Test Kit problem

[ivanfj]

Hmmm. I am thinking about my list of testers I should buy/refill and here's a list from my LFS's webpage:
Ammonia
Calcium
pH
Phosphate
Nitrite
Nitrate
Alkalinity
Copper
These ones I know they are almost a must for me to buy but what about....
Iodine???
Silicate???
Strontium???
Magnesium???
Do I really need all of them??? I am having some budget problem so I wanna spend my money blindly. My tank is a FOWLR (20 gal) now. I am planning to buy a BTA for my clownie (if he takes it) a month or so later, but not going to have any corals in the near future. Do I need to test for certain things if I wanna have anemone??? Please give me some ideas. ThxQ

 

[wastnwages]

go with what you have listed alot of the others are not really needed

 

[javatech]

with a FOWLR you could get by without the copper test and have your lfs test for it if they have it i got one and tested it one time no copper and it wont change so the kit will go bad before i could use even 1/8 of it IMHO

 

[col]

For your tank I reckon:
Ammonia
Nitrite
Nitrate
Ph
If you run into problems later with Ph - get Alkalinity and maybe Calcium.
If you have probs with algae - get Phosphate.

 

[broomer5]

I find that test kits are helpful for understanding what is happening to the tankwater chemistry on new tanks, and as they mature. I don't use them everytime I test though.
On a new tank, with newly mixed up saltwater - for the first few weeks I use the nitrogen compound kits to follow and help me to understand the cycle, and I check pH often.
Ammonia
Nitrite
Nitrate
pH
After the tank cycles, I do the first water change and have added to add living creatures I start checking;
Calcium
Alkalinity
Phosphate
Nitrate
pH
After all new fish additions or adding a lot of new live rock, I will check for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate again.
After the tank matures and is populated with living creatures - and I've established a maintenance routine for maintaining pH, alkalinity and calcium - I can somewhat "predict" what is going on - so I test less often.
I still test on Saturday mornings and anytime I make a major change to the tank set up.
I've never used test kits for;
Copper
Silicate
Strontium
Magnesium
I have Iodine and O2 test kits- but they're flakey and never give repeatable results on duplicate tests - I rarely use them.