Need Nitrate test?

So as I mentioned in other treads, my short story is that I am in the planning stages of reefdom. Gathering equipment slowly, frugally, turns out a lot more people seem to be leaving the hobby than entering so . . .

So I bought the Tetra Laborett test kit after looking at a few posts and considering I just am starting up. First, for people wondering or thinking about the Tetra test, the pH scale is in .2 increments which I am guessing is going to be less than ideal for marine purposes. It remains to be seen how useful the rest of the kit will be.

The question is: The kit is lacking a nitrate test. (it has nitrite, ammonia, pH, and carbonate hardness). Do I need to get a nitrate test or can I hobble through cycling without it? I am thinking yes I should get one. . .

 

YES you need one. You are also going to need calcium, magnesium, iodine, phosphate etc.. I have never really seen a saltwater kit come without the nitrate.

Unfortunately I have never run into a all in 1 test kit so you kind of need to piece them together.

Basically you need to look into Master test kit and a Reefmaster test kit, and then add to that.

 

+1 on the nitrate test. Although pricey, I use Salifert & am very satisfied with the results.

 

Hi ChicagoReefOne, I just checked your kit out and it states it is for fresh water. I use the API Nitrate kit. Very accurate but you must follow the directions exactly.

 

Yeah it's actually has tests for both freshwater and saltwater. So I have a useless freshwater PH test and GH test now. Similarly, the API nitrate test kit can be used for both fresh and saltwater.

I'm probably just aiming for the nitrate test right now, though those other comprehensive tests (calcium, phosphate, etc.) are on the list, but since I don't even have a tank up much less corals in them, they're on a wait list.

Let the newbies beware: the Tetra test kit is NOT what you want.