What test kit do you guys use?
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Nano_Man
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Salfert for everything I test
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Nano_Man
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Best place for api
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I think - API tests are the best. They are (relatively) easy, easier to read and less expensive. I've used RedSea, Salifert and Hanna. I still use the RedSea Mg kit.
Lots of people will disagree with this. but - I've done hundreds of them - with different kits - and had only one false positive - when I made a mistake. A lot of people do not follow directions.
On the other hand - I find the color differences in Salifert to be difficult. Hanna is just expensive and requires extreme care to get accurate repeatable results (in my experience)
IMHO - many people in our hobby test too much - and chase numbers unnecessarily. For example I 'want' my nitrate at 5 but it's at 10 - what should I do?
Looking at the condition of the corals and fish gives more information IMHO - than frequent testing - which frequently is 'wrong' - and leads to over corrections.
Lots of people will disagree with this. but - I've done hundreds of them - with different kits - and had only one false positive - when I made a mistake. A lot of people do not follow directions.
On the other hand - I find the color differences in Salifert to be difficult. Hanna is just expensive and requires extreme care to get accurate repeatable results (in my experience)
IMHO - many people in our hobby test too much - and chase numbers unnecessarily. For example I 'want' my nitrate at 5 but it's at 10 - what should I do?
Looking at the condition of the corals and fish gives more information IMHO - than frequent testing - which frequently is 'wrong' - and leads to over corrections.
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I use a variety of kits for many reasons. The maturity of my tank plays the biggest role:
Salifert for no3. It's easy/accurate and I don't really care that much - just prefer to keep bwtn 5-25 ish. Kit has a long shelf life - good bc I rarely need to test no3
Red sea for po4. It's just what I started with and another parameter that stays very constant for me. Also super easy to use and accurate. I'd like to try other kits for this one.
Red sea for Mg and Ca. I found to be accurate and refills reasonable cost. Complaint is the Mg seems to always be expired before I get through half of it
Hanna for Alk. The Hanna is accurate and easy. It's the most important thing to keep an eye on. I personally find it to be very repeatable. Maybe I get the wrong result lol, but at least it remains constant (ly wrong). :)
Salifert for no3. It's easy/accurate and I don't really care that much - just prefer to keep bwtn 5-25 ish. Kit has a long shelf life - good bc I rarely need to test no3
Red sea for po4. It's just what I started with and another parameter that stays very constant for me. Also super easy to use and accurate. I'd like to try other kits for this one.
Red sea for Mg and Ca. I found to be accurate and refills reasonable cost. Complaint is the Mg seems to always be expired before I get through half of it
Hanna for Alk. The Hanna is accurate and easy. It's the most important thing to keep an eye on. I personally find it to be very repeatable. Maybe I get the wrong result lol, but at least it remains constant (ly wrong). :)
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gbroadbridge
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I would trust the Hanna, biological processes in the sample sent for ICP can consume phosphate before it is tested.
Your experience is quite common.
The Nitrate test result is within measurement uncertainty.
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ID-Reefer
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I understand what you are saying but... the results do coincide (I think?) with some issues im having... The reason I sent the ICP tests in tin the first place was because Im experiencing burnt tips on several acros. ICP Results were great and accurate with the exception of my calcium came back higher than what hanna reads and as mentioned P04 came back lower.
High N03 + low P04 = burnt tips is my understanding so it made sense to me that perhaps my hanna is wrong.
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You need to 'google' the margin of error in both tests. My guess is that they are both the same. Additionally - ICP tests do not measure PO4 - they measure phosphate. If they are saying they are measuring PO4 - they are doing it with a test kit of some sort.
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IE I would trust (assuming a correctly done/repeated test - done by you rather than the ICP - and either way - I wouldn't be concerned with either test. Burnt tips on Acros is more likely a high alkalinity/low flow/high light situation
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gbroadbridge
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Okay, as stated above, there is nothing wrong with either set of test results (yours or the ICP) if your concern is burnt tips on coral.
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ID-Reefer
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Well unless the tests results of both tests are wrong relative to alk that is not the problem since it’s had very little fluctuations per Hanna and icp. Flow and light hasn’t changed in two years. So….. still at a loss as to what is causing Burnt tips if not low P04 and high N03……
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trevorhiller
Reefing Nurse
Just a tip… don’t worry about getting various testing devices to match. It’s a rabbit hole you don’t want to go down. Every device has a margin of error (even ICP).
Just pick a kit/device that you’ll use regularly at home and stick with it. I wouldn’t recommend ICP as your “baseline” unless you have more money than you know what to do with it and you’re planning to send them off frequently.
Also, I don’t believe ICP-OES can test for nitrate and phosphate (since they are compounds not elements). So they are likely using another testing method or a calculation anyhow. Your Hanna Checker is more than likely accurate enough.
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vetteguy53081
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I just did an Icp-analysis test and they measured both phosphorus and Po4 and was aligned with my Hanna Phosphate numbers
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Great - ICP does not measure Phosphate. ICP measures individual elements. Phosphate contains Phosphorous and Oxygen. Just like Nitrate measurements on ICP tests - and Alkalinity testing. They are using a nitrate/Phosphate/alkalinity test (or a calculation) - as compared to some magic with ICP.
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Calcium is garbage but Alkalinity is pretty good from what I can tell. It's also very simple, which helps. One regeant mix, like a PH test.
I verified it with my red sea and it was pretty accurate
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I've had good results with Hanna calcium test kit within the accuracy range of other test kits and icp.
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I'm surprised with your Hanna calcium test kit
I have it as part of the master kit, and it consistently reads above 600 which is just not possible in my tank. My other calcium tests all read in the low 400s which is what I expect with a very young coral population and using Red Sea black bucket salt.
I do all the steps properly - clean with RO, use different droppers etc. Nothing matters. It just sucks.
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