Test kits

[Savant]

I find those water sample test kits really difficult to use and will be getting an electronic PH meter soon. Apart from PH, are there other electronic test kits that I can get for testing other aspects of water parameters?

Oh and what brand of electronic PH meter is recommended?

[torque6]

water sample test kit difficult to use ? Hows that ? All you need is a 5ml of the tank water, drop a few drops, match them to the color chart provided and you get a close reading on ph/nitrite/ammonia etc.

[Savant]

i usually lose the chart or sometimes cause it to get wet, there was once i dropped the glass test tube and it broke lol

[torque6]

Savant,
I thought when you term difficult, it meant technically difficult.

[AquaObsession]

Find it a waste of money. If you do not really need to monitor these thigns, just forget abt them. As a beginner (if you are), you'ill always try to test test test. I even bought pH meter (from $50 to $200), now throwing it in the storeroom.

Cheers, Christophe

[Aquaculture]

Why not consider a PH probe instead? Its way cheaper.

The other test which I find useful is the kh. Its to prevent a ph crash. Ammonia test is a nice to have as is quite tricky though as there're free ammonia which is harmless to fauna and the reading may not be quite accurate due to that.

Personally I forgo the ammonia test via regular wc.

[torque6]

If like this, PH pen, a couple of bros selling theirs this week, might want to grab.

[juggler]

Find it a waste of money. If you do not really need to monitor these thigns, just forget abt them. As a beginner (if you are), you'ill always try to test test test. I even bought pH meter (from $50 to $200), now throwing it in the storeroom.

Cheers, Christophe

Agree. It's a waste of money. Sometimes after testing, we can't do much.
I have stopped testing for years now. Just do the regular EI dosing method weekly. Observe the plant growth and type of algae growing and we can probably guess what nutrient is in excess/deficient.

[syburn]

Yeah I was looking at test kits. Cheapest was $68 most exp was $180(which I hoped was a joke).

I thought the PH in Singapore was quite stable - will it vary a lot in a fish tank?

[Quixotic]

Don't you have to adjust your pH according to the requirements of the fishes you keep?

[helicraz]

I test more frequently when there is a drastic change (1-2x a week)... e.g. new fish? new plants? filter media changes?

once the tank is established (0,0, <40), I just rely on the no-so-accurate stick on glass type... and does confirmation testing once in a long while. (1/mth)

[AquaObsession]

Don't you have to adjust your pH according to the requirements of the fishes you keep?

Does that apply for fish keeping or fish breeding?

For me, I do fish keeping, I do not adjust pH.

[syburn]

how to understand the readings in these test kits. Is there a resource that will tell u what all the amounts mean to your situation?

[torque6]

test kits comes with color charts and a 5ml test tube. Just follow the number of drops for each test.