenya tree and a hammer coral - my tank is having an explosion of red (slime?) algae on the sand and my test is telling me I have 0 nitrates nitrites and ammonia which obviously doesn’t add up. I just used a cheap 11 in 1 test kit that works about as well as the few dollars I spent on it.

Basically, what should I be testing for to have happy Lps, sps, and soft corals as well as a few fish and what brand?

 

[mmorrison55]

Any Budget concerns and how’s your color acuity? Salifert is considered a great choice at a good price per test, but you need to be able to designate color changes per drop of titration.

Hanna colorimeters are considered the gold standard for most test and provide a number result so no color guessing. But they are the most expensive. They typically go on sale @ 20% off a few times a year and are worth waiting for the sale. Each one is about $70 at full price

The Hanna master test kit does most all the testing you will ever need in one box, but runs $500 when it’s not on sale.

 

[TheRockPlayz]

Any Budget concerns and how’s your color acuity? Salifert is considered a great choice at a good price per test, but you need to be able to designate color changes per drop of titration.

Hanna colorimeters are considered the gold standard for most test and provide a number result so no color guessing. But they are the most expensive. They typically go on sale @ 20% off a few times a year and are worth waiting for the sale. Each one is about $70 at full price

The Hanna master test kit does most all the testing you will ever need in one box, but runs $500 when it’s not on sale.

Yes 500$ is a bit too much, preferably cheaper but I’d mainly want it to work well enough I can know if that parameter is the issue or not

 

[Reefin' Steve]

Nitrate and Phosphate are the determining factor for algae but also flow for red slime. Should also test regularly salinity, alkalinity calcium and magnesium. After the cycle ammonia and nitrite arent of much use to us.

i have a hanna master i would consider selling because i have almost every imaginable test kit

 

[mmorrison55]

If you get the individual Hanna’s you likely will end up collecting quite a few of them and the price will eventually surpass the master kit. I ended up selling all my individual Hanna’s and bought the master kit on sale for around $350 I think.

What I like most about the master kit is the larger test vial and how it steps you through each step of the test. Makes it go quicker over reading each step in a separate instruction manual.

But some Hanna tests are a pain to do, so I have some Saliferts as backup and to cross reference to make sure my parameters are accurate.

 

[Tahoe61]

I use Salifert for alk, calcium, phosphates and nitrates.
I use hanna for alk as well to double check values.

 

[slingfox]

In terms of most recommended parameters to test for: salaniry, alk, nitrate and phosphate. I have calcium and magnesium but rarely rest those since they are pretty much never an issue. Hanna is the most convenient whereas Salifert is reliable and cheaper.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Keep in mind, when you have a bad algae or cyano problem the nitrate/phosphate tests become inaccurate as the algae and cyano consumes the nutrients and make the tests show lower than what is really in your tank.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Im looking for recommendations on test kits, i have a 20.5 g aio tank and have 2 clownfish, a zoa, kenya tree and a hammer coral - my tank is having an explosion of red (slime?) algae on the sand and my test is telling me I have 0 nitrates nitrites and ammonia which obviously doesn’t add up. I just used a cheap 11 in 1 test kit that works about as well as the few dollars I spent on it.

Basically, what should I be testing for to have happy Lps, sps, and soft corals as well as a few fish and what brand?

Those all-in-one test kits are never accurate. I would toss that kit. Get salifert, RedSea or Hanna kits