water testing kits

[camaroboy8691]

ok . so i know all test kits are different . and some have differnt ml's and such . but who likes who ?
after weeks and weeks of having bad results with a red sea test kit we got an api trite kit . and walla . all water tests are right on .
anyone else have a situation like this ?
who do you like for water test equipment ?

 

[jetskiking]

I will be honest, I have gotten skewed readings from just about every brand. When I buy a new test kit I always compair it against two others just to be sure its right.

 

[camaroboy8691]

Originally Posted by jetskiking
http:///forum/post/3126141
I will be honest, I have gotten skewed readings from just about every brand. When I buy a new test kit I always compair it against two others just to be sure its right.
thats not a bad idea . always good to have a 2nd opinion . and in this hobby better to check 2 times
im not saying the red sea kit was fualty . but it was giving a bad reading . heck . who . knows maybe the api kit i got is bad . like the g/f said maybe api makes there kits so everyone has perfect water ? lol

 

[jetskiking]

Originally Posted by camaroboy8691
http:///forum/post/3126171
thats not a bad idea . always good to have a 2nd opinion . and in this hobby better to check 2 times
im not saying the red sea kit was fualty . but it was giving a bad reading . heck . who . knows maybe the api kit i got is bad . like the g/f said maybe api makes there kits so everyone has perfect water ? lol
thats funny because I have said the same thing as your girlfriend. The reason I do two is incase the first one I compare with is bad also.
This actually happened recently with my red sea Mag test. I have been raising my mag to get rid of some bryopsis and my kit was reading high. I was getting a reading of 1700. Thankfully my knowledge made me catch it. I had been fighting with lower but in range alk readings before I started dosing. I was really watching my alk because its typical for it to drop when you get the Mag that high. Mine was raising so it threw out a red flag. I went and got my water tested by some friends and turns out I was really only at 1350. The whole time I was trying to get my alk up before, my mag kit was reading high which makes total sense now. This was one of the few kits I had Which I had not compaired to others.

 

[aquaknight]

Agreed, I always recommend having a different company's test kit to compare results to once in a while, to make sure the kits are still good.
As far as good kits, if you really want top shelf stuff, look into Elos test kits. A bit pricey, but probably the best kits, short of lab-grade units. If you don't feel like ordering/LFS doesn't have them, Sailfert kits are the bread and butter of this hobby.

 

[marthat]

Originally Posted by jetskiking
http:///forum/post/3126141
I will be honest, I have gotten skewed readings from just about every brand. When I buy a new test kit I always compair it against two others just to be sure its right.
Thats probably the best way to do it, I've gotten huge differences in different brands of tests

 

[camaroboy8691]

Originally Posted by AquaKnight
http:///forum/post/3126246
Agreed, I always recommend having a different company's test kit to compare results to once in a while, to make sure the kits are still good.
As far as good kits, if you really want top shelf stuff, look into Elos test kits. A bit pricey, but probably the best kits, short of lab-grade units. If you don't feel like ordering/LFS doesn't have them, Sailfert kits are the bread and butter of this hobby.
well im sure ill get suckered into one of thos kits . im a fool for the best gadgets you can get for a certain hobby .
heck i got into skiing a few years ago and i went 1 time and rented . 2 weeks later i had all my own gear . lol ..... if i like a hobby and plain on sticking with it i buy the good stuff right away and just be done with it .