How do you test Dip stick or chemical?

[zoie2]

Just wondering how most of you test your water. I bought a chem. lab kit that tests the PH, Alk, trites, trates, Amonia. takes about 15 minutes to test the water, but I like it and thought it would be more accurate. When I bring my water to LFS to get tested, they use a dip stick so I picked some of those up. I get about the same reading. Although my lab reads the Alk. like 2.9 and the dip stick says 300. I don't get that, but oh well.
Which do you use?

 

[fedukeford]

i use the dip stick thing to test weekly, and when i start to see something unusual with my fish/inverts i use a chemical lab thing to test

 

[codered]

I used to have a freshwater aquarium, and I had some leftover 5-in-1 test strips that I used when I started my saltwater tank. (The strips could be used for either, and had different "color cards" for the different tanks.) However, I couldn't get the colors to match up in a suitable manner.
So I switched to chemical, and I'll never go back to strips. The strips are faster, but in my experience, the chemicals are more accurate AND cheaper.
Code Red

 

[mimzy]

Originally Posted by CodeRed
I used to have a freshwater aquarium, and I had some leftover 5-in-1 test strips that I used when I started my saltwater tank. (The strips could be used for either, and had different "color cards" for the different tanks.) However, I couldn't get the colors to match up in a suitable manner.
So I switched to chemical, and I'll never go back to strips. The strips are faster, but in my experience, the chemicals are more accurate AND cheaper.
Code Red
ditto