Which Liquid Test Kits Are Most Accurate?

[Jasonanatal]

Which Liquid Test Kits Are Most Accurate?

Well I must confess that with over 2 years in the hobby and great equipment from reputable manufacturers such as Tunze and Precision Marine I regret to inform everyone that I was tempted by the low prices of the Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Liquid Test Kits. (Yes I know sham on me). Well it almost 2008 and I've stepped up almost every other aspect of my Reef Keeping Hobby and now it time to do so again. My question is this. Despite the price which liquid test kit for various chemicals such as Calcium, Magnesium, phosphates, etc do you consider the most efficient and the most accurate? I've been considering such liquid test kits from LaMotte and Elos but would love to get everyone elses thoughts on this matter.

 

[bad coffee]

Salifert are the best bang for the buck. They're quite accurate for the normal stuff. Ammonia, Nitrate, Nitrite, Cal and Alk. (provided the kits aren't old.)

For things like phosphates, silicates, ect, you want better kits. Lamotte's are great, but expensive. And they as well can go bad. So spend the cash on a meter and single use tests.

B

 

[lfsmarineguy]

As far as Liquid tests go Elos is the most accurate for most of the tests you need. Meters vary greatly depending on manufacturer and model (quality wise) and some need frequent calibration. Elos gets all of their reagents NIST certified so each batch is exactly the same as the last and they keep them in temp controlled rooms before shipping.

 

[jhale]

i use lamotte and elos exclusively now, except for Po4 I have a D&D kit and a hana meter.

I like the elos kits, but they do not give the accuracy I want sometimes. the MG kit rounds of the numbers by the 100's so you have no way of knowing if your at 1201 or 1299 mg, same for the CA kits, it rounds off by 25 points. it could be 400 - 425.

 

[gnatp2]

I use salifert for most stuff, but if I were to buy a new set, I'd go with elos as a lot of good things have been said lately. Don't use salifert for ALK or PO4. I use lamotte for ALK and Hanna meter for po4.

 

[ScottK]

Jonathan, you're talking about the precision, not the accuracy :biggrin: But that is also something to consider when looking at what kits to buy.

 

[jejton]

Where can I get Elos or Salifert master kits? So far I have only seen individual tests.

 

[cybermeez]

I used to use Salifert, but I've switched over to Elos.

 

[iconoclast]

heh.... no one shops at petco anymore?? API all the way baby!! well for most things.

havn't any of you seen this test kit comparison? they had plenty of discussion about this on RC not too long ago.
http://www.dfwmas.org/pdf_files/Test%20Kit%20Analysis.pdf

 

[jay1335]

Was there a part two to that comparison?

 

[iconoclast]

huh, it does say phase 1, doesn't it?

i dont know if there is a second part or what not. ive lost the RC thread where it all began, too.