Cali Kid Corals

BRSTv recommended water test kits

I was just watching BRSTv and they were discussing what things they would never buy again, including the Hanna Nitrate checker, but then they went on to recommend their favorite test kits, I thought I'd share that here;

Alkalinity - Hanna Alk Checker - this has been recommended by many people too. I currently use Salifert, but will get one once my test kit runs dry
Magnesium - Aquaforest
Calcium - Red Sea
Nitrates - Nyos
Phosphate - Hanna Phosphate checker

Salinity - not a hygrometer, a refractometer is better, but best for rich people ... some digital salinity checker... but probably not necessary. Who checks salinity this much?
No mention of pH. pH tests are mostly all the same anyway and are so simple... add water to test tube, drop in some reagent, look at color.

chosen for ease of use and good accuracy. What they were totally against were the Hanna Calcium Checker and Hanna Nitrate Checker. Also they seem to dislike the API test kits. I use API, but I agree they are really a nightmare to check the color of the liquid in the small test tubes that have so much reflection and curvature in them.
Ammonia and Nitrite test kits were not mentioned...makes sense as really, after your tank is established, they should be zero and their end result is nitrate anyway due to the ANN cycle.

Anyway, food for thought if you are looking for test kits. Feel free to disagree or agree. I have no dog in the hunt. I use API test kits, and I have Salifert test kits.

V
 
I was just watching BRSTv and they were discussing what things they would never buy again, including the Hanna Nitrate checker, but then they went on to recommend their favorite test kits, I thought I'd share that here;

Alkalinity - Hanna Alk Checker - this has been recommended by many people too. I currently use Salifert, but will get one once my test kit runs dry
Magnesium - Aquaforest
Calcium - Red Sea
Nitrates - Nyos
Phosphate - Hanna Phosphate checker

Salinity - not a hygrometer, a refractometer is better, but best for rich people ... some digital salinity checker... but probably not necessary. Who checks salinity this much?
No mention of pH. pH tests are mostly all the same anyway and are so simple... add water to test tube, drop in some reagent, look at color.

chosen for ease of use and good accuracy. What they were totally against were the Hanna Calcium Checker and Hanna Nitrate Checker. Also they seem to dislike the API test kits. I use API, but I agree they are really a nightmare to check the color of the liquid in the small test tubes that have so much reflection and curvature in them.
Ammonia and Nitrite test kits were not mentioned...makes sense as really, after your tank is established, they should be zero and their end result is nitrate anyway due to the ANN cycle.

Anyway, food for thought if you are looking for test kits. Feel free to disagree or agree. I have no dog in the hunt. I use API test kits, and I have Salifert test kits.

V

I think it depends on which Hanna Nitrate checker they’re referencing. Absolutely, I would not recommend the Low Range checker. It’s time consuming and a tedious test procedure to run. The high range checker, however, I think most people will benefit from. One reagent to use, no colors to compare during a titration test and a digital readout. It does take a little longer time to run (7-8 minute) because of reagent reaction time, but other than that, I don’t see much downside.
 
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