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Thread: Test kits & Otos

  1. #1
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    Test kits & Otos

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    HI,

    Need some advice as to test kits. I bought some test kits for PH, CO2 and KH, all the same brand, AQUMEDI. Those which you need to collect either 5ml or 10ml of your water then add the reagents according to the instructions until you see a change in colour indicated. So i'm wondering are these accurate? in fact i don't believe that they are accurate. Then which will be accurate besides digital? I've seen those which are lie what we used during our urine tests, those strips of reactor and dip in our urine type, it's abit gross but have to mention, will that be accurate?

    My 2 otos died in 2 days, one after the other. While the other 2 look abit lethargic, as if they are going to die. Is it due to hunger? after i put in some of those Tetra Fresh Delica Brine Shrimps, the rest of my otos feed on it. Sometimes they lie head down in the riccia and stay motionless, as if they are dead. I wonder are otos hard to keep? they don seem to be working on the algae, as well as my SAE. they seem to enjoy more of the fish food. fortunately, there's not much algae. so how can i make sure my otos survive? Thank you, please advise

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    ray, from your past posting...i can gather roughly what you are facing now...

    firstly, you want your riccia to bubble crazily...so you've increased your CO2, secondly, you want to counter your algae problem with OTOs....i could guess that your OTOs are suffering from CO2 poisoning...

    same same as my tank too, when i increase my CO2 to the Riccia tank, all the riccia bubbling like crazy, next moment, i see all my fishes gasping for air...immediately i transfer all the fishes into another tank..but i've 1 casualty..1 of my OTOs died oredi..

    Come to think of it, when you see those riccia tank at Ah Pek's farm, bubbling so beautiful...but there's no fishes inside!!..

    there's a balance in it, either you want your plant to bubble like crazy...or you want your fish to stay alive, during the CO2 fertilization period...just my $0.02...(i'm referring to tank with riccia only)..[] [] []

  3. #3
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    ray
    the test kits COULD be accurate
    in theory, these work the best
    however, individual companies could screw up on the reagents, or your test kits could be expired
    i'd stick with the titration type of test kits
    even digital isn't 100% accurate, and there is no probe that is COMPLETELY ion-specific afaik

    your otos, how old are they? how long were they in the lfs for b4 u bought them?

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    hi DEA,
    I'm not so sure how long the otos are in the lfs. i think they're still quite young. so which test kits are accurate? the one i got or the type that we used for our urine test type.

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    the problem i face:
    For example, for testing of co2, add reagent 1 4 drops (not sure if it is 4) shake the bottle, add reagent 2, drop by drop and shake the bottle. add till the water changes to pink. the number of drops that are needed to make the water changes to pink is the amount of co2 in the water. so the problem is how much is the degree of the pink? (light pink to dark pink), there's no example. so you can't be sure how much is it.

    but for those types like urine test strips, the colour change can be matched with what is shown on the container so it can tell the amount of PH, KH, CO2 of the water. so wil this be more accurate?

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    hi jw,
    I did not add additional CO2, it's just that my previous bottle has finished its supply that's why there's not enuf Co2 so riccia can't photosynthesize to make bubbles. after i start with fresh supply it starts to bubble again. I hav also added oxygen supply 24 hours, so i don find any problems.

  7. #7
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    co2 test kits (for eg, my azoo one) should come with a strip of paper with a pink area for you to compare it with

    the strip test kits CAN be wildly inaccurate
    david recommends some which he says are good, but i haven't tried them
    ime the normal test kits are fine
    in most cases, you can have a greater accuracy than using test strips
    but test strips are a lot more convenient
    if you want, you can use both and see if the results are the same, just to put your mind at ease

    young otos die very often during transit
    i wouldn't worry about it
    normally i buy otos only when they've been in the shop for at least a week

  8. #8
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    IMO, you should just forget about CO2 test kits. They are reputed to be inaccurate. Just use pH and KH charts. pH and KH tests kits are generally quite reliable.

    BC

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