Testing Equiptment

[dabadguyswon86]

Can I use the testing drops from my freshwater kit for ph and ammonia ONLY on my reef tank? The drops, test cards and instrcutions are EXACTLY the same for the ph and i have a saltwater color card for the ammonia.

 

[KathyC]

Yes & No

Are these API Kits?

The pH kit for FW is too low to be used for a SW tank. You need a 'High Range' pH kit to test SW.

For the Ammonia kit - you can test either SW or FW with it, but there should be 2 different 'cards' in there for reading the results. You'd need to have the SW card to get an accurate reading.
(I see you have the SW card, but wanted to mention it for others that might read this )

 

[dabadguyswon86]

Thanks a lot. The master FW kit came with the high/low range ph test.Would this be good enough? Yes they are APIkits. What should the ph level be? do I NEED to check for nitrite?

 

[Boomer]

There can be real issue when using such test kits in seawater, as the high "salt " in seawater produces errors. That is why there are often FW and SW test kits. Some kits can have as much as a 0.5 pH error. For seawater API is using metacresol purple which is correct. However, the Instant Ocean and Kordon pH kits for seawater are the best.

http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Downloads.html

 

[dabadguyswon86]

you dont recommend the ph test but the ammonia should be fine? i tested it with th fw kit and the ph color is between 8 on the sw and 8 on the fw.

 

[Boomer]

No, the pH is is fine but the IO and Kordon, for either test, are better and easier to use and read.