To new people getting into the hobby

Well I just wanna tell all you noobies that come here for advice. Well I had testing from late 06 when it was made. They are API test kits, they claim they will last for 4-5 years before they expire. I figured wth and picked up same kit since it was on sale today and did some testing. Well I was mad but happy at the results. Brand new kit, I went and tested nitrate and well sure enough it was 10 I was liek wow let me test with the older kit. Well it ran to 80, at that point tested ph right now its 8.0 at night and the old kit read 7.7-7.8.

Guys plzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz make sure you have accurate and up to date test kits and you will be throughly pleased. I have had multiple probs with my old tests and now am thankful I went and got this. From a amateur to another spend the money and get decent up to date stuff!

 

1+ on that man... when it comes down to animals, anything electric, and vehicles you pay for what you get. lol.. valuable lesson learned... K+

 

how are the API test kits? i'm almost out of my red sea and will be looking for new ones soon

 

i use API for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, dKH and ph. i use salifert for Mag and Calcium. API works well for stuff like nitrates but for MG and CA i like to be a little more accurate.

 

ok i don't even have test kit for MG and CA so i'll make sure i'll get those two as well

 

i like them and will continue to keep using them for the basic stuff ammo/nitrate/nitrite/ph.

 

yep u might as well spend big one time vs spending a lil a bunch of times .this remind me of when i bought a ro/di frm the fleamarket for 10 dollars only to have to spend 120.00 to get it going .could have got a new one for 10 dollars less

 

lol never went cheap on that, skimmer, light. Only reason I had the old kits were cuz it came with the tank. The mag/cal/dkh kit I have are still 100% good. Decided to get the new stuff since on sale and damn glad I did!

 

good post. very true.


I use API for everything but Mg and pH. I use Salifert and a pen probe respectively there.

API pH test is insanely hard to read. As is their phosphate test. The others I like real well.

 

API test kits are fairly accurate. People often get incorrect results out of them and there is a reason for that. They accidentally corrupt their reagents for the tests that require 2 different ones. API could fix this by using different colored bottles for Part A and Part B. I even suggested this years ago.

What happens is, people don't always ensure that cap A goes back onto bottle A and cap B doesn't always go on bottle B. Then when you shake, a small amount of the reagent from A goes into B and vice-versa. Since it is such a minute amount, you don't even notice it happening. (It obviously also depends on how many times you switch caps). However, over time, you can end up with incorrect readings.